Vincent Price: MGM Scream Legends Collection (The Abominable Dr. Phibes / Tales of Terror / Theater of Blood / Madhouse / Witchfinder General / Dr. Phibes Rises Again / Twice Told Tales)

Description

Disc 1 Side A: Abominable Dr. Phibes WS Disc 1 Side B: Dr. Phibes Rises Again WS

Disc 2 Side A: Tales of Terror WS Disc 2 Side B: Twice Told Tales WS

Disc 3 Side A: Theater of Blood WS Disc 3 Side B: Madhouse WS

Disc 4: Witchfinder General (aka Conqueror Worm) WS

Disc 5: Bonus Disc **"Vincent Price: Renaissance Man" - Documentary **"The Art of Fear" - Featurette **"Working with Vincent Price" - Featurette

Customer Reviews:

Only one new transfer!!.......2007-09-16

For those Price fans who already own his prior DVD film releases, note that only Witchfinder General is a new transfer to DVD. The other film transfers are from previously released editions. And as such, Twice Told Tales, Theater of Blood, and Madhouse are in letterbox format, not anamorphic. So if you already have these films, Dr. Phibes and Tales of Terror on DVD you only need to buy Witchfinder General separately, you'll get nothing else new here. Fox cleverly fails to disclose the format of its DVDs by calling everything "widescreen" whether or not the films were processed in letterbox or anamorphic formats. Its a huge difference for those of us with HDTVs. What an opportunity lost for remastering these horror classics.

This Price is Right!.......2007-09-15

Ignore the carping here about the thin-sleeve packaging of this set (an asset, anyway, to some of us with large DVD collections and limited shelf space) -- these classic British horror films at a bargain price are worth grabbing! The PHIBES pair and THEATRE OF BLOOD are models of how to camp successfully on a low budget, with Diana Rigg, Coral Browne, Robert Morley and others joining Price to chew every piece of scenery in sight. Screenplay, design, direction -- all great fun. And WITCHFINDER GENERAL has been on many a DVD wish list for years. Price never disappoints, never plays down to his material or his audience, is always full-steam-ahead, to good advantage. If you know these movies, you'll jump for this set. If you don't, check them out -- you'll be glad you did!

Films are Great but FOX Went Cheap!!!!.......2007-09-12

The cases in this box set are the SLIM LINE cases and are just not as cool as the reg sized keep cases. Slim Line cases are fine for a TV show but not for collecting movies. Films 5 Stars The oustide package cover art is fine also, just the use of SLIM LINE cases has to be stopped. Warner Bros has caught on that fans don't like being cheated. and these cases just don't make me happy at all.

A collection of Price's better horror films plus extra features.......2007-07-26

This set will contain seven of Vincent Price's better horror films of the 1960's and 1970's and even includes a bonus disc of extra features. MGM is no Warner Home Video when it comes to DVD boxed sets and extra features, but this one shows progress in that direction. The following are the details on the included films and extra features.

Abominable Dr. Phibes: Price gives a campy performance in one of the few horror films which successfully and intentionally joins comedy and horror. Joseph Cotten and Terry-Thomas are just two of the victims on whom Price seeks vengeance for his disfigurement and his wife's death. The Art Deco sets give the film a stylish look and the British deadpan delivery of many of the jokes helps immensely.

Dr. Phibes Rises Again: The disfigured madman (Price) is back as he and his deceased wife go boating down the Underground River of the Dead in this sequel to The Abominable Dr. Phibes. Once again, everybody is in it for the laughs including the set designer.

Tales of Terror - Three stories adapted very loosely from the work of Edgar Allen Poe - "Morella", "The Black Cat" and "The (Facts in the) Case of M. Valdemar", each roughly one half-hour in length.

Twice Told Tales - This is a compilation of three short films based on Nathaniel Hawthorne works - Heidegger's Experiment, Rappaccini's Daughter and The House of Seven Gables. In both this film and "Tales of Terror", the idea is not so much to be true to the original story, as it is to use the foundation of the story to the advantage of Cormen's ability to make scary movies and in Price's ability to star in them.

