SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN

Gordon Hessler, 1970

Starring: Alfred Marks, Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing

“TRIPLE DISTILLED HORROR... as powerful as a vat of boiling ACID!”

Based on Peter Saxon’s novel The Disoriented Man, this film is a bit disorienting and I’m not sure if a brief summary can really do it justice. There are essentially three plots that eventually converge: the first involves a man jogging in London who collapses and winds up in the hospital. Throughout the film, every time he resumed consciousness, he is missing a new limb, but the nurse attending him refuses to explain. The second plot involves a military official returned to London from some maybe fascist (?) country. He kills a number of superior officers by doing what appears to be an inspired interpretation of the Vulcan death grip. The final and loosely central plot is focused on a violent serial killer and rapist who preys on the city’s women and drains them of their blood. A detective hunts him down and investigates the deaths, which horrify the city’s police officers and morgue workers. The detective consults a strange doctor who runs an organ and limb transplant clinic... 

This co-production between American International Pictures and British studio Tigon is a huge mess and is indicative of the kind of bumbling interference on the part of AIP that also made complete messes of films like The Haunted House of Horror and, to a lesser extent, The Curse of the Crimson Altar. While The Haunted House of Horror was horrifically saddled with Frankie Avalon and The Curse of the Crimson Altar was blessed by the aged, wheelchair-bound presence of Boris Karloff (still on top of his game despite little to do in the film), Scream and Scream Again is nearly saved by the presence of the great Vincent Price, though he seems just as confused by the plot as I was.

And yet... as with Tigon's earlier lovable disaster, The Blood Beast Terror, I know it's a mess, I can explain to you why — and there's just really no reason to avoid the honest truth — but that doesn't stop Scream and Scream Again from being incredibly entertaining. The script does it absolutely no favors, as the three plots randomly stop and start and careen into one another, but despite that and a number of other flaws, it’s just so much fun. As with my thoughts on The Blood Beast Terror, I will fully admit that I'm just not trustworthy where this film is concerned. Though there are a fair amount of stylish sets and costumes, the movie has an undeniably grungy feeling — which feels strangely out of place and which I love — and is populated with unlikable characters and some very nasty violence. And what the hell is with the Nazi subplot? It’s actually very difficult to fully describe the plot without giving things away, as scene after scene reveals more and more ridiculousness. Personally, I don't care a bit about spoilers and usually dole them out with no warning, but it just seems wrong in this case.

Director Gordon Hessler made some lesser known films that built on Roger Corman and Vincent Price’s Edgar Allen Poe series, such as The Oblong Box (1969), Cry of the Banshee (1970), and Murders in the Rue Morgue (1971). While I genuinely love all of these, despite their flaws, Scream and Scream Again is certainly his wildest and most interesting ride. Thanks is due in no small part to Peter Cushing, Vincent Price, and Christopher Lee, all of whom appear in this film, though not necessarily together and, much to my dismay, none of them really have a significant amount of screen time. While Cushing and Lee obviously had entwined careers and developed quite a beloved partnership — one that shaped the face of British horror — Price and Lee had only just worked together for the first time in Hessler’s previous film, The Oblong Box, where they also only shared one scene. Price and Cushing worked together on a handful of titles, namely the wonderful Madhouse. The three would work together again only once more over a decade later in Pete Walker’s unexpectedly delightful House of the Long Shadows (1983).

There are some other familiar faces, many of whom are quite welcome additions to the film, including Judy Huxtable (Die Screaming Marianne, no relation to Bill Cosby’s TV family), Yutte Stensgaard (Lust for a Vampire), Peter Sallis (Taste the Blood of Dracula), Christopher Matthews (Scars of Dracula), and British TV actor Alfred Marks. Marks is basically the star of the film and is quite likable as the head inspector. I don't know what it is about these Detective Inspector characters — perhaps a combination of watching British TV comedy and repeatedly reading Conan Doyle stories as a child — but I can't get enough of them. Marks is not quite on the level of John Williams in Dial M for Murder or Donald Pleasence's character in Death Line (who is, really), but he's a solid force within the film.

One of my favorite elements is the great score from David Whitaker, who used the kind of wild jazz much more frequently found in continental horror, such as the films of Jess Franco. Whitaker also scored Vampire Circus and Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde — imagine what a triple feature that would make. Although, as much as I love the score, it makes a lot of the film seem even more ridiculous, namely a lengthy scene where the police chase the killer, first by car and then on foot. They capture him and handcuff him, but he gets away by ripping off his own hand, and the chase continues. I’m not making this up.

Scream and Scream Again comes highly recommended and I love the film, but it will really only appeal to a certain audience. Open-mindedness and a certain irrepressible joie de vivre is key. The film is available on a double feature, single disc DVD from MGM’s Midnite Movies along with Hessler’s more conventional outing with Price and Lee, The Oblong Box. (Though it's still pretty bananas, at least compared to more straightforward British horror fare.)

WITCHFINDER GENERAL

Michael Reeves, 1968

Starring: Vincent Price, Ian Ogilvy, Rupert Davies, Patrick Wymark, Hilary Dwyer

Based on Ronald Bassett's novel Witchfinder General, the film loosely details the exploits of real life lawyer and witch hunter Matthew Hopkins (1620—1647), who operated during the English Civil War. Hopkins is selfish, murderous, and totally unsympathetic in his search for power rather than truth. He and his accomplices scour the countryside, torturing accused witches — the accusations often come without any proof — and then charging the local magistrates for their work. They accidentally cross paths with Richard, a young solider, and Sara, a lovely farm girl he has recently married. Hopkins and his cohorts imprison, torture, and kill the priest who has raised and cared for Sara, then one of them rapes her. Richard is determined to get revenge, despite the considerable amount of power Hopkins possesses.

Though Witchfinder General doesn't quite live up to the brutal antics of later German film Mark of the Devil (1970), it is still one of the greatest witch-hunting films in horror history and has been suggested as a candidate for the greatest British horror film of all time. While I don't think that's true, it has a number of pleasures, is undoubtedly very well made, and deserves its cult reputation. Though Price gives a great performance as Hopkins, it is strange to see him in a film with actual torture and rape. He plays against type, refusing to chew the scenery, ham it up, or work himself up into a comically maniacal lather. As Hopkins, he is deadly serious and outright unlikable. Though the violence of Witchfinder General isn't graphic enough to really shock today, it is plenty horrifying compared to the average Price film.

Witchfinder General also has a reputation among horror fans for the infamous hatred between Price and director Michael Reeves. Price wasn't Reeves first choice for the starring role (he wanted Donald Pleasance), a fact that Reeves apparently reminded the famous actor of frequently. Price also allegedly complained a lot on set, because the film was mostly shot outdoors rather than in a comfortable sound stage. The set certainly seemed like a tense, humorless place, but this benefits the production far more than it harms it. Price, who was constantly skeptical of Reeves’ abilities, eventually admitted that the film was an understated triumph.

Price and Reeves were supposed to reunite for The Oblong Box (1969), but Reeves died during pre-production and Gordon Hessler took over the film, reworking Reeves’ script about Jekyll and Hyde-like twins. His accidental death at 25 of a barbiturate overdose put a halt to a potentially brilliant career in British genre films and robbed Tigon British Film Productions of one of its brightest stars. Witchfinder General is actually a co-production between Tigon and American International Pictures (AIP), an arrangement they repeated for distribution purposes several times over the years with mixed results, as AIP sometimes demanded the inclusion of American actors (as in the case of Tigon's next outing, The Haunted House of Horror). AIP kept their meddling to a minimum here (one suspects Reeves would not have tolerated it), but for the US release of the film, they used the title The Conqueror Worm in a lousy attempt to cash in on Roger Corman and Vincent Price’s series of Edgar Allen Poe adaptations. “The Conqueror Worm” is the title of one of my favorite Poe poems, but it doesn’t have a goddamn thing to do with Witchfinder General or witch hunting. 

