Henry Seymour - The Infernal Idol

[Johnlprobert]

Henry Seymour - The Infernal Idol

Thriller Book Club 1967

"Tis an easier matter to raise the devil than to lay him"

Ahem, yes well that's the quote that opens this book (from the Adagia by Erasmus, apparently. Just doing my bit to show the Vault can also improve everyone's classical education) so who am I to argue?

I found this yesterday peeking out from a load of crime books in a secondhand shop. The publisher is The Thriller Book Club who, looking at the back cover, apparently also graced the UK of the 1960s with such literary gems as 'The Bang Bang Birds' and 'The Astrid Factor'. As far as I am aware (and I am pretty aware when it comes to such matters as many of you already know) neither of those titles have been made into low-budget British horror movies.

The Infernal Idol, however, was the basis for the unforgettable 1973 Herman Cohen movie 'Craze', directed by Freddie Francis during his 'really rubbish' period and starring the never-to-be-seen again in a horror movie pairing of Jack Palance and Dame Edith Evans, with one of those weird cast lists that includes Trevor Howard, Diana Dors, Martin Potter and David Warbeck. I'll get to the plot (and what I thought of the book) in a bit but for now here's the glorious blurb:

A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, as Neal Mottram soon learns when he dabbles in witchcraft and becomes involved in a series of ritual sacrifices.

His slippery path to the depths of degradation and despair are recorded here with a depth and vividness seldom found in a novel of this type.

There will be some who will find it disgusting in its frankness, and few will read it without sharing the fear which grips the killer after each crime, or fail to feel some distaste at his gory methods.

This is not a book for the squeamish.....

[Johnlprobert]

So this starts off with Alastair Newton, 'rugged individualist and adventurer' dropping dead and bequeathing a life-size African statue to his antiques dealer Neal Mottram. No sooner has Mr Mottram taken delivery than a witch pops into his shop and tells him he is now the owner of a 'Chuku' and could she possibly use it for a nudie ritual with some of her friends? Mottram agrees but only if they do it in his cellar so he can watch. Much gyrating of limbs follows to the shocked eyes of Mr Mottram as he peeks through the crack in the wall of his garage. The ritual doesn't work and the witches all bugger off and are never seen again. So far, so very below-average Dennis Wheatley.

Then Muriel Sharp arrives, tries to blackmail Mottram over a fake vase he sold, and ends up falling down the cellar stairs and landing throat-first on the very sharp trident being held by the statue. Much bleeding and kicking of limbs later and Mottram discovers a hidden compartment in one of his antiques that yields 72 gold sovereigns. Could there be a connection?

Any supernatural aspect is very much downplayed as Mottram starts murdering ladies for money, but the police are closing in and it's only a matter of time before we get to a rooftop chase and a downbeat finale.

A swift sleazy read, more than anything else this gave me the impression that Mr Henry Seymour really doesn't like women at all as every female character is introduced in the most disparaging way possible eg:

"She was that slightly seedy suburban housewife type who carried too much weight around the hips and spent too much of the housekeeping money on unsuccessful attempts to look glamorous"

Or:

"She was out of place in an antique shop, being obviously the type who collected plaster of paris ashtrays and brightly coloured plastic pixies to display on her mantelpiece"

And Mr Seymour's descriptions of female nudity when we get to them suggest he might possibly have been very frightened by a naked lady as a child and hasn't been able to get the utterly disgusting image out of his head since. I found this quickly got tiresome which was a shame because otherwise The Infernal Idol was a brisk, blood soaked utterly daft afternoon waster but I shan't be reading it again.

[franklinmarsh]

Jings! I watched an execerable Mill Creek version of Craze last night. Totally insane. So the gay subtext involving Martin Potter was introduced into the film by Herman Cohen then, your Lordship?. I assume Jack Palance must have read the book, because his character seems to be a bit of a womaniser, but recoils in semi-disgust every time he's called upon to slobber over Julie Ege/Diana Dors/the prostitute at the end. Stunning cast in this film. I also seem to recall seeing a milk marketing ad at the cinema showing behind the scenes for the film. Highly inappropriate. Sounds like my kind of story though...

[helrunar]

I may have to revisit Craze one of these days. It may fall into a sub-category I just realized might exist, one I'd call "sleaze camp" which was confined to certain echelons of the flagging British film industry during the decade of the 1970s. Joan Collins pouting in a black lace brassiere and Robin Askwith smirking in extra tight drawers would be the poster girl and boy for this dubious filing.

I thought Craze was really rather awful but I have to confess I enjoyed viewing it. The sequence involving British theatre doyenne Dame Edith Evans as one of Jack Palance's victims definitely rates as one of the oddest I've ever seen. I just wondered how Freddie Francis coached her in that. She was a pro so presumably she just did the scene and then was driven home for a nice comforting cream tea.

The gay subtext (which really becomes text, at certain moments) might have been autobiographical for Herman Cohen. And that's pretty scary in its own right.

The idol's name is Chuku, pronounced frequently and with tremendous elan by Actors Studio vet Palance--very believably nuts onscreen.

Hel.