by Spencer Hawken

Created on: February 04, 2008   Last Updated: February 05, 2008

Theatre Of Blood was made in 1973 and for me has always been one of the most memorable British horror movies. Don't allow yourself to be led down a dark alley thinking "Oh more gore" as Theatre Of Blood is a fantastically funny film. Better still unlike a lot of Horror movies this is intentionally funny.
My very first memories of horror films as a child include this very movie. Saturday night television would always end in two horror movies. Usually they were a movie from the 1930's and then one from the 60's. Although only 6 or 7 I was allowed to stay up and watch the horror double bill. Although 9 times out of 10 I'd be asleep 5 minutes into the first.

When Theatre Of Blood was first shown, I was very much awake. Back then I never saw the comedy aspect, I saw the horror only. But as I got older I noticed the comedy more and more.
Before I start talking about the film itself its important to get the cast issue out of the way, Theatre Of Blood had a very impressive calibre of top actors, possibly the last British gathering of such a stellar cast. Although to many younger readers you may not know a lot of the names believe me in the 1970's these were all big stars.

Vincent Price - Edward Lionheart
Diana Rigg - Edwina Lionheart
Ian Hendry - Peregrine Devlin
Michael Hordern - George Maxwell
Arthur Lowe - Horace Sprout
Robert Morley - Meredith Merridew
Dennis Price - Hector Snipe
Harry Andrews - Trevor Dickman
Coral Browne - Miss Chloe Moon
Robert Coote .- Oliver Larding
Milo O'Shea - Inspector Boot
Eric Sykes - Sergeant Dogge
Madeline Smith - Rosemary
Diana Dors - Maisie Psaltry
Joan Hickson - Mrs. Sprout
Rene Asherson - Mrs. Maxwell

As the movie begins your greeted by a series of extracts from silent movies, all based around Shakespeare plays. As the movie credits and music fade out we are introduced to George Maxwell, who while eating his breakfast is contacted by the local police in relation to an incident of squatting in one of his properties. Upon arrival Maxwell is taken through a warehouse when a gang of vagrants have settled. The police encourage him to confront his new "tenants" Maxwell realises this is not going to be easy when the group start producing weapons. After a lengthy scuffle Maxwell is left face down bleeding to death on a sheet of plastic. In the background one of the police pulls off his rubber face mask and performs a sonnet for the crowd.

Some years earlier a group of critics slammed Edward Lionheart an actor, for given wooden performances. On the day of an awards ceremony where Lionheart was snubbed, he forced his way into the critic's office and threw himself off the balcony. Now in 1973 having been saved by the vagrants below Lionheart has returned to exact his revenge on the critics, killing each in a manner laid out in a Shakespeare play.
The humour is plain to see if you have an adult mind, one of the critics is killed by a fatal perm, and another forced to eat his own dogs. Of particular amusement is a scene where Lionheart and his henchman break into a critic's house to cut carry out a despicable murder. Future Miss Marple actress Joan Hickson hits out at her husband while he is being murdered thinking that he is snoring. There is so much to this film, that the film passes by like the blink of an eye which is both good and sad. Its great to see a film that has such pace that the film is over before its begun, but when I watch it I can always see other windows of opportunity.

I was never a big Vincent Price fan, but when you see this and the Doctor Phibes movie you have to admit that he missed his real forte as a comedy talent.

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