Though this is not one of my favorite Price films, in part because of its utter humorlessness, it is undeniably a successful and important work of genre cinema. Witchfinder General is a raw, bitter, and loveless work. Nary a tender emotion is experienced in the duration of the film and when the stark ending comes, it is ultimately a relief. Price is great in this atypical role and there are a number of strong performances from British horror regulars, including Reeves' old friend and regular Ian Ogilvy (The She Beast), Hammer regular Rupert Davies (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Dracula Has Risen from the Grave), and Patrick Wymark (Repulsion, Where Eagles Dare) all make welcome appearances and Hilary Heath (in the similarly themed if somewhat more fun Cry of the Banshee, also with Price) is memorable as Sara. 

This film comes highly recommended and is something every genre fan should see at least once. Witchfinder General is available on a single disc DVD or as part of the MGM Vincent Price Scream Legends box set. If you’re going to purchase or rent an older version, be on the look out for cuts. It was heavily censored in the UK upon its release and though it remained almost unscathed in the US, it was ignored by audiences for some reason.

MADHOUSE

Jim Clark, 1974
Starring: Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, Robert Quarry, Adrienne Corri

In a lot of ways, Madhouse marks the end of an era. A coproduction between American company American International Pictures and British studio Amicus Productions, it didn’t perform particularly well in the box office, possibly because it's a particularly campy blend of comedy and horror, quite divergent from Amicus's portmanteau films or their generally grim, realist-themed features like The Psychopath or What Became of Jack and Jill? It was also one of the very last horror films for both AIP and Amicus. For the latter studio, it came hot on the heels of anthology films Tales That Witness Madness and From Beyond the Grave, and it was followed by just one horror title, The Beast Must Die. It was also Vincent Price’s last horror film until The Monster Club (1981) several years later, though Madhouse is sadly his last starring role in a genre film.

Though somewhat inferior to the similarly themed AIP title Theatre of Blood, Madhouse is a fun film that is lovable despite its faults -- and, at least for me, seems to get better with each viewing. The glorious Price stars as Paul Toombes, an aging actor who stars in a horror film franchise. His character, Dr. Death, is at the height of his popularity and Toombes is about to marry his lovely costar. On the night of their engagement party, his fiancee is murdered. Toombes is suspected, but instead of being formally charged, he is committed to a mental hospital for having a breakdown. Years later, he re-emerges from the hospital and tries to start up his career again, but the murders resume. Has Toombes totally cracked? Or is someone setting him up?

This is a rare Amicus production starring Price and, like most of their films, is entertaining despite its flaws. Admittedly, this feels far more like an AIP production and even lacks the theme of a despicable central character being punished for their transgressions. Though Toombes is so full of himself as to be unlikable, he has really become the unfortunate target of a much more dangerous, homicidal adversary. These themes of paranoia, conspiracy, and narcissism are balanced by some delightfully cheesy moments. Overall, the plot doesn’t go out of its way to make a whole lot of sense, but that hardly matters and there is still a lot to like about the film. There are some beautiful, vividly-colored set pieces (in typical AIP fashion) that manage to be both creepy and campy at the same time. Though light on plot and believability, Madhouse is like a fond farewell to the glory days of Price, AIP, and even Amicus. It has a lot of great moments of meta-theatricality and in-jokes for fans of Price’s earlier horror films, which should endear it to the actor's die-hard fans.

Madhouse also benefits from a great cast. There's an appearance from the sexy Linda Hayden, a young British actress known for her genre work in the '60s and '70s, such as Taste the Blood of Dracula and Blood on Satan’s Claw before she moved onto sex films. There are also great cameos from Peter Cushing as a pathetic writer and Robert Quarry (Count Yorga, Vampire) as a sleazy producer. Quarry is even forced to make an appearance in his Count Yorga costume, which is a nice in-joke for genre fans. Scream queen Adrienne Corri (A Clockwork Orange, Vampire Circus) also pops up as a crazy spider lady who lives in a spooky old house and, in my opinion, she's one of the best elements of the film.

Price is fittingly sad as the pathetic, confused Toombes. He clearly doesn't know whether or not he has been committing the murders and this keeps the suspense (and humor) going. There is also a nice twist at the end of the film and Toombes’ attempts to investigate only serve to get him into more trouble. As I mentioned, there are numerous references to Price’s earlier horror films with AIP and some of them are actually shown as clips in place of the Dr. Death films, while others are echoed in the death scenes, all taken from Toombes’ films. 

Director Jim Clark was better known as an editor and made his career working on films such as one of Britain’s finest, The Innocents (1961), the Hitchcockian Charade (1963), Bond film The World is Not Enough (1999), and many more. His work here is competent and assured and it's a shame that it was only one of very few films he helmed as a director. Madhouse was loosely based on Devilday (1969), a novel by Angus Hall. In it, Toombes’ character is far more unpleasant and lacks the charming, sympathetic qualities Price brought to the film. While this is more in line with Amicus's themes, I believe I prefer the film as it is, with Toombes ultimately winding up a pathetic, if begrudgingly likable figure who is victimized by a far more sinister force.

Madhouse is available as a single disc split feature with Theatre of Blood and in the same format as part of the MGM Vincent Price Scream Legends box set. It comes recommended, particularly if you want a creepy comfort film light on actual scares, but heavy on the black comedy. I've really come to love this film, primarily because of the outrageous interplay between Price and Cushing -- who have lost none of their vim and vigor by this point and engage in a real battle of scenery chewing -- as well as the colorful side roles by some true '70s horror luminaries.

WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS

Fritz Lang, 1956

Starring: Dana Andrews, George Sanders, Rhonda Fleming, John Drew Barrymore, Ida Lupino, Vincent Price

Based on The Bloody Spur, journalist Charles Einstein’s novel about real-life Lipstick Killer William Heirens, Lang revisits some of the themes he first introduced in M (1931), another film about a serial killer that was inspired by real events. Media mogul Amos Kyne dies of natural causes while he is in the middle of trying to find a successor. The company passes to his spoiled son Walter, who immediately stirs up competition among the division heads to see who will help run the company as executive director. It is between the newspaper’s editor, the wire service chief, and head photographer, all of whom are plotting, backstabbing, and forming allegiances. 

The editor’s main ally is famous reporter Edward Mobley, who is more interested in a current string of crimes committed by the “Lipstick Killer.” This murderer breaks into women’s homes, strangles them to death, and leaves messages in their lipstick. Realizing the importance of the story, Walter Kynes decrees that whichever man is the first to identify the Lipstick Killer will become head of the company. Mobley, who has recently become engaged to a secretary at the paper, Nancy, decides to use her for bait after mocking the killer live on air.

This is unlike many of Lang’s other films in the sense that it lacks the usual sense of dramatic visual style and cinematic innovation. The elaborate sets and chiaroscuro lighting are replaced by some very basic, workmanlike, almost television show-style sets. In some ways the film feels tired -- as Mobley’s character often expresses -- and this is probably due to the fact that While the City Sleeps was one of Lang’s final films for Hollywood and he left America soon after. He was a difficult director to work with and notoriously hated the American studio system. I can’t help but feel that the political events occurring in the newsroom are both a commentary on Lang’s hatred for the Hollywood system and the related issues surrounding McCarthyism. 

The film also extends some of the themes he introduced in the Dr. Mabuse series. While those addressed issues of fascism and surveillance, While the City Sleeps takes a cold, hard look at the American media industry -- newspapers, television, radio, and photography -- and presents it as a cynical business driven by men purely interested in profit and sensationalism. This is in a loose, film noir, media-focused trilogy alongside The Blue Dahlia and Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, though While the City Sleeps is certainly the most accomplished.

As with M, it has very few characters that could be described as decent or likable people. Most of the main characters are self-motivated back stabbers, less interested in the welfare of the killer’s victims and more concerned with getting a promotion, breaking a story, and making money. They show the same regard for their romantic relationships and infidelity is a constant theme. The murderer is often paralleled with the men in the newsroom and their callous use of women, namely, and most uncomfortably, Mobley’s manipulative and almost predatory relationship with his young and innocent fiancée.