Theater of Blood: An entertaining horror film about a demented Shakespearean actor (Price) who takes a bloody revenge against the eight theatre critics who gave his performances bad reviews. To me this one of Price's often forgotten and most underrated films. He really hams it up and it works perfectly.

Madhouse: Price stars as an actor who returns to the screen to reprise his role as a killer a few years after his wife-to-be was decapitated by a killer nobody caught. Price is good as always, but it just seems a little tired and more like a tribute to his past and better films.

Witchfinder General (aka Conqueror Worm): In 17th-century England during the struggle between Cromwell and the Crown, Matthew Hopkins (Vincent Price) and his associates seek out and persecute those thought to practice sorcery as well as anyone else who incurs their wrath. When Hopkins executes the priest of a small town for being a warlock, he and his partner find themselves the target of a young soldier who leaves his post in Cromwell's army to hunt down and kill the pair. The movie captures this period in English history very well for a low-budget production. Price is at his menacing, sadistic best without the intentional camp that he injects in so many of his other horror films.

An extras disc will contain a documentary ("Vincent Price: Renaissance Man") and two featurettes ("The Art of Fear" and "Working with Vincent Price"). The set will be available on September 11th.

Theater Of Blood/MadHouse (Midnite Movies Double Feature)

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Perfect Pair of Movies
Some of the best theater you'll ever see . . .
Great Double Bill
Price Double
Vincent Price's magnum opus plus one

Theater Of Blood/MadHouse (Midnite Movies Double Feature)
Starring: Vincent Price , Diana Rigg , Ian Hendry , Harry Andrews , and Coral Browne
Director: Douglas Hickox , and Jim Clark
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0007R4T2Q
Release Date: 2005-02-15

Description

Theater of BloodVincent Price delivers a thrilling "tour-de-force" (Variety) performance as a small-time actor plotting big-time revenge in inventively Shakespearean ways! Boasting a topnotch supporting cast, this dramatically "delicious concoction" (New York) delivers an "equal mixture of horror, comedy and Shakepeare [that'll] please just about everyone ? critics included" (Boxoffice) and proves that all the world really is a stage for MURDER!MadhouseMasters of macabre Vincent Price, Peter Cushing and Robert Quarry give performances to die for in this "diverting little chiller" (Boxoffice)! When horror star Paul Toombes' fiancée is brutally killed, he loses more than this job he loses his mind. But twelve years later, when he returns to TV ? only to discover a fresh batch of corpses ? Paul finally begins to understand that melodrama can be murder on your career!

Customer Reviews:

Perfect Pair of Movies.......2007-09-15

I fell in love with Theater of Blood a number of years ago. I love the fact that it is a good horror movie with some goofy parts that make it even creepier. I think that Vincent Price is great and works so perfectly with Diana Rigg. It reminds me a bit of Dr. Phibes, but I find this movie to be more entertaining because the main character is rather eccentric. Also, I like hearing Vincent doing Shakespeare.
I had not seen Madhouse before getting this DVD. WOW!! Not only does it include clips from Tales Of Terror, The Haunted Palace and The Raven, but it also has a direct reference to Theater of Blood. This movie actually startled me a couple of times. In some ways it doesn't seem like it takes itself seriously, yet it is more serious than funny. I like seeing Robert Quarry in his Count Yorga costume and Peter Cushing dressed up as a Vampire. I love Herbert's house. This is good if you are a Vincent Price or old horror movie fan that can recognize some of the references you will enjoy this movie. You even get to hear Vincent sing, but you have to listen closely to catch it. If you have yet to discover Vincent Price, but like good horror movies that are capable of making fun of themselves I also recommend this DVD. He is definitely one of the great actors of our times and these movies include some great supporting actors as well.

