The House That Dripped Blood (1971)

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 »

Director:

Peter Duffell

Writer:

Robert Bloch

Stars:

Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, John Bennett

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christopher Lee	...	John Reid (segment 3 "Sweets to the Sweet")
Peter Cushing	...	Philip Grayson (segment 2 "Waxworks")
Nyree Dawn Porter	...	Ann Norton (segment 3 "Sweets to the Sweet")
Denholm Elliott	...	Charles Hillyer (segment 1 "Method for Murder")
Jon Pertwee	...	Paul Henderson (segment 4 "The Cloak")
Joanna Dunham	...	Alice Hillyer (segment 1 "Method for Murder")
Joss Ackland	...	Neville Rogers (segment 2 "Waxworks")
John Bennett	...	Detective Inspector Holloway
Chloe Franks	...	Jane Reid (segment 3 "Sweets to the Sweet")
Tom Adams	...	Dominick / Richard (segment 1 "Method for Murder")
Ingrid Pitt	...	Carla Lind (segment 4 "The Cloak")
Geoffrey Bayldon	...	Theo Von Hartmann (segment 4 "The Clock")
John Bryans	...	A.J. Stoker
Hugh Manning	...	Mark (segment 3 "Sweets to the Sweet")
Robert Lang	...	Psychiatrist - Andrews (segment 1 "Method for Murder")

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

actor | witchcraft | vampire | creepy waxworks | england | 

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Taglines:

Vampires! Voodoo! Vixens! Victims!

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for scary images

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 February 1971 (UK)

Also Known As:

A Casa que Pingava Sangue

Filming Locations:

Tykes Water Lake, Aldenham Country Park, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Amicus Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Top billed Christopher Lee turns up over 50 minutes into the film.

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Goofs

Paul Henderson's coffin opens on the right side to attack Inspector Holloway. Later, the coffin opens on its left.

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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.

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Connections

References The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

User Reviews

"Safe As Houses"

"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!