Lang made the seminal M, perhaps the first film about a serial killer, and some of it is echoed here during the subway chase scene towards the film’s conclusion. As far as other important serial killer movies go, While the City Sleeps predates Hitchcock’s Psycho by several years and also features a killer with mommy issues. Lang deals with the subject completely differently than Hitchcock and ambiguously introduces the killer’s mother. While this destroys some of the mystery, this also removes some of the blame from his mother and makes the Lipstick Killer seem more bent by society in general than by upbringing alone, unlike the isolated Norman Bates.

Dana Andrews (Laura) gives one of his most likable and animated performances as Mobley, delivering quick dialogue and stirring the pot even though he professes not to care about the newspaper’s succession issues. While Andrews carries the film, there are a number of excellent supporting performances. The always wonderful George Sanders (The Lodger, The Picture of Dorian Gray) is excellent as the callous, manipulative Mark Loving, but isn’t given enough screen time. Thomas Mitchell (Stagecoach, It’s a Wonderful Life) is Mobley’s partner in crime and James Craig (The Devil and Daniel Webster), is the lazy, no good photographer sleeping with the boss’s wife. 

Vincent Price is very good in here in a more complex role than usual. While Walter Kyne begins as a spoiled, lazy playboy, a similar character to Price’s role in Laura, he quickly transforms into something more ruthless and driven. Though around this period America began to associate him with horror films and villainous roles, here he is simply a bored socialite attempting to rise above his privileged, though dull life. John Drew Barrymore (Thunderbirds) also puts in a brief, but compelling performance as the Lipstick Killer. 

The few women in the film nearly steal it away from Andrews, particularly the underrated Ida Lupino (They Drive By Night, High Sierra) as the pleasantly conniving Mildred Donner. She is the only female character to go toe-to-toe with the men and has frank conversations about sex that seem more modern than the a ‘50s film would normally allow. The very sexy Rhonda Fleming (Spellbound, Out of the Past, The Spiral Staircase) brings elements of fun and humor to the film as Kyne’s unfaithful wife Dorothy. Sally Forrest (The Strange Door) as the virginal Nancy sadly pales in comparison to Lupino and Fleming, but benefits from a well-written character.

While the City Sleeps may not be one of Lang’s classic films, but comes highly recommended and deserves to be seen for its pessimistic look at post-war America and the emerging modern media industry. Though there is no definitive edition (Criterion, what gives?), While the City Sleeps was released on DVD as part of RKO’s Archive Collection along with his other final American film, the similarly themed Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956). 

EDWARD SCISSORHANDS

Tim Burton, 1990

Starring: Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest, Anthony Michael Hall, Vincent Price

An old woman tells her granddaughter a fairytale about the origin of snow. Edward, a young man created by an isolated and eccentric inventor, has scissors instead of hands. The inventor dies of old age before he was able to also give Edward a pair of human hands and Edward is left to fend for himself, alone in the inventor’s gloomy mansion. Several years later, a local Avon lady from the nearby suburbs knocks on Edward’s door and insists on taking him home when she sees the state he’s in. He slowly bonds with the family and falls in love with their teenage daughter, Kim. Needing something to do, Edward begins using his scissorhands to creatively trim the neighborhood hedges and cut hair. 

Things begin to go wrong when Kim’s boyfriend sets Edward up to get arrested and a local woman tries to take advantage of him, claiming rape when he rejects her in panic and confusion. Around Christmas time, the town begins to turn against him and when he accidentally cuts Kim with one of his scissors, things go from bad to worse. Edward is forced to flee back to the mansion, even though Kim confesses her love. 

Made during Tim Burton’s early, most creative period, he considers this to be his most personal film and it is certainly beloved by Burton fans. Burton was able to make Edward Scissorhands after his success with Batman and worked with regular collaborators like scriptwriter Caroline Johnson and musician Danny Elfman. Burton’s influences are certainly a blend of my favorite things: Universal horror, German Expressionism, Gothic literature, and fairytales. Most of these themes continue throughout some of his best films, including Batman, Batman Returns, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Frankenweenie, Beetlejuice, etc. He uses a central outcast, Gothic castles, pop art, a touch of surrealism, horror tropes, and some very obvious social commentary, which is at its most blunt and inelegant here. 

While I still really enjoy this film, it’s difficult to ignore its flaws, most of which center around the script. The biggest problem is with the ending, which is plucked directly from James Whale’s Frankenstein and veers far away from the well-crafted first two acts and toward the disappointingly predictable face off between the villain (Kim’s boyfriend) and romantic hero (Edward). 

This was Burton’s first collaboration with Johnny Depp, who is ethereal and wonderful here. Though he may not say much and may not appear to do much dramatically, he is the film’s core and remains to be the strongest element. Stan Winston (The Thing, Terminator 2) designed Edward’s “hands,” which look incredible and are a constant source of either humor or anxiety throughout the film, sometimes both. This is Burton’s second collaboration with Winona Ryder (after Beetlejuice), who he cast against type as the blonde, popular girl. I have to say that it doesn’t work for Ryder and this is one of her weaker roles, second only among her early films to Bram Stoker’s Dracula. 

A shining moment is the role of the inventor, which was specifically written for Vincent Price. Burton grew up idolizing him and even made a short film about it, Vincent. The inventor was Price’s last role in a film, which seems incredibly appropriate and certainly adds a layer of real life sadness to the inventor’s death early in the film. There are a number of other great side roles, including Dianne Wiest (Hannah and Her Sister), who is perfect here as Edward’s surrogate mother, Anthony Michael Hall (The Breakfast Club) against type as the jock and bully, Alan Arkin (The Heart is a Lonely Hunter), and many more. 

When they are not steeped in the Gothic or borrowing from German Expressionist horror films like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari or The Golem (both films about human-like creations gone wrong), Burton’s memorable visuals look a hell of a lot like a John Waters movie. Or what a John Waters movie would look like with a Hollywood budget. There are numerous elements that exploit the more ridiculous visual and thematic elements of the suburbs, namely the ridiculous candy colored houses. 

Despite its flaws, Edward Scissorhands comes recommended, though I can’t imagine a universe in which someone reading this blog hasn’t yet seen the film. Really, all of Burton’s early films are worth revisiting and part of me loves all of them up through Ed Wood. I know some people have a soft spot for Sleepy Hollow, but that’s certainly where it takes a turn for the worst. Anyway. I’m reviewing the Anniversary Edition DVD, which has lots of nice extras, though there is also a Blu-ray.

FROM A WHISPER TO A SCREAM

Jeff Burr, 1987

Starring: Vincent Price, Cly Gulager, Susan Tyrrell, Terry Kiser

Also known as The Offspring, this late ‘80s anthology film was one of Vincent Price’s final horror films, though allegedly the veteran genre actor thought the movie was awful. While it isn’t completely terrible, I think the best that can be said about From a Whisper to a Scream is that it has a few surprises, some horrifying and mean-spirited moments, and is worth watching for horror anthology fans or Vincent Price completists. More casual Price fans will want to avoid it, because he’s in the film for about five minutes.

In Oldfield, Tennessee, a woman is executed for murderer. A reporter visits her uncle (Price), a historian, and he tells her four tales about the horrors that have come out of Oldfield. In the first story, a creepy, desperate, older man (an almost completely unrecognizable Clu Gulager) takes his coworker out on a very awkward date. When she rejects him at the end of the night, he kills her and uses her dead body in a rather nefarious way. In the second story, set in the ‘50s, an injured man is on the run from gangsters, because he owes them money. He is rescued and saved from death by a voodoo practicing hermit who possesses the secret to eternal life. The man’s overwhelming greed makes him try to steal the formula from the hermit with some unpleasant results. 