Some of the best theater you'll ever see . . ........2007-09-13

Rejoice, Price fans, for THEATER OF BLOOD is finally available in a widescreen version. (It is paired with MADHOUSE, a lesser effort, although Price offers a marvelously snarly characterization of a has-been actor.)

THEATER OF BLOOD is an extraordinarily well-made film. It is beautifully paced, with never a dull or padded moment. It is imaginatively photographed and edited. To mention just two examples, using a theater spotlight to "iris in" to fade out a scene; and the use of deep-focus, slightly anamorphic lenses in certain scenes, lending them a subtly and effectively nightmarish distortion - notably in the tenement-murder of Michael Hordern, and in Price's suicide scene, when he speaks Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy to enormous effect, while the watching critics change from sneering mockery to unease and then fear as it slowly becomes clear that this is no empty theatrical gesture on the part of the spurned actor. (The marvelous score, alternately tender and menacing, reaches one of its most persuasive moments during this scene.) The odd foreground distortion and the unnatural crispness of the distant background caused by the deep-focus lens give these scenes a truly hair-raising feel and force.

The film abounds in subtle touches. My favorite is that Diana Rigg's character is a professional makeup artist - lending a nice plausibility to the various disguises she and Price assume during the course of the story. There's also a wonderful EC touch when an absent critic proves that his heart is truly with his friends.

Then there is the acting. Price and Rigg stand out in a brilliant cast. Their beautiful simplicity of delivery and lyrical intensity - their sheer believability - during Rigg's death scene makes me wish that these two actors could have essayed Lear and Cordelia in a full-fledged production.

Oftentimes Price has been characterized as a "ham" actor, or, at best, "flamboyant." I completely disagree. There is a difference between passionate intensity and hamminess, and Price knew well how to walk that tightrope. Although he adds his characteristic touch of sardonic wit to many of the scenes, he plays Lionheart with dead (and deadly) seriousness in key moments. I've already mentioned Edwina's moving death. Also savor Vincent's feverish, yet completely convincing "hate moment" at the climax of the dueling scene, when he grimly warns Ian Hendry, "I'll make you suffer as you've made me suffer." In moments like this, Price gloriously rose over the tongue-in-cheek approach and showed himself to be a true master of his craft, and one of the world's great actors. At such moments we can completely believe that Lionheart will stretch out his bloody and terrible revenge over years, and go to such elaborate lengths to achieve the downfall of his enemies. (I particularly love the pregnant pause Price drops before the final three words of Hamlet's speech, wittily turning them into a poignantly colloquial "So long, life!" as he leaps into the Thames.)

The script is nothing short of marvelous, giving Price a juicy assortment of Shakespearean moments and wittily twisting the Bard's lines into pure sardonicism, as when Lionheart refers to suffocating Robert Morley's character with dog-meat pies with a speech from ROMEO AND JULIET ("Oh thou detestable maw, crammed with the dearest morsel of the earth! Thus I enforce thy rotten jaws to open, and in despite I'll cram thee with more food!" taken from the moment when Romeo breaks into Juliet's tomb to commit suicide therein).

Snap this one up; it's worth three times the Price. (Sorry; I couldn't resist.)

Great Double Bill.......2007-08-04

"Theater of Blood" is Vincent Price's magnum opus - several Shakespearian soliloquies throughout the film give the viewer an appreciation for the level of acting to which Price could easily rise if given the chance. Funny, chilling, and at times touching -- a must for any Price and horror film fan.

"Madhouse" is a mixed bag, perhaps even better when viewed alongside "Theater of Blood" as a classic that might have been. Even though "Madhouse" misses the bullseye, it has its moments -- the film warrants watching if for nothing more to hear Price singing a lovely version of "When Day is Done" over the closing credits.

Price Double.......2007-06-27

Two cool Price movies. Price fans will not be disapointed. I love these cheap double bills.

