As another user mentioned, I also caught this film by accident on my VCR -- and in b&w. I've since picked up a color DVD-R. In B&W it has more of the feel of a Mexican monster picture from the 50s-60s. By his presence, Akim Tamiroff elevates the picture to a slot above similar mid-sleaze trash. Even hobbling around on 2 canes (I imagine he thought a walker would look silly), he sparks up the interest every time he appears on screen (not often). Broderick Crawford doesn't, and Robert Hutton performs with the same level of "excellence" he always demonstrates. Watch it for Akim, and for being the only picture to equal the hilarious sfx of "The Giant Claw."
22 Reviews
Big Bird gets revenge.
mark.waltz7 July 2018
Warning: Spoilers
A mythological creature with the face and hands of a man but the body of a giant killing bird is the titled monster here, a murderous ghoul which rose out of its grave, allegedly buried alive centuries ago and seeking revenge on the descendants of those who put it in its living grave, later transferred into a church cemetery. The braggardly brave Annette Carell boasts she has no fear of walking through a church cemetery at night, yet cowers immediately when she spots a wobbly tombstone that all of a sudden seems to take flight. Instantly, her hair turns white, and she ends up in a psychiatric ward where she must repeat to everybody who inquires exactly what she saw that night. A legend has it that through the underworld power of black magic, the corpse of the entombed has been given the power to turn into this creature and will not rest until all the descendants of the guilty are wiped off the face of the earth, and this includes sweet Diane Clare and her uncles Broderick Crawford and Gordon Sterne. How those two uncles could be lifted up by any creature is a comical mystery in itself, but the real unintentional laughs to go the "wise man" played by Akim Tamiroff who looks like both Raymond Burr and Orson Welles stuffed into three of Dracula's capes, walking with the aide of two canes and just generally creepy every time he is on screen. There's also a curse spouting mad man (Edward Carrick) who appears throughout the film ordering everybody (including Clare's husband, Robert Hutton) who pretends to know more about this curse than he obviously does, becoming one of the biggest "red herrings" in cinema.
Unfortunately, a full view of the alleged vulture is never shown, and the explanations given of how a man, through the use of the electrodes and various other powers, can turn themselves into another type of creature, becomes just a little too talky at times. The Cornish scenery is stunning, however, especially the old castle in the middle of the city, adds a true historical viewpoint to the film. This isn't quite a horror film, but more of a mystery thriller with horrific elements that when they do occur become somewhat outlandish. In spite of the presence of the commanding Crawford, it will be Tamiroff whom you can't forget in this film, playing a character that would have been right at home in either "The Exorcist" or "The Omen".
Unfortunately, a full view of the alleged vulture is never shown, and the explanations given of how a man, through the use of the electrodes and various other powers, can turn themselves into another type of creature, becomes just a little too talky at times. The Cornish scenery is stunning, however, especially the old castle in the middle of the city, adds a true historical viewpoint to the film. This isn't quite a horror film, but more of a mystery thriller with horrific elements that when they do occur become somewhat outlandish. In spite of the presence of the commanding Crawford, it will be Tamiroff whom you can't forget in this film, playing a character that would have been right at home in either "The Exorcist" or "The Omen".
Strange/different but still family viewing
non_sportcardandy6 July 2006
In the 1960's their was a low priced movie theater in downtown Oakland that showed a triple bill of releases that came out mostly in the 1950's.Pre-noon admission was .35 cents.It was at that place that I saw this movie on a triple bill.Today I was surprised to learn that the release date was 1967.My overall feeling was that this movie was from the 1950's because it was black and white,the theaters history and on the same bill was "curse of the demon"(night of the demon ?)which came out in 1957.That being the situation it seems that on release this film went directly to the cheap seat theaters.That should give an indication of how good the movie is.In a 1950's comic book a half human/half vulture character had scared me so this plot was not of real interest to me.The little that can be recollected is that the mad scientist's every word is dripping with an accent.Even if the viewer knows no German they probably will doubt that his accent is a German one.Seeing the big clawed feet lift up people resemble the special effects of the Three Stooges films but the Stooges effects might be a notch better.Seeing this film again is one of my goals.
A grim Cornish legend comes to life in the 1960s
kikaidar3 June 2000
Set in Cornwall but actually produced in Canada, THE VULTURE is a somewhat offbeat sci-fi thriller filmed in the mid-1960s. The cat is a surprising mix of genre regulars and newcomers to the field, but the film has an odd feel to it. It's got more of a feeling of depth and many of the lower-budget sci-fi films hammered out by second string producers during the big '50s Sci-Fi Boom, but it falls short of the better know genre efforts.
American atomic researcher Eric Lutens (Robert Hutton) arrives in Cornwall for a rest. He plans to visit several members of his wife Trudy's (Diane Clair) family and just get away from it all. However, strange things have been happening in the area. A school teacher taking a shortcut through a graveyard during a night-time storm has had a shock that has turned her hair white. Livestock has also been vanishing without a trace.
The discovery of a gold coin, and of an opened grave, brings to light a peculiar local legend. Centuries before, one Francis Real had been suspected of witchcraft. He had been seized and buried alive with his pet -- a strange vulture-like bird -- and a casket of gold coins. Legend had it that he had sworn to destroy the descendents of the local squire who had overseen the burial. This disturbs Eric, as the cursed man had been an ancestor of Trudy's.
A gamekeeper hears "a very large bird" over the estate owned by Trudy's older surviving relative, Brian Stroud (Broderick Crawford) and, investigating, a large black feature is found on the grounds. Eric send it to a noted expert on local birds, hoping he can identify what kind of bird to which it might have belonged.
We now meet the other central characters. Prof. Koniglich (Akim Tamiroff in a wonderful little performance) is a local antiquarian with whom Brian has had a number of dealings over the years. We also meet Brian's brother Edward (Gordon Sterne), who lives in a nearby town.