The third tale, set in the ‘30s, involves a carny who has recently fallen in love. He wants to leave the circus, which is fittingly called Lovecraft’s Amusements, to run away with his lady love, but the voodoo practicing, snake worshipping owner of the circus has a devastating power over him. The final tale concerns Civil War soldiers cut off from the army, who encounter by some very bizarre children. The soldiers soon become trapped...

While From a Whisper to a Scream really isn’t that great of a film, one strong point is that the stories are all very different and are set in varying time periods. They also each make a solid stab (pun intended) at horror. Unlike the TV anthology film, Escapes, that Price also had a small part in, From a Whisper to a Scream is concerned with the grotesque, horrifying, and violent. To its credit, it makes a number of serious attempts to either gross out or creep out its audience with varying degrees of success. The segments cover such unpleasant topics as necrophilia, a hint of incest, murder, voodoo, deformity, etc. Some decent effects from Rob Burman (The Thing) certainly help. 

As the historian who frames the stories, Price doesn’t have nearly enough screen time,  through there are some other recognizable horror actors. Bond girl and Hammer regular Martine Beswick (Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde) makes an appearance as the executed murderer, as does Clu Gulagar (Return of the Living Dead), Terry Kiser (Weekend at Bernie’s), Rosalind Cash (Omega Man, Tales from the Hood), Cameron Mitchell (Blood and Black Lace), Susan Tyrrell (Tales from the Crypt TV show, Forbidden Zone), and Angelo Rossitto (Freaks). 

This was director Jeff Burr’s first horror film, though he went on to a career made up of mostly horror sequels: Stepfather II (1989), Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990), Puppet Master 4 (1993) and 5 (1994), Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings (1994), and many more. He does a decent job here, but is at least partially hamstrung by a small budget. 

I can’t really recommend From a Whisper to a Scream, but it’s not a bad way to spend an evening and I suspect it would be more entertaining to watch in a group. Anyone who likes low budget, '80s horror will probably also find plenty to enjoy. It is available on DVD from MGM. 

ESCAPES (1986)

David Steensland, 1986

Starring: Vincent Price, Todd Fulton, John Mitchum, Jerry Grisham

I really wasn’t sure what to expect from Escapes, a made for TV horror anthology presented by Vincent Price, but unsurprisingly, it’s kind of terrible. Part of the problem is that the five stories were originally used as shorts on HBO and the Sci-Fi Channel in the early ‘80s and were later combined with an introductory and concluding segment featuring Vincent Price. All written and directed by David Steensland, I don’t think any of these could really be called horror.

In the opening segment, a teenager (played by Todd Fulton, who hasn’t been in anything else, as far as I can tell), receives a strange tape and decides to watch it. Vincent Price appears and announces that we are going to see six horror stories. The first, “Something’s Fishy,” involves a man out fishing on a lake. He sees an apple on the shore and decides to eat it, but it turns out the mysterious fruit is not quite what it seems and the man winds up floating in the lake as bait. "Coffee Break" involves a young, impatient delivery driver who gets lost in an isolated, idyllic rural town. He asks an old man (John Mitchum from Dirty Harry, Magnum Force, etc.) for directions and is told to relax and get a cup of coffee, but he refuses and is stuck driving around the town of Harmony. 

The third story, “Who’s There,” is the closest to horror. A jogger running through the woods is followed by a Bigfoot looking monster. In “Jonah’s Dream,” a poor, older woman stubbornly carrying on her husband’s dream of finding gold in the mountains is surprised when she discovered a spaceship that leaves her a surprising gift. In the final story, “Think Twice,” a bum is mugged, but finds a strange, glowing crystal that grants his wishes and allows him to get the lamest revenge I’ve ever seen on the mugger. 

Afterwards we return to the teen watching the video. When Vincent Price addresses him by name, he get spooked and turns off the tape, to no avail. It’s a fun twist, but simply comes as too little too late with such appalling production values that it’s clear they paid price the bulk of their budget. 

Apparently there is a director’s cut that makes this fifteen or so minutes longer, but I can’t see why anyone would want to waste the additional time. I can’t fault Vincent Price for anything, as he’s on screen for a grand total of maybe four minutes, but if he hadn’t been it at all, I would definitely not have suffered through till the end. There is no violence or gore, no outright scares, weak scripts, a pitiful budget, etc. 

Escapes (I don’t know why it’s called that) is streaming online, but there is no DVD release available as far as I can tell. Not at all recommended. Ignore the above VHS cover, which dubs it "the great lost horror film of Vincent Price."

BLOODBATH AT THE HOUSE OF DEATH

Ray Cameron, 1984

Starring: Vincent Price, Kenny Everett, Pamela Stephenson, Gareth Hunt

Two doctors go to investigate Headstone Manor, believed by locals to be cursed. Several years prior, almost 20 people were killed there by satanic monks. Doctors Mandeville and Coyle are joined by a team to examine levels of radiation and supernatural phenomena in the house. Meanwhile, out in the neighboring woods, a 700-year-old satanic priest lurks, ready to repeat another satanic sacrifice and empty the house of all its intrusive guests. A number of strange things occur around the house and satanic doubles of some of the scientists begin to kill off and replace the originals. Will any of them escape before the ritual is complete?

As with Murder by Death, House of the Long Shadows, and the most famous example, Clue, Bloodbath at the House of Death was one of many old dark house, horror/mystery spoofs, though it is easy to see why it was forgotten alongside the others. Overall it is fun, but it doesn’t really work as a cohesive film. There are simply too many things going on and the fact that this was meant to be a vehicle for British comedian Kenny Everett is certainly baffling. I had no idea who he was until I saw this film and many of the jokes, like Everett himself, are sadly dated. While he is occasionally hilarious (the gag about the bat, for example), it seems like his comedy is more geared towards television than a feature length film.

Personally, I think that if you’re going to call a movie Bloodbath at the House of Death, there should be a lot of death and also a bloodbath or two. While the opening is pretty promising, the rest of the film disappoints because, of course, it is trying to be a comedy/spoof and not a blood-soaked horror film. Where House of the Long Shadows suffered because it wasn’t sure if it wanted to be a horror film or a comedy and constantly wavered between the two, I think Bloodbath at the House of Death would have benefited from more serious, gruesome horror elements and less of the ridiculous comedy that mostly fills up the plot. 

To be fair, this is certainly a spoof for someone who has seen a lot of horror films, particularly films released at the end of the ‘70s and in the early ‘80s. There are numerous references to other films from The Amityville Horror to American Werewolf in London, Jaws, Rosemary’s Baby, and several more. Some of these are funny, but many serve as a reminder that you could be off watching something a lot better instead of Bloodbath at the House of Death. 

It’s taken me awhile to mention him, but of course Vincent Price is the best thing about this film. He absolutely steals every scene he is in and it’s a shame he wasn’t given more screen time. Everett is average at best, but there’s a welcome appearance from Graham Stark (some of the Pink Panther films). I believe many of the other actors (as well as director Ray Cameron) were part of the group Everett regularly used for his show. 

I can’t say I would recommend Bloodbath at the House of Death, but if you really love horror spoofs and you are a Vincent Price completest, it might be worthwhile. This is available on region 2 DVD, though I would recommend a rental first. 

HOUSE OF THE LONG SHADOWS

Pete Walker, 1983

Starring: Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, John Carradine

An agent bets one of his writers, Kenneth Magee, that if he can write a Gothic novel in 24 hours, he will pay him $20,000. Magee agrees and the agent sets him up with a foreboding and allegedly abandoned Welsh manor where he can write throughout the night. Unfortunately for Magee, the house is inhabited by the ancient Lord Grisbane and a caretaker, his also very old daughter Victoria. Kenneth is further interrupted by Grisbane’s elderly sons and Mary, the publisher’s secretary there to lend a helping hand. They are further interrupted by Corrigan, a man who intends to buy the mansion.