Vincent Price's magnum opus plus one.......2006-12-31

If "Theatre of Blood" were the only film on this DVD it would still be worth the price. Make that the Price. Made more than a decade before the legendary actor's graceful last act, which began with "The Whales of August" and culminated in "Edward Scissorhands," this was by far Vincent Price's best film. Playing the demented (and supposedly dead) dreadful classical actor Edward Lionheart, Price gets a chance to strut his stuff like never before in a host of Shakespearean snippets (and his Shylock and Richard III are gems). In addition, he gets to gruesomely murder the critics who have assailed him over the years -- dead critics...what's not to love? Even more fun is the fact that the smarmy critics are played by a host of some of the best supporting actors Britain then had to offer.

"Madhouse," made only a year later, doesn't exactly try to copy the format of "Theatre of Blood," but it has certain elements of it in its story of horror film actor Paul Toombes (Price) who may or may not delve too deeply into his signature character "Dr. Death" and kill young women. "Madhouse" is basically a murder mystery disguised as a horror film, and not a bad one, but it suffers from a few too many ingredients. The character of Dr. Death (Price in rather simple, but very effective skull-face makeup) is clearly patterned after "Dr. Phibes," the two-film series that had been hugely successful a few years earlier, while Paul Toombes (who is nothing like the character from the source novel, "Devilday," by Angus Hall) is slightly reminiscent of the character Jon Pertwee played in "The House That Dripped Blood" -- a role for which Price had been sought. In structure, the film is also a bit reminiscent of the 1969 oddball film "Scream and Scream Again," which involed a serial killer stalking young girls in London, and there is a very peculiar subplot with Adrienne Corri as a burn-scarred and crazy former actress hiding in Peter Cushing's cellar, which seems like something out of a mid-1960s Italian horror film. It's quite a stew. Where the picture really drops the ball, though, is as a conscious effort to do for Price what Peter Bogdanovich's "Targets" did for Boris Karloff: present him with a canny career summation role in which he more or less plays himself. Price does more or less play himself -- an affable, good natured man who has managed to retain his professional integrity even after years of questionable films, which he gamely continues to make even as he believes himself to be unfairly exploited -- but the use of old film clips from past AIP epics (including "House of Usher," "Pit and the Pendulum" and "The Raven") does not have the resonance that "Targets"' employment of old clips from "The Terror" did. A prolonged sequence of Toombes appearing on Michael Parkinson's chat show is more dull than illuminating. "Madhouse" does at least offer Peter Cushing a decent role, after years of wasteful cameos in AIP's British productions, and a good one for Robert Quarry, who AIP was then grooming as a horror man for the 70s, as a shady producer. Director Jim Clark stages some very effective, atmospheric scenes of Dr. Death stalking the countryside, but it must be said that the identity of the killer is not a big shock to anyone paying attention. "Madhouse" was not widely released in the US and for years was something of an "unknown" Price movie, which makes its availability doubly attractive. It's no "Theatre of Blood," but it's fun.

Average customer rating:

A CHEEZY GOOD TIME.
So bad it's almost good?

Blood Theater
Starring: Mary Woronov , Jenny Cunningham , Jonathan Blakely , Andrew Cofrin , and Joanna Foxx
Director: Rick Sloane
Manufacturer: Retro Media
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000687FB
Release Date: 2002-07-23

Customer Reviews:

A CHEEZY GOOD TIME........2007-04-16

I have to admit i,m a sucker when it comes to bad b-movie horror , and this happens to be one that I actually enjoy and have watched twice so far. I first came across this on amazon when going in to a search for horror movies and found it listed as " MOVIE HOUSE MASSACRE" on VHS and than " THEATER OF BLOOD " on DVD and is kind of odd that the movie lists two different directors and really no facts on when it was made or any of the characters , but the plot is fairly simple when a movie theatre owner becomes upset that movie sales are down and kills the usher than burns down the theatre with everyone trapped in. Many years later a whole chain of theatres open with young people hired as employees , and the acting throughout is amatearish but somewhat humorish which is what I enjoyed most about the movie , and would have to recommend this only for b- movie horror enthusiast like myself.

