There are plenty of comments already posted for this film, by fans of H. P. Lovecraft and of horror films in general. Here's my take on it: The only reason I rented this film was to look at Dean Stockwell. And no, this is not his worst acting job....have you seen Werewolf of Washington? Dean is actually NOT a very subtle actor...it took years of maturity to turn him into Tony in Married to the Mob...and the delightful Al in Quantum Leap. There are very few films of Dean in this time period (1971). The other one I managed to catch was The Last Movie - Dennis Hopper's self-indulgent quirky film made in Peru. Dennis Hopper and Dean Stockwell are friends. This explains a lot of things. So I sat back and enjoyed looking at Dean...at a time when he was a skinny, pale curly-haired (no, I don't think it's a bad perm...it's Dean) tripping little dude in a long black coat and bell-bottom pants. Heck, I just love looking at his beautiful hands with the slender fingers. I kept wishing that he and Sandra Dee could just live happily ever after in their little gothic mansion on the hill...sipping their tea and being stoned together forever. The plot really got in the way of this film, you know?