{"id":4435,"date":"2014-05-20T12:16:10","date_gmt":"2014-05-20T11:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/?p=4435"},"modified":"2014-05-27T07:17:08","modified_gmt":"2014-05-27T06:17:08","slug":"theatre-of-blood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2014\/05\/20\/theatre-of-blood\/","title":{"rendered":"Theatre of Blood"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"theatre-blood\"<\/a>
Theatre of Blood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

\nFormat:<\/B> Blu-ray + DVD

\nRelease date:<\/B> 19 May 2014

\nDistributor:<\/B> Arrow Video

\nDirector:<\/B> Douglas Hickox

\nWriters:<\/B> Anthony Greville-Bell, Stanley Mann, John Kohn

\nCast:<\/B> Vincent Price, Diana Rigg, Ian Hendry, Milo O\u2019Shea

\nUK 1973

\n104 mins\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Theatre of Blood<\/i> is almost the last horror film Vincent Price made in the 1970s. Price was famous for a rather broad style of acting, and his last few 70s horror roles reflect that \u2013 the Dr Phibes films are high camp, and Madhouse<\/i> (1974) casts him as a hammy old horror star. Theatre of Blood<\/i>, Price\u2019s favourite of his horror roles, has him play a Shakespearean actor, Edward Lionheart, out for revenge on the critics who gave him bad reviews. He murders them using methods taken from the Shakespeare plays he performed in his final season (although it\u2019s unclear who Lionheart would have played in Cymbeline<\/i>, a play without a lead male role). <\/p>\n

Price\u2019s star turn walks the line between humour and pathos extremely well. Like most of Price\u2019s best parts, Lionheart is all flawed nobility, and gives the actor plenty of scope for his well-practised head-tilting, eye-rolling mannerisms. It is the culmination of the onscreen persona he had cultivated since at least The House on Haunted Hill<\/i> (1959). Price is backed by a peerless supporting cast of British character actors, which includes his future wife Coral Browne, with Arthur Lowe, Harry Andrews and Robert Coote particularly good. Diana Rigg plays Lionheart\u2019s adoring daughter (a rather under-written part) and the reliably unlikable Ian Hendry is the leader of the critics. <\/p>\n

Comedy horror is difficult to pull off, and Theatre of Blood<\/i> plays the horror mostly straight. The early murders are authentically nasty, especially the first, in which Michael Hordern is stabbed by meths drinkers. The later killings become more elaborate and outlandish, most famously in the Titus Andronicus<\/i> sequence, but the gory effects still pack a visceral punch that is absent from most Vincent Price films. <\/p>\n

The comedy is rather underplayed, and is best when it isn\u2019t obtrusive. The funniest moment comes when the stunt doubles for Price and Hendry indulge in some preposterously athletic fencing. There are also nice little character moments among the critics, played to perfection by comedy veterans like Robert Morley and Arthur Lowe. Price\u2019s disguises are funny, especially the Olivier-baiting false nose he wears as Richard III. Other attempts at humour, such as the slightly jarring presence of Eric Sykes as a detective, are less successful. <\/p>\n

The director, Douglas Hickox, had done comedy before (Entertaining Mr Sloane<\/i>, 1970, a film that isn\u2019t screamingly funny), but made Theatre of Blood<\/i> just after the depressing crime thriller Sitting Target<\/i> (1972). His next film was Brannigan<\/i> (1975), a John Wayne action movie. Theatre of Blood<\/i> certainly feels like a film made by a director happier with violence than comedy.<\/p>\n