So bad it's almost good?.......2002-08-22

According to the DVD this 1984 film was directed by Rick Sloane (Vice Academy series, Hobgoblins). The acting is mostly horrible, the plot is quite lame, the killings are laughable, and the ending is pretty pathetic. Yet...it still has a certain charm to it. It's more of a comedy spoof (i.e. "Student Bodies") than a straight horror film, so don't expect much blood or guts. Not everyone will like it, and many might even say this is a truly terrible film. I wouldn't disagree with that statement.

I like the 70's sounding electronica music throughout the film, it's mostly repetitive, but very effective. It's similar to the music score in the first "Slumber Party Massacre" movie. If the killings would have been more effective and unique, and if the ending would have made more sense I think this movie would have been viewed as much better. Also, the film should have been about 10 minutes longer in length. There are no DVD special features except for Scene Selections and a short Still Gallery. The picture and sound are both fairly clear (with some minor dust and age scratches throughout the film).

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Charlie Rose with James Stewart; Rebecca Miller; Ruth Brown (March 22, 1996)

Manufacturer: Charlie Rose
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

3-6 Years | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video
7-9 Years | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video
10-12 Years | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video
All Titles | Charlie Rose Store | Television | Genres | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000JCF3CE
Release Date: 2006-10-05

Description

First, journalist James Stewart has investigated the investment and the events that are now known collectively as Whitewater, and his book, Blood Sport, brings new details and insights to the scandal. He talks to Charlie about the most popular topic in Washington and reflects on what impact this will have on Clinton's re-election. Then, Rebecca Miller, daughter of playwright Arthur Miller, is on to talk about her first film. Angela, which tells the story of an imaginative 10-year-old child, premiered at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival but will only now be distributed. Finally, Ruth Brown, who got her start when she won an amateur night competition at Harlem's legendary Apollo theater, talks to Charlie about her new biography, Miss Rhythm.

The Blood Pack Vol. 1 - Blood Castle/Blood Theater/Invasion of the Blood Farmers

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The Blood Pack Vol. 1 - Blood Castle/Blood Theater/Invasion of the Blood Farmers

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

Blood Castle: Vicente Aranda directed this erotic horror film, continuing themes which he had explored in the previous year's Exquisite Cadaver. Alexandra Bastedo stars as a lesbian vampire who woos frigid newlywed Maribel Martin away from her husband Simon Andreu on their honeymoon. Aranda fills the film with haunting imagery, gorgeously photographed by veteran cinematographer Fernando Arribas, and the story's sometimes illogical twists are compensated for with heavy, skillfully-crafted atmosphere. The American video print of this stylish vampire film is missing almost 20 minutes, so viewers are advised to seek out an uncut version. Blood Theater: A haunted movie theater is the setting of many bizarre murders, (i.e. "popcorned" to death in the popcorn machine), in this sleazy horror spoof. Invasion of the Blood Farmers: This dreadful, but oddly engaging horror film from director Ed Adlum and co-writer Ed Kelleher deals with a cult of modern-day Druids on a farm in upstate New York. In order to keep their catatonic queen alive in her glass coffin, the cultists drain the blood from passersby with the aid of some cheap plastic tubing. The leader of the cult is a flamboyantly effeminate priest whose hilariously silly explanations of his beliefs provide most of the film's minimal entertainment value. Norman Kelley, Bruce Detrick, and Tanna Hunter co-star in this campy cult favorite from the writers of the similarly appalling Shriek of the Mutilated (1974). Adlum also wrote for the 1970s cult music magazine Creem.

