Theater of Blood

this movie is essential for anyone even marginally interested in film. vincent price gives one of the best performances of his career as the embittered edward lionheart, a shakespearean stage actor who has been unjustly disinherited by theatre as a result of the brutal criticism that his work generated. lionheart, disaffected and without hope of ever returning to the work he loves so much, decides to take justice in his own hands and the result is the most brilliant blend of horror and satire that i have ever seen. usually, horror and comedy do not mix well and nine times out of ten the results are less than impressive, but in this one it comes off beautifully. the question of whether we are supposed to sympathize with price's character or revile him as a bloodthirsty maniac has been much debated by fans of the film, but in my opinion it is obvious that it is the critics we are intended to hate and not lionheart, although his methods of retribution are admittedly a bit over the top. like the equally magnificent "dr. phibes", "theater of blood" explores not only the common theme of homicidal revenge but the idea of 'murder as art', as can be witnessed in the bizarre methods that lionheart uses:look especially for the scene where a particularly unfortunate enemy of price's is dragged to death by a horse in what looks like something out of a play by good old willy himself. also memorable is the scene in which price and his accomplice (his daughter, usually in a very deceptive disguise)feed an especially nasty critic his favorite poodle. the ending is, of course, very theatrical, and yet at the same time extremely funny and satirical. i've never seen a film quite like "theater of blood" before or since, and i doubt i will again. in any case this is a must see whether you are vincent price fan (like myself) or a casual viewer looking for something out of the ordinary. a masterpiece.

A very stylish comedy/thriller along the lines of "The Avengers," a popular TV series at the time. Vincent Price is an actor who has survived a suicide attempt and secretly takes revenge on half a dozen critics who savaged his performances in various plays of Shakespeare. With the aid of his daughter, Diana Rigg (who was Emma Peel in "The Avengers" and one of the mean daughters in Olivier's TV production of "King Lear"), seeks out his critics and offs them in ways appropriately derived from WS. It's murder allright. And WS could be very imaginative when it comes to that. I once wrote out a list of the violent acts that take place in "Titus Andronicus," the closest WS ever came to Grand Guignol, and it was as long and even more gruesome than a similar list I drew up for "Dirty Harry." "Titus" has one of the funniest stage directions I've ever seen -- "Enter messenger with hands." It doesn't mean the messenger HAS hands; it means the messenger is carrying a pair of someone else's amputated hands! At that, they had to tame the Bard down for this movie. Instead of Queen Tamara having to eat her own children baked in a pie, the gay critic played by Robert Morley is force fed (to death!) a Cornish pasty made from his two beloved poodles.

Back to this movie, though. What a cast! Vincent Price plays it for laughs, disguised as a gay hairdresser, a Scottish masseur, a French chef, and so forth. His half-hearted, mostly losing struggle with the various accents is enough to break anyone up. The others don't have as much screen time but they make the most of it -- Harry Andrews, Dennis Price, Robert Morley, Jack Hawkins, Coral Browne, Milo O'Shea. Diana Rigg is a sight to see, I should mention. Every movement is like flowing silk. Her figure is unimpeachable and her zygomatic arches should be left to the British Museum.

It's a well-done movie from start to finish. Vincent Price gets to do a lot of Shakespeare. He's no Olivier or Branaugh, but it's okay because the performance ought NOT to be very good. The cinematography is glossy and polished, the score unobtrusive. The actual look of the film is appealing -- the British now how to dress in a way that most Americans don't (but many urban Canadians do). And the writer should get some sort of special award himself. The bits in between the murders are almost as amusing as the story itself. We get to hear snippets of the reviews that torpedoed Price's career. One of them goes something like, "I was fortunate enough to fall asleep at the beginning of Lionheart's performance and awoke much refreshed, not having had to listen to this aging matinee idol's rantings and posturings." (Was the writer ripping off John Simon?) The story line is made clear, whether or not the viewer knows any of the plays. The correlations with the plays are made simply enough for an average reviewer to understand and appreciate the similarities. And the murders themselves are funny -- excuse me. One critic gets drowned in a butt of malmsy -- a barrel of wine -- and the police establish the exact vintage afterward.