The strange Grisbanes admit to Magee, Mary, and Corrigan that they have all gathered together because of their third brother, Roderick, who has been imprisoned in the attic for several decades due to a misspent, violent youth. He seduced a young girl and murdered her when she became pregnant. They all discover, to their horror, that Roderick is missing and soon after, members of the Grisbane family begin to drop dead. Their tires are all slashed, so they are trapped in the house. Can they find Roderick before he slaughters them all? 

Produced by the infamous Cannon Films, this is British exploitation/horror director Pete Walker’s final film and certainly the most against type. Written by Michael Armstrong (director of Mark of the Devil), this is based loosely on the novel Seven Keys to Baldpate, which was also turned into a play. House of the Long Shadows is far from a perfect film, but will always be one of my favorites because of the union of horror actors Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and John Carradine. This is the last time either Price or Lee would appear in a film with Cushing. They are also joined by Pete Walker regular Sheila Keith, though the role was originally intended for Elsa Lanchester, who was too ill to fly to England for filming. Desi Arnaz, Jr. is definitely the worst part of the film, but fortunately it is easy to forget about him alongside Price, Lee, Cushing, and Carradine. His love interest, played by Julie Peasgood (Emmerdale) is also pretty terrible, but, again, it is easy to get caught up in the fun and ignore some of the more grating elements.

Speaking of grating, the ending - I’m sorry, endings - are all absurd and ruined the film a little the first time I saw it, but it’s easy to get used to or ignore them upon multiple viewings. The main thing to remember about House of the Long Shadows is that it is mostly concerned with being a fun, quirky swan song to entire generation of horror actors, as well as for the short-lived but wonderful career of Pete Walker. 

While this is basically an old dark house film, it seems like both Walker and Cannon had trouble deciding if it should be a horror film or a comedy. Other old dark house films from the period, such as Clue, were undoubtedly comedies and I think House of the Long Shadows would have been stronger and more successful if Walker had fully played to his horror strengths. There are several references to Gothic fiction throughout the film and I also would like to have seen more done with that, but alas. 

With that said, it’s surprising this was allowed to pass with a PG rating as there are a number of violent scenes, including a particularly nasty moment where acid dissolved someone’s face. There is plenty of other violence, including a hanging, throat slitting, an axe attack, and more. Horror fans will find a lot to love here and the enthusiasm from Price, Lee, Cushing, and Carradine is infectious. Despite its flaws, it is simply impossible not to enjoy House of the Long Shadows.

Sadly, it is also impossible to find on DVD or Blu-ray, though I’m still holding out hope that someone like Shout Factory will get the rights sometime soon. There are a number of bootlegs floating around online. Many of these are very dark and the quality is awful, so be forewarned, but it comes highly recommended anyway that you can find it. 

THE MONSTER CLUB

Roy Ward Baker, 1980

Starring: Vincent Price, John Carradine, Donald Pleasance, Stuart Whitman

The final film of British studio Amicus, a competitor to Hammer, was fittingly an anthology film. Though it doesn’t quite live up to some of their best efforts, it is still an endearing, entertaining effort and features some nice work from Vincent Price and John Carradine, both towards the end of their careers, and director Roy Ward Baker (The Vault of Horror), a British horror regular. 

Based on the work of horror writer R. Chetwynd-Hayes, this anthology film concerns a vampire, Eramus (Price), who snacks on an unwitting man (Carradine) that turns out to be R. Chetwynd-Hayes, Eramus’s favorite writer. Eramus brings the surprised man to a secret club full of monsters, so that he can give him plenty of material to be inspired by. First Eramus tells him about the Shadmock, a monster hybrid with a deadly whistle. Raven, a wealthy and reclusive Shadmock, becomes the target of a young woman and her greedy, manipulative boyfriend. Angela, the woman, comes to work there as an assistant and Raven eventually proposes marriage to her. Though she feels sympathy for Raven, her boyfriend convinces her to accept and she robs his safe on the night he has an engagement party and invites all his monstrous relatives...

The second tale is about a family of vampires. Their young son is picked on at school and becomes the target for a team of vampire hunters, who have been searching for the boy’s father for a long time. They stake the father, but he manages to bite one of the hunters, requiring him to be staked shortly after in a surprise happy ending. The final tale, “The Ghouls,” is the most serious and has some actual scares. A director looking for a new location stumbles across an isolated village. His car breaks down and he becomes trapped there with a small population of ghouls who feast on human corpses. Unfortunately for him, they are all out of corpses. Eramus concludes the stories by inviting Chetwynd-Hayes to join the club, because humans are the most horrible monsters of all. 

This is one of Vincent Price’s rare roles as a vampire and the only time he played a blood sucker in a feature length film. As Eramus, he essentially carries the movie. John Carradine is likable as Chetwynd-Hayes in a role initially intended for Christopher Lee. He doesn’t have a whole lot to do here, as this is mostly the Vincent Price show, but it’s always nice to see Price and Carradine together. James Laurenson (Pink Floyd: The Wall) is memorable as the whistling Shadmock and Anthony Steel (West of Zanzibar) appears as producer Lintom Busotsky, an anagram of Amicus producer Milton Subotsky. Horror regulars Donald Pleasance and Britt Ekland (The Wicker Man) are also great in the vampire segment. 

This was the last true British anthology film and though I love it, it should be regarded with a bit of skepticism. Someone thought it would be a great idea to put a bunch of live musical performances between the stories and these are just grating. Presumably this is to make up for the very low budget and pad out the running time a bit. The club itself is unforgettably cheesy with some terribly cheap monster make up and costumes. Another stupid moment is when Eramus explains to Chetwynd-Hayes the various monster genealogies, such as what happens when you mix a ghoul and a human, a werewolf and a ghoul, etc. It descends into ridiculousness very quickly. With that said, there are plenty of people - myself included - who will love the utter cheesiness of the film. It might be silly and stupid in parts, but it is unabashedly fun and Price was at least having a good time here. His enthusiasm is infectious, as always. 

The Monster Club has recently been restored and released on Blu-ray. It comes recommended for anyone who loves silly, low budget horror and for anthology and Vincent Price completists. 

THEATRE OF BLOOD

Douglas Hickox, 1973

Starring: Vincent Price, Diana Rigg, Ian Hendry

Along with The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Theatre of Blood easily ranks as one of my favorite Vincent Price films of all time. It bears certain similarities with Dr. Phibes, namely a colorful set, black humor, plenty of eccentricity, a central revenge plot, a sympathetic villain with a female sidekick, and thematically inspired murders.

Edward Lionheart (Vincent Price), Shakespearean actor extraordinaire, has been deprived of the London Critic's Circle Award for Best Actor for too long. With an exit worthy of any Jacobean tragedy, Lionheart crashes the Critic’s Circle party, gives a fabulous anti-acceptance speech and then kills himself by jumping into the Thames. His legacy is left behind in his heartbroken daughter, Edwina (Diana Rigg). When the spoiled, selfish critics think he is really gone, he returns to kill them one by one, forcing them to witness some truly inspired moments of Shakespeare before depriving them of this mortal coil.

Highly recommended, this is the Grand Guignol film to end them all. Theatre of Blood is really a live action Theater of Death, with each critic meeting their sticky end in a scene from a Shakespeare play. What it lacks in sympathetic characters it more than makes up for in creativity, brutality, and Shakespearean poetry. Price delivers many famous monologues with aplomb and his Lionheart has enough hubris to rewrite Shakespeare if there is no fitting death scene available, a la Merchant of Venice where Shylock really does take his pound of flesh and possibly a bit more. Theatre of Blood also has what is probably the best adaptation of Titus Andronichus I've ever seen. Scenes from Julius Caesar, Troilus and Cressida, Richard III, Cymbeline, Othello, Henry VI Part 1, Romeo and Juliet, and King Lear are also included.