Charlie Rose with Richard Butler; Judith Jamison; Bertram Fields (December 10, 1998)

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Charlie Rose with Richard Butler; Judith Jamison; Bertram Fields (December 10, 1998)

Manufacturer: Charlie Rose
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Description

First, Richard Butler, of the United Nations Special Commission on Iraq, discusses the possibility of Iraq having nuclear and biological weapons, the alleged interference of Iraqis with UN attempts to investigate the presence of these weapons, and his report to the UN Security Council on the topic. Then, Judith Jamison, renowned dancer and Arts Director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, discusses her relationship with Alvin Ailey, the progression of modern American dance, and the 40th anniversary of her company. Finally, Bertram Fields, entertainment lawyer, discusses his new book, Royal Blood, in which he uses modern legal techniques and information to review the case of the murder of the two princes in Shakespeare's Richard III. He further discusses the controversy over Shakespeare's authorship and his own Hollywood career.

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Bluthochzeit: Blood Wedding
Starring: W. Fortner
Manufacturer: Immortal
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Horror with comedy
Answering the critics . . .
wonderfully wicked-fun black comedy
Heart of a Lion
Irresistably camp horror

Theater of Blood [Region 2]
Starring: Vincent Price , Diana Rigg , Ian Hendry , Harry Andrews , and Coral Browne
Director: Douglas Hickox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00006JY23

Amazon.com

If your sense of humor is even moderately twisted, you'll savor this tasty course of well-cooked ham. Directed with delectable British wit by Douglas Hickox, the comedy is decidedly dark when Vincent Price--as effete has-been thespian Richard Lionheart--wreaks poetic justice upon the snobby critics who panned his performances and drove him to a failed attempt at suicide. Reciting his poor reviews and staging murders inspired by Shakespearean tragedies, the actor and his Dickensian coterie of accomplices (including Diane Rigg, sexy as ever) dispatch their victims with shocking ingenuity, and by the time Lionheart reenacts Titus Andronicus by gorging one dog-loving critic (the hilariously poofy Robert Morley) on toy-poodle stew, Theatre of Blood reaches giddy heights of outrageous vengeance. It's all in good fun, of course, and the film's esteemed British cast plays it to the hilt, none better than Price in one of his most entertaining roles. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Horror with comedy.......2007-07-29

saw this for the first time recently and recommend it strongly. Vincent Price stars as Edward Lionheart a famous Shakespearean actor who is snubbed at the annual critics awards. In a fit of depression he kills himself or does he? The critics then start mysteriously dying in horrible ways.

This is well done with a strong black comedy element that works well. In fact if the film hadn't had the comedy element it wouldn't have been anywhere near as good. Theres a classic laugh out loud line for Eric Sykes near the end which he delivers off camera - very funny.

The cast is superb collection of mainly British actors, as well as Vincent Price you get: Ian Hendry, Eric Sykes, Arthur Lowe, Dennis Price, Diana Rigg and Michael Horden and a little cameo role from Diana Dors.

Well worth getting at the right price.

Answering the critics . . ........2007-02-20

Theater of Blood is an over the top romp that just can't be taken seriously. Horror maestro Vincent Price is Edward Lionheart, a Shakespearean actor who takes his revenge on group of critics that failed to acknowledge his talent, driving him to attempt suicide. Aided by his daughter Edwina (Diana Rigg), and an odd collection of homeless people, Lionheart administers a gruesome version of justice with a profoundly Shakespearean bent. The offending critics are dispatched in a series of creatively wacky and dramatic executions.

The tone is pretentious, and the humor very dark. Price seems to delight in this role. Robert Morely's performance as a poodle aficionado is just precious. Price's duel with Ian Hendry is another highlight. Avoid the release by Alpha Video, as the image quality is extremely poor.

wonderfully wicked-fun black comedy.......2006-06-04

Although Theater of Blood is not so much a horror film as a suspense/black comedy, it keeps getting cited in horror film references. This is probably due to the presence of Vincent Price. If Theater of Blood had nothing else going for it, Price's performance alone would make it worthwhile.

But Theater of Blood also has ... blood. Blood aplenty. And class, and style, and pathos, and hilarious black comedy, and ... Vincent Price.

In the film, Price portrays Edward Lionheart, a hammy, egomaniacal Shakespearean actor who fails in a suicide attempt after being passed over for a Critic's Circle award, then uses his second chance at life to kill his critics by methods drawn from Shakespeare's plays.

