A Scotland Yard investigator looks into four mysterious cases involving an unoccupied house: 1) A writer encounters a strangler of his own creation, 2) Two men are obsessed with a wax ... See full summary »
Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends.
If your account is linked with Facebook and you have turned on sharing, this will show up in your activity feed. If not, you can turn on sharing
here
.
A Scotland Yard investigator looks into four mysterious cases involving an unoccupied house: 1) A writer encounters a strangler of his own creation, 2) Two men are obsessed with a wax figure of a woman from their past, 3) A little girl displays an interest in witchcraft, and 4) A film actor discovers a cloak which gives him a vampire's powers. Written by
Wes Clark <wclark@uspto.gov>
Paul Henderson's coffin opens on the right side to attack Inspector Holloway. Later, the coffin opens on its left. See more »
Quotes
Paul Henderson:
That's what's wrong with the present day horrorfilms. There's no realism. Not like the old ones, the great ones. Frankenstein. Phantom of the Opera. Dracula - the one with Bela Lugosi of course, not this new fellow.
See more »
"The House That Dripped Blood" (1971) is one of seven horror anthology pictures released by Hammer rival Amicus over an eight-year period. It had been preceded by "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors" and "Torture Garden," and would soon be followed by "Asylum," "Tales From the Crypt," "Vault of Horror" and "From Beyond the Grave." Here, a Scotland Yard investigator searches for a missing film star, and listens to four stories concerning the quaint old country house that he had been leasing. In "Method for Murder," the most atmospheric of the bunch, a writer (Denholm Elliott) moves into the house with his hottie wife (Joanna Dunham) and begins to see the fictional strangler character in his latest novel. A double twist ending caps off this very chilling tale. Next, in "Waxworks," the typically dapper Peter Cushing plays a retired stockbroker who moves into the abode and becomes enthralled by a female wax figure in the local town's horror museum. A surreal dream sequence and the film's most grisly windup are the hallmarks of this section. In "Sweets to the Sweet," Christopher Lee (Mr. Tall, Dark and Gruesome, who sadly shares no screen time in this film with Cushing) is the house's next occupant; a widower who lives in mortal fear of his pretty young daughter (the remarkable child actress Chloe Franks)...and, as it turns out, for good reason! Finally, in "The Cloak," we learn of the fate of that missing film star (Jon Pertwee), who buys an actual vampire cloak to assist himself in a new production and soon changes into a...guess what? This segment is easily the most humorous of the bunch, and contains the film's single funniest line, when Pertwee compares Bela Lugosi to "this new fellow." The inspired casting of luscious Ingrid Pitt, close on the heels of her classic turn in "The Vampire Lovers," adds to this section immensely. In all, terrific fun, with a playful script by Robert "Psycho" Bloch, more-than-capable direction from Peter Duffell, and a discordant and unusual score by Michael Dress. This film left me happily grinning from ear to ear, and is nicely presented on this Lions Gate DVD. More than highly recommended!
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
"The House That Dripped Blood" (1971) is one of seven horror anthology pictures released by Hammer rival Amicus over an eight-year period. It had been preceded by "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors" and "Torture Garden," and would soon be followed by "Asylum," "Tales From the Crypt," "Vault of Horror" and "From Beyond the Grave." Here, a Scotland Yard investigator searches for a missing film star, and listens to four stories concerning the quaint old country house that he had been leasing. In "Method for Murder," the most atmospheric of the bunch, a writer (Denholm Elliott) moves into the house with his hottie wife (Joanna Dunham) and begins to see the fictional strangler character in his latest novel. A double twist ending caps off this very chilling tale. Next, in "Waxworks," the typically dapper Peter Cushing plays a retired stockbroker who moves into the abode and becomes enthralled by a female wax figure in the local town's horror museum. A surreal dream sequence and the film's most grisly windup are the hallmarks of this section. In "Sweets to the Sweet," Christopher Lee (Mr. Tall, Dark and Gruesome, who sadly shares no screen time in this film with Cushing) is the house's next occupant; a widower who lives in mortal fear of his pretty young daughter (the remarkable child actress Chloe Franks)...and, as it turns out, for good reason! Finally, in "The Cloak," we learn of the fate of that missing film star (Jon Pertwee), who buys an actual vampire cloak to assist himself in a new production and soon changes into a...guess what? This segment is easily the most humorous of the bunch, and contains the film's single funniest line, when Pertwee compares Bela Lugosi to "this new fellow." The inspired casting of luscious Ingrid Pitt, close on the heels of her classic turn in "The Vampire Lovers," adds to this section immensely. In all, terrific fun, with a playful script by Robert "Psycho" Bloch, more-than-capable direction from Peter Duffell, and a discordant and unusual score by Michael Dress. This film left me happily grinning from ear to ear, and is nicely presented on this Lions Gate DVD. More than highly recommended!