This is also one of the greatest tributes to Price's skill as a character actor while simultaneously making fun of the fact that he was typecast as a horror actor throughout most of his career. He not only shines as Lionheart, but adapts a wide variety of Shakespearean heroes and villains, as well as side characters that allow him to sneak up on the critics, unsuspected. A French chef, sleazy massage therapist, and gay, afro-wearing hair dresser are just some moments where he is full of surprises, eliciting laughter and shudders of horror within the same scene. 

Diana Rigg (The Avengers TV show) is wonderful as Edwina, Lionheart's loyal daughter whose life he sacrifices to get his revenge. Supposedly she and Price had a great relationship and Rigg very much looked up to him as an actor, remaining a close friend for the rest of his life. The other critics are also great, all playing their roles with incredible seriousness and straight-faces. They are not afraid to be big selfish buffoons, but they are also not afraid to snivel and plead for their lives before dying spectacularly. Some very big name British actors were in the film, including Harry Andrews (A Dandy in Aspic), Vincent Price’s future wife Coral Browne (The Ruling Class), Robert Coote (The Ghost and Mrs. Muir), Ian Hendry (Repulsion, Get Carter), and many more. 

Theatre of Blood is amazing, enough said. It is also surprisingly brutal and violent, wasting no time trapping and dispatching the critics with a ferocity that makes one wince a little. Supposedly this is also Price's favorite among his own work. The films is available as a single disc DVD, though also in the MGM Vincent Price Scream Legends box set, where it is available on a double-sided disc with the similarly themed if slightly less spectacular Madhouse.

CRY OF THE BANSHEE (1970)

Gordon Hessler, 1970

Starring: Vincent Price, Elizabeth Bergner, Hilary Dwyer, Essy Persson

In Elizabethan England, there is a particularly fearsome magistrate, Lord Whitman, who delights in hunting witches. After torturing an innocent women to get information, Whitman then kills her. He later holds a feast where he forces her two young children to entertain him. When he comes to believe they have been marked by the devil, due to a strange dog or wolf howling outside his castle, he kills them. He vows to destroy all the witches, namely their leader, Oona. 

Meanwhile his young wife, who objects to his behavior, is raped by Whitman’s violent son, and begins to go mad. His other son and daughter, Harry and Maureen, return home from school and Maureen carries on an affair with Roderick, a strange young man found in the woods as a child. Some of the locals suspect that Roderick is descended from witches or his one himself. Whitman stumbles across a coven in the woods and slaughters many of them. Enraged, Oona curses him and promises that the sidhe (pronounced “she” and the original of the word “banshee”) has cursed his family. He doesn’t believe her until his relatives begin to die one by one at the hands of some demonic beast. 

One of American International Pictures’ British films, I have often seen people describe Cry of the Banshee as a lesser version of Witchfinder General, which isn’t really a fair assessment. Aside from Vincent Price, it bears only one true thing in common with Witchfinder General: cruelty. While both films are essentially exploitation horror movies about witch hunting, in Cry of the Banshee Price is hunting actual witches and satan worshippers, unlike in Witchfinder General, which makes no real reference to the occult and is essentially about a megalomaniac torturing and murdering for political reasons. The way these two films are really similar is in their portrayal of women and the almost constant cruelty. Women are frequently stripped topless, tortured, whipped, killed, etc. There is an unpleasant rape scene and early in the film two children are killed. This might be too mean-spirited for a lot of Vincent Price fans and contains far more blood and nudity than most of his films.

It’s also important to keep in mind that Cry of the Banshee is a British folk horror film, though it is often forgotten about alongside classics of the subgenre. It came out a year before Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971) and three years before The Wicker Man (1973). Here the witches are real. The group is mostly made up of scantily clad teenagers who look like they are worshipping nature while on many different kinds of drugs, but we soon learn that they are actually satanists. They compel a werewolf to do their bidding and are easily as cruel and depraved as Whitman, making it difficult to find sympathy on either side. 

Price is great here as Lord Whitman, playing a slightly campier version of his role as Matthew Hopkins in Witchfinder General. He is a violent, merciless, unsympathetic bastard and yet makes the role likable somehow. Swedish erotica actress Essy Persson (I, A Woman) is good as his tormented young wife and Hilary Heath (Witchfinder General), as his daughter, is probably the most likable character in the film. His sons are played by Carl Rigg (The Holcroft Covenant, Lifeforce) and Stephan Chase (Polanski’s Macbeth), though they are overshadowed by Patrick Mower (The Devil Rides Out) as their sister’s lover, the strange Roderick.

There is some wonderful atmosphere and the film generally splits time between dense forests, a run-down, filthy medieval village, and Whitman’s castle complete with a dank dungeon, torture chambers, feasts, and more. There are wonderful opening credits from Terry Gilliam that feel some what out of place with the serious tone of the film, but are delightful nonetheless. Director Gordon Hessler had previously worked with Price on the Poe-themed voodoo and revenge film The Oblong Box (1969) and the bizarre but enjoyable Scream and Scream Again (1970). 

This isn’t a perfect film and suffers from a poorly written script that gets bogged down towards the middle. Dialogue is certainly lacking and Price gets almost none of the wonderfully evil one-liners he typically had during horror films of this period. With that said, the surprise ending is excellent and the level of violence and mystery both kick off about three-fourths of the way through. Fortunately the effects team kept things to a minimum and the film doesn’t suffer from any poorly designed, cheap werewolves or devils. There are a number of effective scenes, including one that transitions between a wild gathering of the coven and a funeral where professional mourners scream and cry because Whitman is too callous to grieve. 

As with a number of Vincent Price films from the period, there are references to Edgar Allen Poe in the film’s title and an opening quote (from his poem “The Bells”), but otherwise this has absolutely nothing to do with Poe. There is also no true banshee in the film. 

Though Cry of the Banshee isn’t a perfect film by any means, it’s a solid, early entry in British folk horror and is far too neglected. It comes recommended for fans of satanic horror and more mean-spirited exploitation horror. It is available on DVD as a double feature with Murders in the Rue Morgue (directed by Hessler, but not starring Price) from MGM’s Midnite Movies series.

DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN

Robert Fuest, 1972
Starring: Vincent Price, Robert Quarry, Valli Kemp, Peter Jeffrey

It seems impossible to believe, but this sequel to The Abominable Dr. Phibes is almost as good as the original. Not quite, but still worth your time and certainly worthy as a double feature with the original.

Dr. Phibes awakens three years after the events of the original film, due to something or other happening with the moon. Though this was part of the plan, all is not right. His house has been destroyed and a set of precious Egyptian scrolls has been stolen. He needs these scrolls to track down the Pharaoh's Tomb in Egypt, which houses the River of Life. He needs access to these waters to re-awaken his precious wife. He packs up his assistant Vulnavia and sets sail for Egypt. He unfortunately crosses paths with Darrus Biederbeck, who is an archaeologist also in pursuit of the River of Life and willing to stop at nothing to get there first. Throwing more obstacles in his path, Inspectors Trout and Waverly have returned to pursue Phibes and finally bring him to justice.

The murders this time are all Egyptian themed, which is fitting, because of their location, but also sad because they don't have the eccentric, unified theme that the murders in the first film shared. And let's face it - Egypt is not all that original as a setting or theme, especially not after it was used repeatedly by Hammer in their Mummy series around the same time. That aside, there are a number of gaping plot holes and lapses in logic, which didn't really matter in the first film, but are a bit more glaring in this sequel. For instance, why the hell is Inspector Trout allowed to travel that far out of his jurisdiction? Ultimately it doesn’t matter, because the film wouldn’t be nearly as enjoyable if he and Waverly were missing.

There are a number of small disappointments. This time around Vulnavia is played by the inferior Valli Kemp (Australian model and actress), because the lovely Virginia North was apparently too pregnant to pull it off. Though Robert Quarry (Count Yorga, Vampire) is entertaining as Biederbeck, his character is absolutely not likable. Quarry is at his best in Count Yorga, Vampire, its sequel, and Madhouse (also with Vincent Price) but simply cannot compete with Price in Dr. Phibes Rises Again. Despite his reputation as gracious and friendly with all his co-stars, Vincent Price allegedly did not get along with Quarry. There's a famous anecdote about the two of them on set together where Quarry was required to sing for some reason. He passed Price and said "I bet you didn't know I could also sing." Price replied, "I didn't know you could act."