Opening credits play over old silent film footage of Shakespearean actors. While nothing in Theater of Blood indicates that Lionheart ever worked in film (it's stated he never performed anything other than Shakespeare), Lionheart, like Norma Desmond, belongs to an earlier era. Lionheart predates the rise of The Method in the 1950s, with its "naturalistic" acting style often derided by practitioners of "classical theatrical style" as producing actors who dressed dirty and mumbled incoherently. (Marlon Brando and James Dean were accused of such). Lionheart accuses his critics of denying him the award to give it to a youth "who can barely grunt his way through an incomprehensible performance."

Lionheart's egomania shows when he kills one critic by cutting out his heart, thereby altering The Merchant of Venice. Lionheart's arch-foe, critic Peregrine Devlin (Ian Hendry), remarks, "Only Lionheart would have the temerity to rewrite Shakespeare." Not having a son to christen Edward Jr, Lionheart names his daughter Edwina (Diana Rigg). That Lionheart wanted a son is implied by Edwina's usual disguise of male clothing and mustache, by her incessant (insecure) desire to please him, and by finally dying happily in his appreciative arms, happy to have served him well.

A darkly comic commentary on the shared egomaniacal roots of artists and political activists is drawn when Lionheart concludes a thunderous oratory to his ragged street devotees, followed by a recording of a speech by Hitler (a former artist) inadvertently played on Lionheart's applause machine.

Theater of Blood depicts an actor's exaggerated view of critics. They can afford expensive homes and lavish offices, exploit young actresses for sex, and expend more effort in writing clever insults than in staying awake to see a complete play. They enjoy hurting actors. Devlin confesses to the detective inspector that when Lionheart broke into the Critic's Circle meeting after losing the Best Actor Award, they had fun at his expense.

Critics are twice criticized for their abuse of power. Once when the detective inspector suggests possible motivations as to why someone may want to kill them. A second time when Lionheart justifies his murders to Devlin. In both instances, the point is made that a negative review can close a production, ruin reputations, bankrupt people, destroy lives. Few, if any, critics have such power today (perhaps more so in theater than in film, more so in Britain than in the U.S.). But to insecure actors in an insecure profession, reviews take on exaggerated importance.

If Lionheart is an egomaniac, his critics are worse. They too have egos, but they lack Lionheart's cunning intelligence and perverse imagination. One lecherous old man readily accepts that a young actress (Edwina) is flirting with him. Another is unsuspicious when Lionheart selects him alone to report the exclusive story of Lionheart's comeback. Another sees nothing amiss with a TV crew arriving unannounced at his house, himself the center of attention. Another shrugs off Princess Margaret's hairdresser coming in after-hours, especially for her. Another agrees to help police toss out squatters, because the police need someone with an air of authority (something the police lack!). All traps by Lionheart, all successful because these critics' egos block their brains.

The one critic who survives is Devlin, who doesn't trust Edwina's pretty, frightened daughter act. Devlin tells her there is a homing device in the car's glove compartment, but not about the police constable in the trunk. He is also the only critic of those given time to recant, who refuses to change his critical opinion of Lionheart's abilities (others deny their past comments or agree to everything Lionheart says).

There is a nascent astrology motif. One critic's wife cautions him about his horoscope. Another critic wears a huge gold Scorpio medallion around his neck. Most likely, this is merely reflecting the times.

Theater of Blood's gruesome murders are leavened with campy black comedy. Even as Lionheart decapitates one critic, he rolls eyes at Edwina's theatrical handling of medical instruments. And his forcing one effete critic (Robert Morley) to eat his poodles, baked in a pie, is a classic scene of horror black comedy.