Koniglich takes the tale seriously when Eric visits him. The professor gets about with difficulty, using canes -- the result of an accident. He also makes a telltale comment about always having been fascinated by science, though he never really developed the interest.
Eric, taking advantage of his scientific background (evidently they do a lot of strange atomic mutation research at the plant where he works), decides someone has conducted a scientific experiment, creating this creature. He reasons this would involve a lot of electricity, and contacts the local utilities to find out who's used a lot of power lately.
Evidence mounts that there may indeed be some terrible creature lurking nearby. A missing sheep is found torn to bits, in a cliffside cave. Shortly thereafter, both Stroud brothers are carried off and killed by something.
Eric, in London, is contacted by the power company. The only odd thing they can find in their probe is that the Professor has stopped using electricity from their lines entirely. He'd installed his own generators some time prior. Eric realizes that Trudy is the final victim. He races back to the Cornish town, even as she's snatched from an isolated road near the Professor's home, by something with claws that swoops down from above.
Eric arrives as the Professor's home, where he finds a nuclear-powered laboratory in the basement. A skeleton sits at a control panel, and a small broken casket of gold coins lies on a nearby counter. It seems the Professor, speculating on whether or not he might have been related to the entombed man, and looking for the gold, had used his equipment to momentarily exchange himself for the contents of the buried coffin.
Not such a good idea. The swap hadn't reversed itself, and his atoms had mixed with the remains of the bird. The composite creature had then broken out of the grave.
Going to the cave in the cliffside, Eric confronts and shoots the Professor, who is revealed to have had a gigantic bird's body underneath the cloaked coat he'd always worn. Stumbling at Eric, the creature falls to its death on the beach below. Eric and Trudy bury the body at sea and decide it's best that nobody knows what had happened.
An interesting cast. Robert Hutton had started playing juvenile leads, then went on to a string of largely minor genre flicks (MAN WITHOUT A BODY, INVISIBLE INVADERS, THE SLIME PEOPLE, COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK, TROG).
Broderick Crawford had visibly slummed following his role in BORN YESTERDAY, making a few genre TV movies, and was best remembered for the television series HIGHWAY PATROL.
A veteran of over 120 feature films, Akim Tamiroff had also appeared in Godard's ALPHAVILLE.
Diane Clair appeared in THE HAUNTING and Hammer's PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES.
Not a bad watch, though more for Tamiroff's eccentric performance than for Hutton's rather bland heroics.
American atomic researcher Eric Lutens (Robert Hutton) arrives in Cornwall for a rest. He plans to visit several members of his wife Trudy's (Diane Clair) family and just get away from it all. However, strange things have been happening in the area. A school teacher taking a shortcut through a graveyard during a night-time storm has had a shock that has turned her hair white. Livestock has also been vanishing without a trace.
The discovery of a gold coin, and of an opened grave, brings to light a peculiar local legend. Centuries before, one Francis Real had been suspected of witchcraft. He had been seized and buried alive with his pet -- a strange vulture-like bird -- and a casket of gold coins. Legend had it that he had sworn to destroy the descendents of the local squire who had overseen the burial. This disturbs Eric, as the cursed man had been an ancestor of Trudy's.
A gamekeeper hears "a very large bird" over the estate owned by Trudy's older surviving relative, Brian Stroud (Broderick Crawford) and, investigating, a large black feature is found on the grounds. Eric send it to a noted expert on local birds, hoping he can identify what kind of bird to which it might have belonged.
We now meet the other central characters. Prof. Koniglich (Akim Tamiroff in a wonderful little performance) is a local antiquarian with whom Brian has had a number of dealings over the years. We also meet Brian's brother Edward (Gordon Sterne), who lives in a nearby town.
Koniglich takes the tale seriously when Eric visits him. The professor gets about with difficulty, using canes -- the result of an accident. He also makes a telltale comment about always having been fascinated by science, though he never really developed the interest.
Eric, taking advantage of his scientific background (evidently they do a lot of strange atomic mutation research at the plant where he works), decides someone has conducted a scientific experiment, creating this creature. He reasons this would involve a lot of electricity, and contacts the local utilities to find out who's used a lot of power lately.
Evidence mounts that there may indeed be some terrible creature lurking nearby. A missing sheep is found torn to bits, in a cliffside cave. Shortly thereafter, both Stroud brothers are carried off and killed by something.
Eric, in London, is contacted by the power company. The only odd thing they can find in their probe is that the Professor has stopped using electricity from their lines entirely. He'd installed his own generators some time prior. Eric realizes that Trudy is the final victim. He races back to the Cornish town, even as she's snatched from an isolated road near the Professor's home, by something with claws that swoops down from above.
Eric arrives as the Professor's home, where he finds a nuclear-powered laboratory in the basement. A skeleton sits at a control panel, and a small broken casket of gold coins lies on a nearby counter. It seems the Professor, speculating on whether or not he might have been related to the entombed man, and looking for the gold, had used his equipment to momentarily exchange himself for the contents of the buried coffin.
Not such a good idea. The swap hadn't reversed itself, and his atoms had mixed with the remains of the bird. The composite creature had then broken out of the grave.
Going to the cave in the cliffside, Eric confronts and shoots the Professor, who is revealed to have had a gigantic bird's body underneath the cloaked coat he'd always worn. Stumbling at Eric, the creature falls to its death on the beach below. Eric and Trudy bury the body at sea and decide it's best that nobody knows what had happened.
An interesting cast. Robert Hutton had started playing juvenile leads, then went on to a string of largely minor genre flicks (MAN WITHOUT A BODY, INVISIBLE INVADERS, THE SLIME PEOPLE, COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK, TROG).
Broderick Crawford had visibly slummed following his role in BORN YESTERDAY, making a few genre TV movies, and was best remembered for the television series HIGHWAY PATROL.
A veteran of over 120 feature films, Akim Tamiroff had also appeared in Godard's ALPHAVILLE.
Diane Clair appeared in THE HAUNTING and Hammer's PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES.