On the bright side, there's a great cameo from Peter Cushing as the Captain of the cruise ship and I wish he had a bigger role. He and Price had great chemistry together. Dr. Phibes has the same lovely production values as the first film. Overall, it's entertaining and is particularly great if you like Price, Quarry, or Egyptian-themed horror films. It is certainly more absurd than the first film, partly because it has to go out on a limb to top the violence and comic excess of the original. It was made less than a year after the original film and feels a bit rushed. 

Many horror fans seem to dislike this film, so my enthusiasm might be a bit remiss, but I enjoy watching Price as Phibes so much that I don't really care. Definitely recommended. The film is available in a number of MGM DVDs: in a single disc by itself, a single disc with The Abominable Dr. Phibes, or in the MGM Vincent Price Scream Legends box set. 

THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES

Robert Fuest, 1971

Starring: Vincent Price, Joseph Cotton, Peter Jeffrey, Virginia North

A truly bizarre and whimsical feature, The Abominable Dr. Phibes is one of those films that has to be seen in order to be believed. It is certainly on the list of my favorite Vincent Price films - favorite films in general actually - and comes highly, highly recommended.

Price stars as Dr. Anton Phibes, a famous organist and doctor of musicology and theology who died in a car accident after rushing to the side of his beautiful wife, who died soon after on the operating table. Several years pass and the team of doctors who operated on Mrs. Phibes begin to die off in strange, gruesome ways. Hebrew amulets are left at the scene of each crime. The police department, headed by accident prone Inspector Trout, finds the supposedly dead Phibes as the only connection between the murders. Can he still be alive enacting his revenge?

Yes. Yes, he can. He is actually murdering each member of the medical team with the ten plagues of Egypt found in the Old Testament: boils, bats, frogs, blood, hail, rats, beasts, locusts, death of the first born, and darkness. What the ten plagues have to do with his wife's murder/accidental death is completely unclear. His lovely assistant, Vulnavia, is his only connection to the outside world and helps him plan and commit these atrocities. When he isn't murdering off doctors, he sits at home, dons lots of make up to cover his burn scars, plays the organ, and gets his mechanical brass band to play waltzes for he and Vulnavia to dance to.

The script of The Abominable Dr. Phibes, written by James Whiton and William Goldstein, feels kind of like the writers jotted down a bunch of ideas, mixed them all up in a hat, drew out a handful and connected them in anyway possible. The screenplay makes absolutely no sense, but it doesn't matter, because this is an incredibly entertaining film regardless. Fuest manages to blend horror, black comedy, some eccentric themes, and an art deco set together to create one of the most memorable B-films of the '70s and of Price's career. And though Phibes is a crazed, murderous villain, it is impossible not to like him and root for him throughout the film. Price plays him as hammy, charming, tragic, and sympathetic.

Despite an incredibly grumpy Joseph Cotton, who plays head surgeon Vesalius, all the actors seem to be having a lot of fun, particularly Price. His enthusiasm for the role and the film is infectious. Vesalius was originally supposed to be played by Peter Cushing, who turned the role down because of his wife’s poor health. It’s a shame the two weren’t able to pair up, as it could only have made a great film even better. The two police inspectors, played by Peter Jeffrey and Norman Jones, also seem to have a great time and they manage to hold their own against Price. Though they are absolute blunderers, or maybe because of it, their scenes provide some of the most effortless comedy in the film. 

There are also appearances from famed British actor Terry-Thomas (How to Murder Your Wife), Aubrey Woods (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory), and Virginia North (Deadlier Than the Male) as Phibes’ assistant Vulnavia. His beautiful wife is the uncredited Caroline Munro, who later made her naming appearing in a number of Hammer films. Director Fuest did a wonderful job here and would go on to direct Brit horror And Soon the Darkness as well as satanic William Shatner vehicle, The Devil’s Rain. His films always had such a distinctive sense of personality and style that he’s a shame he wasn’t given the chance to do more. 

I dare you to watch The Abominable Dr. Phibes and not like it. Impossible. You can get the single disc DVD or the MGM Vincent Price Scream Legends box set, which I'm reviewing. It contains five discs and splits The Abominable Dr. Phibes on a double-sided disc with the almost equally wonderful Dr. Phibes Rises Again.

AN EVENING OF EDGAR ALLEN POE

Kenneth Johnson, 1970

Starring: Vincent Price

An unusual experiment, An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe is likely not at all what you’re expecting. Though it is often lumped in with Vincent Price's anthology films, this is actually a made-for-TV, 52-minute teleplay. Though most online descriptions say it was narrated by Price, he acts (apparently in front of a live studio audience) in four, short one-man plays, reciting some of Poe’s stories as they were meant to be heard. Appearing in period costume with some very lovely sets on a confined stage -- each set is a single room -- Price brings to life Poe’s actual words, rather than the spirit of the stories as he did in several adaptations with director Roger Corman. 

First up is “The Tell-Tale Heart” (1843), one of Poe’s famous stories. It concerns a paranoid man who tries to justify the fact that he murdered an old man with a creepy “vulture eye” (a cataract). After killing the man, he dismembers his body and hides it under the floor boards, finally cracking when he can no longer shut out the sound of the old man’s heart, still beating somewhere under the floor. Price does not act out the murder, but merely recites the story from the confines of the old man’s bedroom. 

The next story is the lesser known tale “The Sphinx” (1846), set during a cholera outbreak in New York City. The city -- and the narrator -- are in the grip of fear, terrified they will be the next victims and mourning their lost loved ones. One day, on the bank of the Hudson, the narrator sees an enormous, terrible creature, elephantine, with horrible black husks, wings, and metallic scales. It is intimated that this creature is a sort of manifestation of the Grim Reaper and the narrator has become insane from fear. 

The last two stories, “The Cask of Amontillado” (1846) and “The Pit and the Pendulum” (1842), are both very well known. Pit and the Pendulum was adapted by Corman and Price -- with a great many embellishments to flush out the story time -- as a full length film. “The Cask of Amontillado” was adapted as part of Corman and Price’s Poe-themed anthology film, Tales of Terror, and co-starred Peter Lorre. “The Cask of Amontillado” concerns a man who gets revenge on another nobleman for some unknown slight. He convinces the man that he has a bottle of rare wine they can share, but walls the man up in the dungeon-like wine cellar of his castle, conveniently located in the catacombs. 

In “The Pit and the Pendulum,” a disturbing meditation on death and morality, a man relates his experience of being tortured during the Spanish Inquisition. He is held in a dark cell and sees many symbolic reminders of death. Eventually he is tied down and must watch a razor sharp pendulum swing closer and closer to his vulnerable chest. He manages to escape, but faces an even worse fate: red hot walls that push him inexorably towards a terrifying pit. 

As with the other Poe films starring Price, this was produced by American International Pictures through their television branch. It is certainly a low budget affair and the surviving print can’t really boast a lot of quality -- it is grainy and fuzzy and looks exactly like you’d assume a TV production from 1970 would look. This is reminiscent of the touring one man show, Diversions and Delights, where Price starred as Oscar Wilde in his later years. Though not quite as wonderful as Diversions and Delights, it would certainly have been interesting for Price to do a touring versions of An Evening with Edgar Allen Poe, or perhaps additional TV specials involving more Poe stories. 

Though this is fun, captivating, and entertaining, it is primarily recommended for die-hard Price and Poe fans, and it is certainly proof of Price’s wonderful talent that expanded far beyond playing hammy horror villains. Theater buffs will also enjoy it, but the format may seem strange to anyone who is expecting this to be a standard film anthology. An Evening with Edgar Allen Poe is available on a double feature DVD from MGM’s Midnite Movies series with the wonderful The Tomb of Ligeia, another Poe adaptation starring Price. You can also check it out on YouTube.