I don't want to imply that this movie is a barrel of laughs. There is some physical comedy, including one of the sword fights from Romeo and Juliet, but most of the humor lies less in slapstick and jumping around than in situations and dialogue. Price and his assistant dressed in hospital scrubs, wearing surgical gloves, and setting a bedroom up as an operating room in order to saw off some guy's head. The parody is played straight. You will probably not double over with laughter but I found myself laughing aloud during some scenes. To give you some perspective, I didn't find "The Abominable Doctor Phibes" so hot. I recommend this flick. It is, as I say, stylish in every respect.

Vincent Price is at his extravagant best in this splendidly black comedy in which some complacent critics receive a cunning come-uppance from the dreadful actor who they drove to suicide. Some brilliantly staged imaginative deaths are the icing on the cake, making this a bit like a very camp "Friday The 13th". But who wouldn't rather watch Vincent at his best than boring old Jason ?

Vincent Price is one of the best actors of all time, and this is a SUPERB film! Theatre of Blood follows much the same plot formula as Price's earlier success, The Abominable Dr Phibes, only this time instead of playing a deranged madman; Price plays a self-parody of himself. Edward Lionheart is an over the top version of Price in all but name, and it's clear that the great Vincent Price is the only man that could have lead this film. This macabre film depicts what, I'm sure, many actors would like to engage in; the brutal punishment of less than impressed critics. And these punishments aren't just brutal - Price murders his victims in the style of the Shakespeare plays that they lambasted, and the result is a high camp and very fun little horror comedy. The deaths are all violent, but also very playful and inventive. We see people being drowned in a vat of wine, waking up next to their dead husband, being electrocuted, eating their pets and more! And it's all done with such a big sly grin that the result is practically impossible not to go along with.

Being a British made film, Theatre of Blood utilises that great British style that the Hammer films did so well, and this massively adds to the fun camp element of the movie. We've got all sorts of things from everyone speaking in a thick London accents to the bumbling policed force that made The Abominable Dr Phibes so hilarious. The movie starts of ridiculously, with Price hamming it up to the max, and then it just continues to get more and more ridiculous; with the final two death scenes being beyond the stupidity of anything else Price ever did. Being a self-parody, the impact of this film increases ten fold if you've seen a lot of Price's other work. It's all good though, and despite being knowingly hammy; Price really shows his worth as an actor as he dons all sorts of different disguises. It's hard to mask the Vincent Price persona, but the great thespian manages it a few times in this film. Films of this nature; i.e. ones where a bunch of people get murdered in a certain way, tend to be quite monotonous; but thanks to the superior handling, this one is never dull. Far from it, in fact! Overall, Theatre of Blood, despite often being overlooked, is a great film and one of the best Price ever made. HIGHLY recommended!

Vincent Price plays Lionheart, an actor who specializes in Shakespeare. But he's been getting bad reviews, and did not receive the Critics Circle award. There's only one thing to do: kill off each of the critics in a style modeled after a Shakespearean death.

Although not a Phibes film, this is clearly in the same grouping as "The Abominable Dr. Phibes" and its sequel, coming only one year later, and following much the same formula: a man who was thought dead goes after those who wronged him in a methodical manner (here, Shakespeare) and with a female assistant. They also asked Robert Fuest to direct, clearly trying to make the picture as similar as possible.

There are some great scenes, and for me none more memorable than Price's disguise as Butch, the effeminate hair dresser. In general, the whole idea of hippie, homeless slaves (who seem to like big mustaches and afros) is just plain silly, but works in this case.

Price is alleged to have loved this role, and Diana Rigg (who plays his daughter) is said to find this her favorite role. I have to say I prefer "Phibes", but there's never a bad time for Vincent Price, especially when he's on killing spree.