Not a bad watch, though more for Tamiroff's eccentric performance than for Hutton's rather bland heroics.
Horror film pulp
dlormandy28 February 2014
I saw this movie at a drive-in theater back in the late 60's, back when I was eight to ten years old. It was part of a double-feature, with the other movie being, "The Deadly Bees." Now of course, I recognize both as lame, however, back then, when I was young, "The Vulture" scared the crap out of me. My brother, whom I shared a room with, delighted in "tapping" on our bedroom window, after we went to bed for weeks following seeing the movie and I had countless nightmares. That same brother was always thought of as "Mr. Innocent." Little did anyone else know! In any case, I now love the movie, mainly as a memory, but also for the stills that were taken promoting it. The image of those giant talons on the shoulders of a female victim are so stupendously phony looking, they're hilarious. They look like something made out of Styrofoam and fiberglass, immovable and unable to grasp anything. I'm sure the movie-makers and participants intended better, but this movie is not horrifying, just horrible. Still, if you ever find it being shown somewhere, invite a young child you're not particularly fond of to watch it, then tap on his/her bedroom window after he/she goes to bed!
Why did they even make this movie?
burkhart-35 January 2001
One night several years ago I programmed my VCR to tape "Rodan" in the middle of the night and the thing didn't shut off. This movie was on afterwards, so I accidentally had it on tape, too. There is nothing about this movie to recommend it. Akim Tamiroff was a good character actor in a number of good films. This is not one of them. I used to have the dialogue from this movie on my answering machine, because it was so goofy. Someone called one day and thought it was from "Plan 9 from Outer Space" so that should give you some idea of the caliber of film we are talking about here. The acting is bad, the music is bad, the special effects are, well, not very special. Unless your VCR accidentally tapes this movie or you are a hopeless insomniac, should you find that this movie is on late one night... go to bed. You'll be much happier in the morning.
Cornwall to Windsor, a spot of ballet, and back again.
BA_Harrison19 December 2023
The Vulture is a rather tedious movie for the most part, with lots of talk and very little action, but the basic premise is so supremely daft that it results in one or two priceless moments of unintentional hilarity that no fan of bad horror movies will be able to resist.
The film opens in Cornwall, as teacher Ellen West (Annette Carell) takes a late night walk home through a reputedly haunted churchyard; her stroll is interrupted by something monstrous emerging from a grave and flying away, leaving the teacher in a state of severe shock. After hearing about the incident, and doing some investigative work, American nuclear scientist Eric Lutens (Robert Hutton) concocts a crazy theory involving a centuries old Spaniard, a box of treasure, a bird of prey, and an experiment involving 'nuclear transmutation' which he believes has resulted in a half-man/half-vulture creature. The police aren't convinced, but it turns out he's on the money, and the vulture is intent on revenge, targeting the family of Eric's wife Trudy (Diane Clare).
After the well-executed opening scene in the churchyard, The Vulture settles into monotony for quite some time, as writer/director Lawrence Huntington fleshes out his silly story, providing exposition about his creature and the reason for its grudge, as well as introducing an obvious red herring in the form of Melcher (Edward Caddick), a crazy albino sexton. It should be blatantly obvious who the real culprit is: antiquarian Prof. Hans Koniglich (Akim Tamiroff), who is the only other option once Melchor has been discounted -- he walks with the help of two canes, wears a large cape (perfect for concealing wings and feathers), and he's German!
No doubt due to budgetary limitations, there is very little of the actual vulture in the film, but what we do get is pure comedy gold, as a large pair of ridiculous looking talons drop into frame, grabbing hold of its victims shoulders to carry them away to its lair. Also rather amusing is the fact that the film would have us believe that Windsor is on the doorstep of Cornwall, Eric and Trudy repeatedly making the five hour journey in a matter of minutes.
3.5/10, rounded up to 4 for IMDb.
The film opens in Cornwall, as teacher Ellen West (Annette Carell) takes a late night walk home through a reputedly haunted churchyard; her stroll is interrupted by something monstrous emerging from a grave and flying away, leaving the teacher in a state of severe shock. After hearing about the incident, and doing some investigative work, American nuclear scientist Eric Lutens (Robert Hutton) concocts a crazy theory involving a centuries old Spaniard, a box of treasure, a bird of prey, and an experiment involving 'nuclear transmutation' which he believes has resulted in a half-man/half-vulture creature. The police aren't convinced, but it turns out he's on the money, and the vulture is intent on revenge, targeting the family of Eric's wife Trudy (Diane Clare).
After the well-executed opening scene in the churchyard, The Vulture settles into monotony for quite some time, as writer/director Lawrence Huntington fleshes out his silly story, providing exposition about his creature and the reason for its grudge, as well as introducing an obvious red herring in the form of Melcher (Edward Caddick), a crazy albino sexton. It should be blatantly obvious who the real culprit is: antiquarian Prof. Hans Koniglich (Akim Tamiroff), who is the only other option once Melchor has been discounted -- he walks with the help of two canes, wears a large cape (perfect for concealing wings and feathers), and he's German!
No doubt due to budgetary limitations, there is very little of the actual vulture in the film, but what we do get is pure comedy gold, as a large pair of ridiculous looking talons drop into frame, grabbing hold of its victims shoulders to carry them away to its lair. Also rather amusing is the fact that the film would have us believe that Windsor is on the doorstep of Cornwall, Eric and Trudy repeatedly making the five hour journey in a matter of minutes.
3.5/10, rounded up to 4 for IMDb.
