Blu-ray Review: Theatre of Blood (1973) Vincent Price, Diana Rigg

A genuine classic from the early '70s, this wonderful piece of Grand Guignol is both a tour de force of acting from Vincent Price, but a great ensemble piece, with many instantly recognisable stars from the period.

Edward Lionheart (Price) is an famous stage actor, so disgusted that the critic's choice award was given to someone else when he thought he Shakespeare season would have clinched it, that he throws himself into the Thames, with the scoffing hacks watching. He's saved by a group of tramps, however, and plots a diabolical vengeance on those who he ridiculed his work.
Using the many deaths in the plays he performed as inspiration he offs them one by one.

 

While the film is very well known, and has played on TV numerous times - indeed, I'd wager most of the people who buy it would have seen it on a late night screening when they were in their teens, it's a very welcome release. Not only is it incredibly enjoyable as a horror film: the deaths are particularly gory and rather brutal - especially the first couple, but it has a great streak of black humour, which makes repeat viewings a delight.

 

Among the stellar cast, there's some 'old' greats such as Michael Hordern, whose death occurs within the first few minutes and is especially nasty. The great, but fading, Dennis Price (who by this time had been in several low budget horror films, the best of which was Horror Hospital) also suffers a really gruesome fate; as well as being speared, he is dragged by a horse in front of the mourners at Hordern's funeral (cemetery geek point: this was filmed at the glorious Kensal Green Cemetery). Lovable Arthur Lowe is decapitated in his bed while his wife (Joan Hickson) complains of his snoring (it's actually the saw going through bone). Harry Andrews donates a pound of flesh while Coral Browne (with whom Price started an affair and later married) is electrocuted while having her hair done by a wonderfully camp Butch (Price, in bubble-perm wig and hippy clothes). Boozy Robert Coote (My Fair Lady) is drowned in a vat of wine, and Jack Hawkins (voiced by Charles Gray since cancer had taken his voice box) is locked up for life for being tricked into killing his wife (Diana Dors). The most audacious and hilarious in it's own sick way is Robert Morley, being fed his 'babies' (his poodles) baked in a pie. Ian Hendry (Repulsion) is the critic helping the police, but he too has a run-in with Lionheart. You don't have to be an expert on the Bard to get the references in the murders, as they are all signposted and mentioned.

Diana Rigg pops up as Lionheart's daughter - and only the less observant will fail to spot her elsewhere, and the police investigating are played by Milo O'Shea (Barbarella) and Eric Sykes, although not necessarily a stooge roll, he stills manages a few gags thanks to his genius at physical comedy. It's Price's film, though and despite the fact he's meant to be overacting and hamming it up, his renditions of Shakespeare lines are truly spectacular. You can see he is obviously relishing the part; particularly as critics often wrote him off as a hack too. There's a great morality at play, these writers, who make it their business to criticise a performance - often ruining careers with their words purely because they wield the power - don't often think of the consequences of the bad notices they give. Of course, if something is terrible it needs to be said, but one should never resort to personal attacks or name-calling, something they do when they don't like a particular actor (naming no names, but I'm sure there's a few people you could think of). The pen might be mightier than the sword in theory, but not when it's going through your stomach.

 

The film is released on Blu-ray from the wonderful Arrow Video, and once again they do a fantastic job. Not only is the film presented in stunning quality (the screenshots presented here are from an earlier DVD release - I don't have the facility to grab HD shots), it's worth pointing out that it is fully uncut too (some earlier releases are missing some shots of Arthur Lowe's head on a milk bottle).  There's also the wealth of  supplementary features we have come to expect from the arguably the best cult film distributor in the UK, if not the world. *side note: let's hope it stays this way, and the planned changes to the BBFC submissions system forcing extras features to be classified - and as such paid for - don't go through the way they are threatened.* To start with, the beautiful booklet is packed full of info and rare stills, then on the disc itself, there's a cracking commentary from The League of Gentlemen (Reece Shearsmith, Mark Gatiss, Jeremy Dyson and Steve Pemberton), which is very entertaining, full of info and very much like ear-wigging on a group of mates in a pub, having a jolly good chat about films. Then, a series of short interviews with some key people about the film. The lovely Madeline Smith (one of only two - Dame Diana Rigg being the other - of the main cast members who are still alive) talks frankly about her time on the set, including some of the low points (such as the fact they were made to run through the burning building for real). American critic and fan David Del Valle talks of the horror star's career, while Vincent's daughter Victoria tells of her father's love for the film, and, in a surprisingly quirky and entertaining interview, composer Michael J. Lewis (The Man Who Haunted Himself) explains how he got involved. Kudos once more to Calum Waddell's High Rising Productions for putting together some great extras.

