Theatre of Blood is a riotously fun 70s film starring Vincent Price. It was released after his classic work with Roger Corman on the numerous films in the Edgar Allan Poe Cycle. Work in the States had dried up, but throughout the 70s he found work in Britain and Europe and this is one of the finest films he made in that period.
Price plays a Shakespearean actor Edward Lionheart who is believed to have committed suicide after he is snubbed by London theatre critics for a prestigious award. Lionheart, however, is still very much alive and plans a comeback by killing the London critics who snubbed him. The twist is he performs the murder scenes from numerous Shakespeare plays, and when there isn’t one- in this case The Merchant of Venice – he creates his own.
It’s an inspired set up and it works quite magnificently. Vincent Price has rarely been better and his perceived hammy persona works perfectly as an actor who believes he is the finest actor in the world despite his critics seeing him very differently. Price however was always a very good actor who starred in numerous film noirs and dramas before the horror bug got him the 50s. It’s nice to see him having so much fun doing Shakespeare; something he always wanted to do more often but rarely did. Price cited it as his favourite role of his career and it’s not hard to see why.
The film is one of many jewels in Vincent Price’s career which lasted half a century. It’s a wonderful blend of high camp (it’s hard to be camper than Butch the hairdresser), gore with sprinklings of Hammer Horror and Roger Corman. It’s a film that should be rediscovered and reminds people how good Vincent Price really was.
Arrow have done it again which is hardly surprising considering their track record recently. It’s full of interviews with Vincent Price’s daughter, film historian David Del Valle, the film’s co-star Madeline Smith and the composer Michael J. Lewis. It also includes a commentary by The League of Gentlemen. The transfer is as good as the film will ever look as well.
[rating=4]
Ian Schultz
Genre:
Horror, Comedy, Cult
Distributor:
Arrow Video
BD Release Date:
19th May 2014 (UK)
Rating:15
Running Time: 104 minutes
Director:
Douglas Hickox
Cast:
Vincent Price, Diana Rig, Ian Hendry, Arthur Lowe, Jack Hawkins
Buy:Theatre of Blood [Blu-ray]
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