"I very much doubt the authenticity of the story"
hwg1957-102-26570414 October 2023
Warning: Spoilers
A half-man half-vulture Prof. Hans Koniglich stalks the Stroud family in revenge because one of their ancestors killed one of his ancestors. Or something like that. The matter is investigated by obnoxious scientist Eric Lutens played boringly by Robert Hutton and his wife Trudy played by the ever cute Diane Clare, a lead couple who are supposedly married but have no spark between them. Heavyweight actors Broderick Crawford and Akim Tamiroff are also in it but don't have much to do. I did like Edward Caddick as the skinny sexton Melcher but again he was underused. It is supposedly set in Cornwall but looks more like Hertfordshire in the winter. When you actually see the titular vulture it is a trifle disappointing. A film that doesn't rise above the tedious.
what a waste
armen-173 March 2005
What a waste of the great Akim Tamiroff this movie is. He is the one redeeming feature in a film containing some of the most desperately wooden performances ever inflicted on a paying audience. The bint playing the female lead is particularly awful but at least there is some entertainment value in admiring her ghastliness. Broderick Crawford is dispensed of all too soon by the big bird of the title. Check those feathery talons as they swoop down and carry him away to freedom from the surrounding turgidness.Oh Akim! It may have seemed a good idea on paper, and you are genuinely creepy and genuinely scene stealingly watchable as ever, but this tosh was completely unworthy of your presence.Admire the great man in Topkapi,The Way of all Flesh etc. instead.
Corny but effective little chiller.
searchanddestroy-121 September 2020
The first thing I would say about this film is that it contains much THE AVENGERS series DNA. Mystery in the English countryside with many creepy and totally crazy scenes. OK, this is not a masterpiece, but don't watch it as if it was, don't expect anything great, then you won't be deceived. Typically british and far enough for my taste.
Justifiably obscure
LJ2730 June 2009
Warning: Spoilers
POSSIBLE SPOILERS: I'm pretty lenient towards makers of low-budget horror films, especially from the 1950s and 60s. I try to give the benefit of the doubt that the makers of most films truly wanted to make the best film possible with the resources available. That having been said, after a lifetime of seeing B&W stills from THE VULTURE and assuming it was shot in black & white, I was surprised to discover it was shot in color, by Stephen Dade, the cinematographer who also had shot DR. BLOOD'S COFFIN and WAR-GODS OF THE DEEP, among others. This film has excellent photography and decent sets. The budget is said to be about $200,000 Canadian dollars which wasn't much for a movie even in 1967 but I can't believe anyone would have spent even that much to make such a nothing movie as this one. I understand it was released theatrically in black & white and the black & white stills make it seem more atmospheric than it is in color. According to the credits, it was shot in England although it is considered a Canadian film. The locations are nice taking place in Cornwall I think. From what I can recall of the plot, it has an involved storyline that is just some incredible hooey. I think anyone over the age of 10 would have a hard time swallowing this wacky storyline and the creature of the title is just plain laughable. Now, this isn't the only film to offer a laughable creature but I can't believe anyone really thought they could get away with this ridiculous monster. It would have been barely acceptable even in some creaky film from the 1930s, much less from a film made as late as 1967. This is not to say that the filmmakers went out of their way to try to even make something that could be shown in one complete shot. It's implied through editing. Some people say that monster movies are scarier if you don't show the monster. Well, this one could only be scarier if you never saw the monster, although as I said before, you don't get much of a look at it - but even if they had sprung for some full-body suit or even a stop-motion animation model of the creature as it appears in this film, it would still be a laughable, cartoonish design. I assume this is an attempt to do something along the lines of THE FLY. It has some gobbledygook about transmutation and a big underground lab with a creepy skeleton sitting at the controls (which was the first photo I ever saw from this movie). I assume IMDb has the year of release right. I've seen it listed as having been produced as early as 1966 and as late as 1968. It's hard to find these days and it's even hard to find online reviews of the film, probably because there just isn't much reason to be interested in the film. I was curious about it based on the publicity stills and I had read that the title monster was lousy but having seen it, I know I'd never bother to waste the time it would take to watch it again. Only worth seeking out if you are a fan of some member of the cast or if you are a completist who wishes to see every single horror/sci-fi movie regardless of quality.
A deadly slow monster flick
spetersen-79-96204426 October 2011
Warning: Spoilers
The Vulture is a British monster movie from the 1960s, so I was pre-disposed to adore it. Yet it moved so slowly, and made so little use of the monster, that all my potential goodwill evaporated by the time it was half over.
As a result of mad science, some kind of large bird is killing people. We don't necessarily expect graphic gore in a film from 1967, but we don't get hardly ANY. The attack scenes, when we get one (some deaths occur offscreen), are almost cursory in their briefness - some active shots with stiff fake bird claws in the foreground and a person screaming in the background.
The movie plods along like an especially slow police procedural, as the hero tries to figure out what the bird is, where it comes from. Of course the idea of it being a vulture with killer talons is absurd, because vultures have the weakest claws of all birds of prey. But I guess maybe the British don't have any vultures around (I live in Texas and see them all the time - they're not scary).
In any case the monster turns out to be a mad scientist who is committing the murders for the stupidest reason ever - to avenge an ancestor's death. I mean it's one thing to seek revenge because your wife (Dr. Phibes), or your kid (Friday the 13th), or your dog (Road Warrior) was killed, or because you were denied money (Devil Bat) or fame (Terror of Mechagodzilla). But because a remote ancestor died? Who wasn't even killed by the people YOU are killing? Seems a bit cerebral not to mention stupid to me.
Plus the monster is ludicrously lame when we finally get to see it, about 30 seconds from the movie. SPOILER ALERT!! It's pudgy old Broderick Crawford with bird legs. That's it. He's not even a were-vulture - he has bird legs all the time - a handicap that you think would be interesting to explore. How does he hide the fact that he can't wear shoes, and his knees work the wrong way? THAT movie might be cool.
Instead if you want to see a revenge horror movie, I recommend any of those I referenced a couple paragraphs up. All of them are more entertaining than The Vulture. Even The Devil Bat.
As a result of mad science, some kind of large bird is killing people. We don't necessarily expect graphic gore in a film from 1967, but we don't get hardly ANY. The attack scenes, when we get one (some deaths occur offscreen), are almost cursory in their briefness - some active shots with stiff fake bird claws in the foreground and a person screaming in the background.