9 out of 10

Short film review: THE EL CHUPUGCABRA (2013) Directed by Aaron B. Koontz

This outlandish, bloody and outragious horror comedy short from writer/director Aaron B. Koontz is as ludicrous as its title is unpronounceable (at least to this Anglo tongue). 
A typical family have dropped into a dog rescue center to get a pup for the son (Dashiell Smith). They are warned by the attendant not to approach the cage - well, the actual warning is lifted word-for-word from The Silence of the Lambs, so it must be serious, right? The kid insists he wants this dog; a little pug whose cage is covered with caution signs and chains. Not even a strange Mexican woman, who appears out of nowhere, telling them that the dog is a devil-beast puts him off.
The father (Jeremy King) has to fill in the adoption forms and agree to a condition that they must NEVER feed the dog marshmallows. Bemused, they take the dog away, the boy naming him Chalupa. Before they have even left the car park, the crazy woman is back again, full of ominous warnings.

Things are fine, except the jerk father decides to do something to piss off the mother (Courtney Hans) at their barbeque get-together. Yep, he feeds little Chalupa a marshmallow. And like a little Gremlin, it has dire consequences. Instantly, the dog has turned into a monster and no-one is safe.

As you can imagine, this isn't made in earnest. The comic intent is displayed from the instant the Hannibal Lecter warning is heard. It's the father, however, who gets all the laughs, he's an obnoxious dick whose fast-talking and wise-cracking make you glad when the splatter starts. There are several minutes of outtakes after the credits which appear to show King's wise-ass comments were not all necessarily scripted. Most of them are biting snipes at his wife and son, and are very amusing.
But the comedy is propped up by some very good gore effects. Once the blood starts, it really flows. Or gushes, in buckets. It's a slaughter scene that's sure to please fans, it's gruesome yet still funny.
There's a strange inventiveness to the story, subverting the preconceptions and delivering a fun monster flick. The cinematography by Andrew Baird is great, particularly in the slaughter scene, which is set to the Spanish language version of Toni Basil's classic 'Mickey'. Bloodshed has never been so danceable.

Koontz has previously directed a couple of films via his Paper Street Pictures production company, a 40min film called Aperture (which I have yet to see) and the brilliantly bloody short ma·lev·o·lence, which you can see here. With other films in development, it's certain he's someone to keep an eye on in the future.

Behind the scenes shot provided by the director.

8 out of 10

DVD Review: The House In Nightmare Park (1973)

Foster Twelvetrees (Frankie Howerd) is failed actor ("the greatest master of the spoken word" according to his poster), with more ham than the cold counter at Tescos, and ideas above his station. So when he is invited to perform a reading at the imposing country home of Stewart Henderson (Ray Milland), he jumps at he chance. And the money. When various members of the Henderson family turn up demanding their regular allowance from the family patriarch Victor, they discover that he has, in fact died, and that the bumbling Twelvetrees is in the rightful heir to the family fortune, and may unwittingly know where some valuable diamonds are hidden. They must do away with the actor to stand a chance of collecting what they consider to be rightfully theirs, as well as all other competition for the diamonds.  

Long unavailable in the UK (and pretty much elsewhere) this early '70s comedy horror was the perfect vehicle for the jittery Frankie Howerd. Much in the same vein as the Bob Hope haunted house comedies of the '30/40s (The Cat and the Canary, The Ghost Breakers), this, like the Hammer/William Castle remake of The Old Dark House, benefits from a brilliant cast, and great performances. Howerd essentially plays the same character we are used to, and ones enjoyment of the comedy does depend on whether you find his routine funny (I personally love it), but the script doesn't go over the top on his idiosyncrasies, so even his detractors could bear it.

There is certainly more threat and creepiness than the usual films in this sub-genre, helped by the surroundings of Oakley Court, the go-to location for many a Hammer film (being situated next door to Bray Studios), with the lavish interior sets built at Pinewood. A sequence by the family of the house where they perform "The Dance of the Dolls" is both hilarious (Milland in a sailor boy's outfit is a something you don't often see) and incredibly bizarre. The double twist ending plays with the audience's expectations, displaying a shrewd knowledge of the genre.

