Theater of Blood

There's a lot of commentary on this film here; however, I want to draw attention to the use of dream structure in this movie. People that appeared normal to the victims at first are suddenly balding, idiotic savages. A man looks to a policeman for aid and the audience suddenly notices that his face is not entirely real. The experiences of the victim of Lionheart (Price's character in this movie) each resemble a dream suddenly turned nightmare. It was a very effective device for a horror movie.

"Reasonbran 234" (Nov 6 2001) takes out the award here for the most literate, apt and concise review of Theater of Blood. This WAS Vincent Price's finest screen moment and I recall clearly at the time, one particular UK critic who suggested "This brilliant film will probably require a generation before it can ever be held in the esteem to which it is entitled!"

Way too literate for mainstream horror fans' taste - it was so much more. Few had the theatrical flourish of Vincent Price and he was just so perfectly cast as the acting-legend-in-his-own-mind disfavored by a cross section of critics that may otherwise have steered his career on to the rocks. Taking "tragedy" to a new level, he REALLY silencies his critics once and for all, taking them out one by one in escalatingly appropriate Shakespearean circumstances.

Black black dialog with the Bard's turn of a phrase pervades the entire film. Yeah its gory - so's Macbeth! It is also one of the greatest horror comedies ever devised, with A-List acting credits.

Quite simply, NOT to be missed!

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!

A Tour de Force for Vincent Price in Theatre of Blood! Price plays a gothic Shakespearean actor who begins to slay all of the critics responsible for not giving him the best actor honours for the year. Price kills each in the style and spirit of a Shakespeare play. Each is killed with a generous dose of witty, dark black humour. The whole cast is superb as is the writing. A special treat is the performance of Robert Morley as a motherly critic forced to eat his doggies(babies) baked in a pie ala Titus Andronicus. A must see for Price fans.

This film is frightening, funny,stomach churning, and Vincent Price at his menacing best if you get a chance do watch it with actors like Robert Morley,Jack Hawkings,Diana Dors, Arthur Lowe, Diana Rigg and the way he plots his revenge for there critics of his acting which distroyed his career the Robert Morley one especially I will never forget that scene if I knew this film was on DVD I would love to have it but it's one of those classics that won't be on TV much now unless they have a Vincent Price season or something,I remember sitting there with my family and tucking into a box of chocolates after the Robert Morley killing least to say we got turned of them but we we fall about laughing about it now