The movie plods along like an especially slow police procedural, as the hero tries to figure out what the bird is, where it comes from. Of course the idea of it being a vulture with killer talons is absurd, because vultures have the weakest claws of all birds of prey. But I guess maybe the British don't have any vultures around (I live in Texas and see them all the time - they're not scary).
In any case the monster turns out to be a mad scientist who is committing the murders for the stupidest reason ever - to avenge an ancestor's death. I mean it's one thing to seek revenge because your wife (Dr. Phibes), or your kid (Friday the 13th), or your dog (Road Warrior) was killed, or because you were denied money (Devil Bat) or fame (Terror of Mechagodzilla). But because a remote ancestor died? Who wasn't even killed by the people YOU are killing? Seems a bit cerebral not to mention stupid to me.
Plus the monster is ludicrously lame when we finally get to see it, about 30 seconds from the movie. SPOILER ALERT!! It's pudgy old Broderick Crawford with bird legs. That's it. He's not even a were-vulture - he has bird legs all the time - a handicap that you think would be interesting to explore. How does he hide the fact that he can't wear shoes, and his knees work the wrong way? THAT movie might be cool.
Instead if you want to see a revenge horror movie, I recommend any of those I referenced a couple paragraphs up. All of them are more entertaining than The Vulture. Even The Devil Bat.
Truly Cheesy.
otter12 March 1999
I haven't seen this since I was a kid, but I remember:
The leading man played a scientist who pronounced "nuclear" and "nuke-you-lar" through the whole film.
It was about some giant mutant vulture but they were too cheap to get a whole bird (fake or real), there was just this pair of big rubber bird feet that landed on the shoulders of bit actors and supposedly carried them off.
The whole thing was so dreadfully low-budget that I think the people at Mystery Science Theater 3000 should have a good look.
The leading man played a scientist who pronounced "nuclear" and "nuke-you-lar" through the whole film.
It was about some giant mutant vulture but they were too cheap to get a whole bird (fake or real), there was just this pair of big rubber bird feet that landed on the shoulders of bit actors and supposedly carried them off.
The whole thing was so dreadfully low-budget that I think the people at Mystery Science Theater 3000 should have a good look.
What comes there faintly tapping, tapping at my chamber window?
Coventry7 July 2008
Warning: Spoilers
"The Vulture" is a partly American, partly Canadian but primarily British produced horror film from the era when the genre was at its most successful peak in that country, yet it never received any critics' attention and by today it's even virtually impossible to find a half-decent copy on tape or DVD-R. The obscurity status is perhaps owing to the fact Hammer Studios didn't produce the film as they undoubtedly ruled the British horror and Sci-Fi industry at the time but definitely also to the overly silly premise and muddled script. Lawrence Huntington's one-man project (he wrote, produced and directed "The Vulture") contains a number of good ideas and occasionally even some macabre atmosphere, but the plot is simply too grotesque and the more they try to explain the horrific events, the more unintentionally hilarious the film becomes. With a straight face and wooden posture, the protagonist intellectually links folklore horror legends with actual scientific theories, like claiming it's perfectly possible to summon a half-man/half-bird monster through genetic transmutation
or something. The biggest mistake the film makes is that it takes itself way too seriously, and the more director Huntington actually tries to convince his audiences about the possibility of a resurrected man-vulture, the lower the quality level sinks. I mean, we horror fans gladly tolerate the weirdest plot twists and always take the most far-fetched supernatural phenomena with a grain of salt, but please don't try and fool us into believing this stuff can actually happen for real! That's just insulting our intelligence and you don't want to do that! The film opens promisingly, I may add with its own trailer in black and white. The actual opening credits follow straight away, in nifty colours all of a sudden, and "The Vulture" promptly serves its most intense and frightening sequence. During a stroll through the graveyard of a small community in Cornwall, a poor woman witnesses how a monstrous vulture with a human face emerges from the tomb of a legendary local sorcerer and flies away into the dark night. The shocking incident instantly turns the hair on her head all white, but everybody else in town simply claims she's mad. However, morbid events continue to occur and an American nuclear scientist on holiday to visit his wife's relatives believes that death will come from the skies, in the shape of a half-man/half bird killing machine. At a sudden point, can't really point out when exactly, "The Vulture" starts proclaiming one ridiculous twist after the other while the coherence goes to hell and gigantic plot holes completely ruin the last remaining bit of plausibility. Apparently, the bad guy who wanted to avenge the death of his ancestor and re-animated his spirit "forgot" that he got buried with his vulture-pet and thus the two accidentally merged together. The explanation instantly reminded me of that scene in "Hot Shots 2" where, in an attempt to spoof "Terminator 2", the destroyed body of Saddam Hussein amalgamates with that of his poodle. The whole thing even gets more stupid when the vulture turns out to have hands on the end of his wings and actually taps the windows of his victims in order to lure them outside. Or when the female protagonist simply decides for herself to go on a nightly walk even though she just found out she's the last target left alive and in spite of her husband's strict recommendation to stay in London or at least indoors. Furthermore, what's the connection with the chest full of golden coins and who is that pale-haired freak popping up everywhere? Still, since I'm a huge sucker for low-budgeted Gothic horror and especially since the idea of a big black bird snatching away its victims into the night unquestionably appeals to the average horror fanatic, I can't get too harsh on "The Vulture". As said, the opening sequence in the graveyard is reasonably unsettling and there are a few other notably atmospheric moments as well. The exterior sets are pretty to look at, albeit mostly irrelevant to the plot, and cast list features a few prominent actors that give away much better performances than their silly characters deserve. The financial means obviously were very restricted; so don't expect to see many bloody killings or decent images of the titular fowl. We can admire its talons a couple of times, though.
Brod and Akim Together Again
richardchatten22 January 2017
Warning: Spoilers
The scariest part of this quickie was the prospect of seeing what boded to be the big screen's stupidest-looking monster since 'The Giant Claw' (to which an earlier reviewer has already remarked the similarity). Mercifully, even the film's makers probably realised how ridiculous the monster described in the script was going to look, so thankfully we barely see it.