Director Peter Sykes had just made Demons of the Mind, an often overlooked film, for Hammer, and would return to their fold to helm their last feature before resorting to TV, To The Devil.. A Daughter (1976). Co-writer/producer Terry Nation was most famous for being the creator of the Daleks in Doctor Who, but he also was co-writer of the 1970 horror film And Soon The Darkness.. (recently remade). The other co-writer Clive Exton had adapted Ludovic Kennedy's book of 10 Rillington Place to a screen.

Harry Robinson's score is given it's full due here, with a bonus section on the DVD of 30 minutes without any dialogue or effects. Robinson worked on Hammer's Karnstein trilogy, and his score here is geared towards the horror aspects rather than highlighting the comedic.This is due to Network DVD having access to the original negatives and tracks, and will be a feature on several of their upcoming DVDs where possible.
The film is presented in a widescreen (1:75:1) format, plus an option to view it in 4:3 Academy ratio, as it was filmed, which as you would expect, reveals much more information at the top and bottom of the screen, and show Maurice Carter's glorious sets to great effect, and doesn't hurt the composition too much.

This release is among the first in a new range of British films, some upcoming releases that are of particular interest to myself (and, hopefully, readers of this blog) are Spanish Fly (Leslie Phillips and Terry Thomas), Keep It Up Downstairs (which I reviewed a while back,and look forward to seeing again) and a Blu-ray release for The Man Who Haunted Himself (Roger Moore). For more information, check out the Network DVD website. They also do a great range of TV classics, and I have many of their box sets in my collection.
I must say though, I'm not a big fan of the slimline case, as it brings back the memories of those 99p public domain collections found on market stalls. There's nothing cheap about the presentation, though, although with a new transfer, a Blu-ray would have been nice.
9 out of 10

Review: Him Indoors (2012)

A couple of months ago, writer/director Paul Davis (who was behind the fantastic An American Werewolf In London documentary Beware The Moon) posted on Twitter (@kesslerboy) that he was looking to raise funds for a short film he was making, and set up a Sponsume page. The short would be a stepping stone and showreel for funding for his proposed full length feature previously announced, Silent Night of the Living Dead. Intrigued, I checked out the info and, liking the premise and admiring his Werewolf doc I put my money where my mouth is, and donated.

Gregory Brewster (Reece Shearsmith) is facing eviction after his mother's passing. She cared for him, and looked after all his needs as he suffers from agoraphobia. As well as the day to day things a mother would do, she always got a steady stream of people to house for Gregory to kill. Oh, yeah that minor point. Nice boy Gregory is a serial killer. So how to kill different people when you are afraid to leave the house? Well, delivery men provide a wonderful resource. As we meet Gregory he is preparing for a dinner date with the new neighbour, Lizzie (The Woman's Pollyanna McIntosh). "I had planned to do Italian" he tells the bound pizza boy in front of him, but removing his helmet to reveal he is an Asian, "But it looks like we're having Indian, instead"

Davis' script is witty and the humour pitch black, perfectly played by Shearsmith, who has had plenty of experience in dark, sinister yet funny characters (League of Gentlemen and Psychoville). Even at only 11mins long, the film manages to pack plenty into the narrative and and even a little peril, as Lizzie turns up at Gregory's a day earlier than he planned, throwing his carefully orchestrated arrangements into turmoil.
Of course, mental illness problems like agoraphobia are not really a laughing matter, but Davis handles this fantastically, drawing humour from the irony of a house bound serial killer rather than going for cheap and cruel laughs. Everything is so well executed (pun intended) that you wish it was a hell of a lot longer.
I would like to think the name Brewster was chosen as a nod to the murderous old women in Arsenic and Old Lace, but even if not, there's several things for the horror fan to look out for in the house decor, including a Rondo award and there's an appearance (of sorts) of American Werewolf alumni David ("You made me miss") Schofield, a fabulous actor who I have had the good fortune to have seen on stage a few times.

If Davis can make Silent Night of the Living Dead as enjoyable as this, then that will be an instant classic. This short is destined to be remembered fondly for many years to come, and if there's any justice, the doors should start being thrown open for a man with a definite vision, and thankfully, the talent to back it up.
The film is making its way around the film festivals (after premiering at FrightFest in London recently) including Manchester's Grimmfest, so keep an eye open for it and if you get the chance, DO check it out.
Oh, and pay attention to the end credits, and spot my name in there :)

Check it out.. I'm up there with Hitchcock and Tarantino!

10 out of 10