THE OBLONG BOX

Gordon Hessler, 1969

Starring: Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Alister Williamson, Rupert Davies, Uta Levka

In 1865 England, Julian Markham guiltily keeps his brother locked up at home. His brother, Sir Edward, was disfigured while in Africa as punishment for crimes against the locals. Desperate to escape captivity, Edward and the family lawyer hire a witchdoctor to help fake Edward’s death. N’Galo, the witchdoctor, gives him a strange drug and puts him in a trance. Discovering his brother apparently dead, Julian prepares for his funeral. Julian asks the family lawyer to acquire a more attractive looking body, as no one has seen Edward in years and Julian is embarrassed by his ruined face. The lawyer and N’Galo murder a local man and dump his body in the river after Edward’s funeral. Relieved it is all over, Julian marries. 

Through a series of odd events, grave robbers dig up Edward and sell him to Dr. Neuhartt, who is performing illegal experiments. Edward wakes up and blackmails Neuhartt into concealing him. Unfortunately for Neuhartt, Edward begins murdering those who wronged him. With the police on his trail, Julian learns that Edward is not dead and begins searching for his brother on his own. Edward, meanwhile, is trying to find N’Galo with the hope that the man can fix his hideous face, but he doesn’t realize that it will have fatal results...

Vincent Price and Rupert Davies (Dracula Has Risen from the Grave) had previously worked with director Michael Reeves on Witchfinder General. The Oblong Box began as Reeves’ next project, but he passed away of an accidental barbiturate overdose at the young age of 25 before filming began. Gordon Hessler was given the project instead and changed a number of plot elements. This feels like somewhat of a rip off of Roger Corman and Vincent Price’s Edgar Allen Poe themed series. It seems like director Gordon Hessler tried to cash in on that with a few films, such as Scream and Scream Again, which would reunite Vincent Price and Christopher Lee with even less screen time, and Murders in the Rue Morgue. He also helmed Cry of the Banshee, which was obviously influenced by Witchfinder General.

As with Witchfinder General and some of Reeves’ other films, The Oblong Box leaves a lingering taste of something distasteful and mean-spirited. None of the characters are really likable and everyone seemingly has a motive for why they hate the other characters. It is openly misogynistic and fairly racist, despite the fact that the overall plot is about the evils of colonialism. During this period there were a number of British horror films that look at the terror, exploitation, and immoralism of colonialism, such as Hammer’s The Reptile (1966) and this fits neatly into that small subgenre. 

This is the first collaboration between Price and Lee, though they only really share one scene together. They are both entertaining, as always, though it’s a shame they didn’t have more time together. Hammer regular Alister Williamson (The Gorgon, The Evil of Frankenstein) has his first leading role and actually has more screen time than Price or Lee. Unfortunately for Williamson, he wears a mask for most of the film and his voice was dubbed over by someone else.

The killer’s red velvet mask with slits for eyes is effective, unfortunately far more so than his make up. He only has some mild deformities and sores, created by Jimmy Evans of Captain Cronos: Vampire Hunter, but nothing actually horrifying. Edward remains masked for so long that it’s easy to assume he’s going to be an evil or deformed twin, which was actually Michael Reeves’ original plan. Without that intended twist, his unmasking is absurdly late in the film and doesn’t pack quite the punch it was leading towards.

Other than the borrowed title, this is not really a Poe adaptation, though it does have some wonderful elements seemingly plucked from Gothic fiction. In addition to the numerous teams of grave robbers, murder, a gentlemanly and masked killer, there is also the insane family member in the attic. 

The plot is a bit ridiculous and complicated, but this is an enjoyable, if lesser seen effort for Price and Lee. Overall the mystery is more compelling than the horror or violence, but fans of ‘60s horror will definitely want to check it out. The Oblong Box is available on DVD from MGM’s Midnite Movies series as a double feature with Hessler’s Scream and Scream Again. 

DR. GOLDFOOT AND THE BIKINI MACHINE

Norman Taurog, 1965

Starring: Vincent Price, Frankie Avalon, Dwayne Hickman, Susan Hart

In his funeral parlor lair, the diabolical Dr. Goldfoot has created a dozen sexy, gold-bikini-clad female robots to help him fulfill his plan of world domination. He will start by having the robots each marry the world’s richest men and steal their money. It begins with #11, known as Diane, who accidentally goes after Craig Gamble, an ineffectual secret agent. Goldfoot remotely puts Diane back on the right path towards millionaire Dwayne Hickman, who gleefully marries her and hands over much of his estate. 

But Gamble is still obsessed with finding Diane and stumbles across Goldfoot’s scheme, though no one will believe him. He eventually convinces Hickman, who tricks Diane and refuses to sign over the rest of his wealth. Both still in love with Diane, Gamble and Hickman travel to Goldfoot’s lair to confront him and hopefully get Hickman’s money and Diane back. Little do they know what Goldfoot has in store for them...

A spoof on Goldfinger, Dr. Goldfoot is a mix of spy spoof, slapstick, beach party movie, and horror comedy. This is a definite precursor to films like Casino Royale (1967) and Austin Powers (1997). If you like spy spoofs, there is a lot to love, but if you dislike or just don’t understand the subgenre, Dr. Goldfoot is not for you. Vincent Price has a lot of fun here and particularly shines during the big scene in his lair and attached dungeon, which is complete with trap doors, cells, a torture chamber, and a razor pendulum right out of Pit and the Pendulum (1961). 

The script was written by produced Louis M. Heyward, who worked with Vincent Price on a number of films including War Gods of the Deep, Witchfinder General, and The Abominable Dr. Phibes. It was originally intended to be a musical, though these scenes were cut and some were included in The Weird Wild World of Dr. Goldfoot, a TV special meant to promote the film. Comedy director Norman Taurog does an average job here and is best known for his Elvis films, such as G.I. Blues (1960). 

Part of what makes Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine flawed is that instead of being a stand alone spy spoof, it is an attempt to continue the Pajama Party and Bikini films, which include Operation Bikini, Bikini Beach, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini, and more. Frankie Avalon appeared in nearly all of those films, so his starring role here is not surprising. Todd Armstrong (How to Stuff a Wild Bikini) costars as Hickman in a similar role he had in the Bikini films. There are also cameos from cast members of the Roger Corman Edgar Allen Poe films with Vincent Price, as well as members of the Beach Party films, including Annette Funicello and Harvey Lembeck. 

Susan Hart was previously in War Gods of the Deep with Price, though she soon retired from acting after Dr. Goldfoot, as American International Pictures producer James H. Nicholson fell in love with her, divorced his wife, and married Hart. Goldfoot’s idiotic assistant was played by Jack Mullaney (My Living Doll with Julie Newmar) and Gamble’s Uncle Fred, head of the spy agency, was played by Fred Clark (Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb). 

The excellent opening credits are from Art Cokey, the claymation artist who created Gumby, with a song from the Supremes. This is basically the height of ‘60s camp with floating gold shoes and bikinis, claymation, gold letters, and Vincent Price’s head in a gold shoe. Though the same level of outrageousness doesn’t really sustain itself through the film, there are plenty of sex jokes, robot gags, and a funny drinking/hang over scene. 

The film’s major flaw is that it simply tried to be too many things at once. There are also a number of boring filler moments and the chase sequence at the end of the film throughout San Francisco is very, very long. It involves a motorcycle, car, cable car, boat, and more. It certainly overstays its welcome, but there is a nice twist ending to leave things on a fun, memorable note.

This was followed by a musical TV special, The Weird Wild World of Dr. Goldfoot, and a very disappointing sequel, Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs. Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine is available on single disc DVD as a stand alone film or with Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs. Recommended for fans of spy spoofs and some of Price’s campier ‘60s films.