The film starts well with the ever elegant Annette Carell as a local schoolteacher going boldly were no man would dare to go across a spooky churchyard at night; although what she sees emerge from beneath one of the headstones would have been more likely to have put her in hospital from bursting a blood vessel laughing than - as happens here - giving her such a fright it turned her sleek, brunette mane white. In hospital she gets a visit from the local sexton, a creepy albino who instructs her to keep her trap shut - Or Else! - and hangs about her hospital room apparently planning permanently to silence her, before seemingly forgetting about the idea; although sadly that is the last we see of her.
When the action transfers to the palatial country home of Brian Stroud (played by Broderick Crawford), the pace slows to a crawl and the film becomes an endless succession of scenes in which Dr. Eric Lutens (Robert Hutton), "one of the top nuclear scientists in the world", who just happens to be here on holiday, engages in wild and unsubstantiated - but invariably correct - speculation about the strange events occurring locally, coming to the conclusion that a monstrous creature has been created nearby (in a nod by the script to 'The Fly') "by nuclear transmutation". How the cast kept a straight face talking all this rot is by far the greater mystery, although the leaden lack of any conscious humour makes the film even heavier going to get through.
The film is historically interesting for reuniting two of Hollywood's beefiest hams - Broderick Crawford & Akim Tamiroff - for the first time since 'The Texas Rangers Ride Again' (1940) over a quarter of a century earlier; they have one brief scene together, Akim shuffling about in a cape and wide-brimmed hat borrowed from Orson Welles. The monster leaves gold coins dotted about the village - each bearing the date of the original curse, 1749 (which is the logical equivalent of all the loose change in Dr. Lutens's pocket consisting exclusively of coins minted in 1966; or of none of the coins in my own pocket dating from earlier than 2017). As usual, heroine Diane Clare is the only cast member to come out of a close encounter with the title monster in one piece.
Although set in Cornwall most of the attractive English exteriors were actually shot around Iver Heath in Buckinghamshire in the vicinity of Pinewood Studios. The drippy score is by Eric Spear, who died before the film was released, but whose name continues to appear fifty years after his death on British TV every week in the end credits of 'Coronation Street', for which he wrote the theme.
The film starts well with the ever elegant Annette Carell as a local schoolteacher going boldly were no man would dare to go across a spooky churchyard at night; although what she sees emerge from beneath one of the headstones would have been more likely to have put her in hospital from bursting a blood vessel laughing than - as happens here - giving her such a fright it turned her sleek, brunette mane white. In hospital she gets a visit from the local sexton, a creepy albino who instructs her to keep her trap shut - Or Else! - and hangs about her hospital room apparently planning permanently to silence her, before seemingly forgetting about the idea; although sadly that is the last we see of her.
When the action transfers to the palatial country home of Brian Stroud (played by Broderick Crawford), the pace slows to a crawl and the film becomes an endless succession of scenes in which Dr. Eric Lutens (Robert Hutton), "one of the top nuclear scientists in the world", who just happens to be here on holiday, engages in wild and unsubstantiated - but invariably correct - speculation about the strange events occurring locally, coming to the conclusion that a monstrous creature has been created nearby (in a nod by the script to 'The Fly') "by nuclear transmutation". How the cast kept a straight face talking all this rot is by far the greater mystery, although the leaden lack of any conscious humour makes the film even heavier going to get through.
The film is historically interesting for reuniting two of Hollywood's beefiest hams - Broderick Crawford & Akim Tamiroff - for the first time since 'The Texas Rangers Ride Again' (1940) over a quarter of a century earlier; they have one brief scene together, Akim shuffling about in a cape and wide-brimmed hat borrowed from Orson Welles. The monster leaves gold coins dotted about the village - each bearing the date of the original curse, 1749 (which is the logical equivalent of all the loose change in Dr. Lutens's pocket consisting exclusively of coins minted in 1966; or of none of the coins in my own pocket dating from earlier than 2017). As usual, heroine Diane Clare is the only cast member to come out of a close encounter with the title monster in one piece.
Although set in Cornwall most of the attractive English exteriors were actually shot around Iver Heath in Buckinghamshire in the vicinity of Pinewood Studios. The drippy score is by Eric Spear, who died before the film was released, but whose name continues to appear fifty years after his death on British TV every week in the end credits of 'Coronation Street', for which he wrote the theme.
Terrible
GeoDover25 November 2015
Warning: Spoilers
The Vulture is ludicrous. A Spanish criminal buried with his pet vulture is inexplicably combined with Akim Tamiroff, who plays a seemingly benign scientist experimenting with matter transfer in rural Cornwall. Equally ludicrous is Broderick Crawford playing a Scottish lord whose family is targeted by the vulture. Lead actor Robert Hutton's character advances ridiculous theories about who or what is killing Brod's relatives without any real evidence to support his theories... yet, he's 100% correct every time. Lawrence Huntington's final B movie was a disaster and especially an embarrassment for Akim Tamiroff. The first 5 minutes are mildly scary. The rest is terrible.
Dreary horror flick - starts well, rapidly loses its way, and never recovers from that point onwards.
barnabyrudge1 February 2013
Warning: Spoilers
While the latter half of the '60s was a time of some very good horror movies (The Devil Rides Out, Rosemary's Baby, The Tomb Of Ligeia, Night Of The Living Dead to name a few), it was also a time of some pretty terrible ones too. The Vulture falls into the latter category. This British-American-Canadian co-production starts off well enough - with a suitably eerie graveyard scene - but after that it's ninety further minutes of sheer tedium relieved only by story idiocy and wooden acting. Some decent actors get dragged down with this shipwreck of a movie – prolific stars like Robert Hutton, Akim Tamiroff and Broderick Crawford (a former Oscar-winner) really deserve better material than this.