Theater of Blood is a sumptuous production with lavish sets and costumes. Extreme high and low camera angles heighten the melodrama. The sudden switch from a straight-on to extreme high angle just as the critics open the drapes to view Lionheart about to jump off the balcony creates a sense that we are looking down on a stage with the curtain opening upon a performance. Anthony Greville-Bell's literate script artfully integrates select Shakespearean dialogue into contemporary proceedings that are alternatingly macabre, comic, or poignant. The musical score supports the story, shifting from gentle to dramatic as required, without ever overwhelming events on screen. However melodramatically the music swells, Lionheart matches it. Vincent Price shines.

A year later, tables were turned on Price in Madhouse (aka The Revenge of Doctor Death). In this film, Price is a has-been horror film star victimized by frustrated writer Peter Cushing. Yet while vengeful writers have their own subgenre, Theater of Blood's enduring fame compared to Madhouse's relative obscurity demonstrates why actors get the glory while writers more often toil in anonymity. Lionheart's extroverted exuberance, shameless scene-stealing, and indestructible ego is a crowd-pleaser, easily steamrollering over the vengeance meted out by cool Cushing's introverted writer. As the tabloids have long known, actors make for colorful villains, which is why they get the cover while writers must settle for a byline.

Theater of Blood is bloody good entertainment: horrific, insightful, and wryly humorous.

Heart of a Lion.......2006-01-08

A truly delightful film about austere thespian Richard Lionheart, who was under-appreciated by his so-called 'peers'. is unjustly robbed of his rightful award, and thus nobly seeks to correct the wrong done to him by unperceptive ingrates.

Thus, he admonishes the talentless worm-like critics, and in a fit of depression, hurls himself from a balcony to the horror of his impressively devoted daughter, where he finds surprisingly unexpected company with derelicts, who sought to rob him until they realize the seemingly lifeless body has resurrected. They become his minions in a darkened theatre where he relives and performs his timeless plays with traditional flare, ingeniously planning his revenge all the while.

And thus, true to his romantic nature, subsequently administers well-deserved and amusingly devilicious punishments upon his rotten detractors. Supremely poetic, one by one they are lured into Shakespearian tragedies which were on the itinerary the night of the misplaced recognition, with minor modifications due to environment and practicality:

Julius Caesar: Critic stabbed to death on the Ides of March by Lionheart's killer hippies.

Troilus and Cressida: Critic dragged to death by a horse in front of a funeral being held for the previous victim.

Cymbeline: Critic electrocted.

The Merchant of Venice: Critic impaled, heart removed, weighed to be a perfect pound, and mailed to The Police in an ornate box.

Richard the Third: Critic suffocates own wife in a mad fit of jealousy, whose lover was actually Lionheart in disguise. He will of course perish in prison, and is thusly 'destroyed'.

Romeo and Juliet: Focusing on another scene within the play entirely, an alcoholic critic is drowned in a vat of wine.

Henry the Sixth, part 1: .Critic is surgically beheaded in own bed next to wife amidst the pleasant strains of Beethoven.

Titus Andronicus: Corpulent critic suffocated by mass amounts of the flesh of his own odious poodles, while their little heads repose upon a platter as if witnessing his demise.

King Lear / Othello: Epic fencing wherein Lionheart displays remarkable feats of acrobatics and skill, followed by the defeated 'ringleader' of the critics being restrained within a contraption, and subjected to two perfectly positioned red-hot glowing daggers aimed for his eyes.

After experiencing the fulfillment of the sweet satisfactions of his vengeance, Lionheart unfortunately himself becomes a character in his own tragedy, plunging once more unto terra firma in one last blaze of glory, whose infamy remains immortal.

Another element this film establishes, is the more contemporary introduction of these classic plays to the uninformed. For upon witnessing this presentation, the viewer will at least become somewhat more familiar with the dramatic outline of their plots.

Irresistably camp horror.......2005-06-06

The role of incorrigible ham Edward Lionheart fits Price like a glove. In the same ironic and grotesque spirit as The Abominable Dr Phibes (1971), the central character is a pitiable and tragic antihero bent on revenge. A cast of British stalwarts including Diana Rigg, Eric Sykes, Arthur Lowe and Robert Morley camp it up splendidly in this gruesome farce.

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