In Cornwall, a local legend tells of a man buried alive several hundreds years ago whose spirit will one day return in the guise of a half-man- half-vulture monster to seek vengeance on the ancestors of those who buried him. When strong-minded school teacher, Ellen West (Annette Carrell), claims to have been attacked by a beast of this description in the graveyard, most people dismiss her story as scaremongering nonsense. However, American scientist Eric Lutens (Robert Hutton) – visiting his wife (Diane Clare) and family in the region – believes that some sort of nuclear transmutation may have occurred and that the creature may be very real indeed. When he discovers that his wife's family are actually the ancestors of those that buried the unfortunate victim several centuries earlier, he realises that she may be in danger. Her stubborn uncles, Brian (Broderick Crawford) and Edward (Gordon Sterne), are also potential targets of the mysterious monster. Helped by local scientist Prof. Hans Koniglich (Akim Tamiroff), Lutens races to solve the mystery before his wife and her family fall victim to a deadly revenge-seeking monster.
The seasoned cast are thoroughly embarrassed by the particularly moronic gibberish that passes for "scientific dialogue" in the movie. Worse still, the monster is never really seen – just some horribly unconvincing rubber claws which swoop down from somewhere just above the line of the camera to grab at the victims, while a flapping noise is used to suggest that a really big bird is on the rampage. Ooh, scary or perhaps not. There's little atmosphere and little entertainment factor – just a long, slow build-up to a finale that never delivers. It avoids the dreaded one-star rating due to its one OK scene (the cemetery-set opening in which Carrell's character is attacked by the mysterious creature). Apart from that one half-decent moment, the whole film is a boring waste of time and talent.
In Cornwall, a local legend tells of a man buried alive several hundreds years ago whose spirit will one day return in the guise of a half-man- half-vulture monster to seek vengeance on the ancestors of those who buried him. When strong-minded school teacher, Ellen West (Annette Carrell), claims to have been attacked by a beast of this description in the graveyard, most people dismiss her story as scaremongering nonsense. However, American scientist Eric Lutens (Robert Hutton) – visiting his wife (Diane Clare) and family in the region – believes that some sort of nuclear transmutation may have occurred and that the creature may be very real indeed. When he discovers that his wife's family are actually the ancestors of those that buried the unfortunate victim several centuries earlier, he realises that she may be in danger. Her stubborn uncles, Brian (Broderick Crawford) and Edward (Gordon Sterne), are also potential targets of the mysterious monster. Helped by local scientist Prof. Hans Koniglich (Akim Tamiroff), Lutens races to solve the mystery before his wife and her family fall victim to a deadly revenge-seeking monster.
The seasoned cast are thoroughly embarrassed by the particularly moronic gibberish that passes for "scientific dialogue" in the movie. Worse still, the monster is never really seen – just some horribly unconvincing rubber claws which swoop down from somewhere just above the line of the camera to grab at the victims, while a flapping noise is used to suggest that a really big bird is on the rampage. Ooh, scary or perhaps not. There's little atmosphere and little entertainment factor – just a long, slow build-up to a finale that never delivers. It avoids the dreaded one-star rating due to its one OK scene (the cemetery-set opening in which Carrell's character is attacked by the mysterious creature). Apart from that one half-decent moment, the whole film is a boring waste of time and talent.
Vulture?! More like a turkey!
planktonrules29 November 2016
While "The Vulture" looks like the actors are trying hard to make it realistic, the plot is so utterly absurd that you can't possibly take the movie seriously!
The film begins with a woman supposedly seeing a half-man, half-bird creature pop out of a grave! Many, many, many years ago, the guy in the grave vowed vengeance on the family of the folks who did him wrong and it appears as if maybe this is why the giant bird-thingie has appeared. However, folks don't take this very seriously until the creature (actually all you see are giant talons) swoop down and carry off a guy. It' supposed to be scary...I thought it was hilarious instead! Dr. Lutens (Robert Hutton) thinks there's a rational and scientific answer to all this. So, what's next? See the film...or not!
This film not only is dumb but rather dull. It will make you laugh now and again but not often enough to make it a bad film buff pic...and certainly no one else would want to see it! It could have used more scenes with the ridiculous bird thingie!!
By the way, how were the filmmakers able to get Broderick Crawford (an Oscar winner) AND Akim Tamiroff (nominated for two Oscars) for this dreadful picture? I can only assume they were holding their family members hostage....that's all that would explain their taking parts in an obvious turkey!
The film begins with a woman supposedly seeing a half-man, half-bird creature pop out of a grave! Many, many, many years ago, the guy in the grave vowed vengeance on the family of the folks who did him wrong and it appears as if maybe this is why the giant bird-thingie has appeared. However, folks don't take this very seriously until the creature (actually all you see are giant talons) swoop down and carry off a guy. It' supposed to be scary...I thought it was hilarious instead! Dr. Lutens (Robert Hutton) thinks there's a rational and scientific answer to all this. So, what's next? See the film...or not!
This film not only is dumb but rather dull. It will make you laugh now and again but not often enough to make it a bad film buff pic...and certainly no one else would want to see it! It could have used more scenes with the ridiculous bird thingie!!
By the way, how were the filmmakers able to get Broderick Crawford (an Oscar winner) AND Akim Tamiroff (nominated for two Oscars) for this dreadful picture? I can only assume they were holding their family members hostage....that's all that would explain their taking parts in an obvious turkey!
This movie has absolutely nothing for nobody.
majesty32712 November 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Okay, I'll make it brief: Boring acting, boring sets, boring special effects, boring motivations, boring characters, boring everything really. This film moves too slow, and leaves too much in the dark. I rarely turn off a movie half-way through, and I've sat through some horrible movies, but this one actively made me turn it off in the first few minutes, play solitaire to compose myself, and finish it. I've seen Smoking Aces 2 and Titanic 2 in their entirety without taking a break. But where those movies succeed and this movie fails is entertainment. A movie should ALWAYS, and I repeat ALWAYS entertain. Regardless of quality. That's the absolute bare minimum, and this film did not achieve it. I'll fully admit that the first scene is pretty well handled, but that for me is another problem with the movie. It makes great promises, and fails to deliver. It leaves you with higher expectations than the movie can account for. I don't necessarily demand that all movies move lightning fast like Crank, but I do expect to at want to finish the movie. No go with this one. And it's not even like the acting and special effects are bad enough to laugh at like an Asylum film. It's just flavorless, dull, and boring. If you're trying to introduce someone to the sixties, this is not the film to do it. It's a full-blown 0/10 for failing even the basics.
Stay away from open spaces and open windows
kapelusznik184 January 2015
Warning: Spoilers
****SPOILERS**** Boring horror movie with Academy Award winning actor Broderick Crawford, he must have needed the money, as Brian F. Stroud who's family have been cursed for the last 200 years. That's for a crime committed by one of his ancestors in burying an innocent man alive, a Sexton, without a proper or Christian burial. This has this half man half bird creature show up who was first spotted flying out Squire Sexton's grave in the Cornwall Cemetery by school teacher Ellen West, Annette Carell, that left her hospitalized and both prematurely gray and speechless.
It was top US nuclear scientist Dr, Eric Lutens, Robert Hutton, on a visit to England who took a keen interest in all this in that his wife Trudy, Diane Clare, Brian Stroud's niece is one of the last living members of the Stroud family who's life may well be in danger because of the Stroud curse. To his good fortune in being killed off as soon as possible, and thus being able to exit the movie, Broderick Crawford or Brian Stroud ends up being the man/bird's first victim. It's then that Dr. Lutens gets in touch with the kindly and crippled, from a fall in the shower, local antiquarian and bird watcher Prof. Hans Koniglich, Akim Tamiroff, who seems to have some experience with the supernatural that this man/bird seems to be apart of.
****SPOILERS**** It's much later that the man/bird gives the bird, or business, to the Stroud family and kills off screen Brian Stroud's kid brother Edward, Gordon Stems, making Trudy the last of the Stroud's to be targeted by man/bird in completing the Stroud curse. With Trudy later kidnapped by the winged killer Dr. Lutens tracked it and her, yes she's still alive, down to it's hideout on the cliffs overlooking the sea and soon finds out just who this bird/man really is and how it came into existence: From a mad scientist experiment on fusing the genes of man and bird together in order to create a new life-form! The ending has the man/bird put on ice, or ice water, at the bottom of the Irish Sea after Dr. Lutens with the aid of his wife Trudy blasted it to kingdom come. And also gave it a proper burial at sea to keep it from coming back again in the future.
It was top US nuclear scientist Dr, Eric Lutens, Robert Hutton, on a visit to England who took a keen interest in all this in that his wife Trudy, Diane Clare, Brian Stroud's niece is one of the last living members of the Stroud family who's life may well be in danger because of the Stroud curse. To his good fortune in being killed off as soon as possible, and thus being able to exit the movie, Broderick Crawford or Brian Stroud ends up being the man/bird's first victim. It's then that Dr. Lutens gets in touch with the kindly and crippled, from a fall in the shower, local antiquarian and bird watcher Prof. Hans Koniglich, Akim Tamiroff, who seems to have some experience with the supernatural that this man/bird seems to be apart of.
****SPOILERS**** It's much later that the man/bird gives the bird, or business, to the Stroud family and kills off screen Brian Stroud's kid brother Edward, Gordon Stems, making Trudy the last of the Stroud's to be targeted by man/bird in completing the Stroud curse. With Trudy later kidnapped by the winged killer Dr. Lutens tracked it and her, yes she's still alive, down to it's hideout on the cliffs overlooking the sea and soon finds out just who this bird/man really is and how it came into existence: From a mad scientist experiment on fusing the genes of man and bird together in order to create a new life-form! The ending has the man/bird put on ice, or ice water, at the bottom of the Irish Sea after Dr. Lutens with the aid of his wife Trudy blasted it to kingdom come. And also gave it a proper burial at sea to keep it from coming back again in the future.
Oversized, Cackling Vulture Thing Terrorizes Cornwall in Far-Fetched Absurdity
jfrentzen-942-20421123 February 2024
Though it starts in suitably spooky fashion, this British-Canadian co-production soon flounders on its own ineptitude. A mysteriously open grave in a village on the Cornish coast is linked to an old manuscript which describes the corpse as a 16th-century Spaniard buried with a chest of coin and a pet vulture, vowing vengeance on a local family. Then strange things and deaths start to occur among the modern descendants. The husband of a young women in the family has a far-fetched theory that is so absurd to believe in this context, and the acting and dialogue deteriorate with the story. The vulture-thing flies around cackling, which gives you some idea of what passes for scares in this B-movie.
The Turkey, might be a better title.
Prichards123452 November 2016
Warning: Spoilers
This really is an awfully bad movie, although the opening sequence in a graveyard is quite effective. It soon descends into a dreary slog, however, during which a series of murderous attacks is revealed to be the work of a guy who transforms into a vulture. It's all linked to a cursed gold coin. Johnny Depp got off lightly if you ask me...
Poor Akim Tamiroff. He really didn't deserve this. Those fake vulture legs as they grip an intended victim prior to swooping off with him are hysterical. I have to admit I laughed my head off - not exactly a sign the movie's working then!
Yep there are worse flicks out there, but we are unable to rate films between zero and one on IMDb so it will have to get stuck with the MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE score. "Talons of Terror" my a*se.
Poor Akim Tamiroff. He really didn't deserve this. Those fake vulture legs as they grip an intended victim prior to swooping off with him are hysterical. I have to admit I laughed my head off - not exactly a sign the movie's working then!
Yep there are worse flicks out there, but we are unable to rate films between zero and one on IMDb so it will have to get stuck with the MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE score. "Talons of Terror" my a*se.
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