"Hammer House of Horror" The House That Bled to Death (1980)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Francis Megahy
(more)

Writer:

David Lloyd (teleplay)

TV Series:

"Hammer House of Horror" (1980)

Original Air Date:

11 October 1980 (Season 1, Episode 5)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

William and Emma Peters buy an old house where a brutal murder happened years ago in very bad condition with the intention of restoring it...

Plot Keywords:

Anthology | Gothic | Supernatural Power

Cast

Nicholas Ball	...	William Peters
Rachel Davies	...	Emma Peters
Brian Croucher	...	George Evans
Patricia Maynard	...	Jean Evans (as Pat Maynard)
Milton Johns	...	A.J. Powers
Emma Ridley	...	Sophie Peters
Joanne White	...	Sophie (Older)
George Tovey	...	Old Man
Una Brandon-Jones	...	Old Woman
Jo Warne	...	1st Mother
Sarah Keller	...	2nd Mother
Max Mason	...	Journalist
Anna Perry	...	Journalist
Marilyn Finlay	...	Sister
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gary Bond	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Francis Megahy
Tom Clegg		(uncredited)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
David Lloyd		teleplay

Produced by
Brian Lawrence	....	producer
David Reid	....	producer
Roy Skeggs	....	producer

Original Music by
James Bernard

Cinematography by
Norman Warwick

Film Editing by
Robert C. Dearberg		(as Bob Dearberg)

Casting by
Eileen Garstka

Production Design by
Carolyn Scott

Makeup Department
Alan Brownie	....	makeup artist
Betty Sherriff	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Ron Jackson	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
David Munro	....	assistant director
Tom Clegg	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Bob Bell	....	assistant art director
Richard Rooker	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Stuart Edwards	....	sound
Jack T. Knight	....	dubbing editor (as Jack Knight)
Otto Snel	....	dubbing mixer
Bryan Tilling	....	dubbing editor

Special Effects by
Ian Scoones	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Chic Anstiss	....	camera operator (as Rodney Anstiss)
Steve Birtles	....	gaffer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Laura Nightingale	....	costume supervisor

Music Department
Marcel Durham	....	music editor
Philip Martell	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Jack Gill	....	presenter
Marjorie Lavelly	....	continuity
Margaret Nicholas	....	production assistant
Anthony Read	....	story editor
Mike Widd	....	production accountant
Callum McDougall	....	production runner (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Hammer Film Productions

Distributors

• Horror TV (2007) (Japan) (TV)

Other Companies

• Group Five  lighting

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

Chairborough Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Hammer Film Productions

Goofs:

Continuity: When George Evans reads the newspaper with William and Emma, the headline reads "Albert Clements Butchers Wife"; but later, when talking to Jean and George, Mr. Powers asks of they knew "…the Johnsons, the husband that murdered his wife".

If these walls could....BLEED!

Perhaps not the absolute greatest entry in the Hammer House of Horror series, but it surely wins the award for most inventively titled episode! "The House that Bled to Death"… I could yell out this title all day without ever getting tired of it! And besides the wondrous title, this short movie also benefices from a solidly written screenplay and a handful of genuinely suspenseful moments. It might require an extra viewing before you fully understand the peculiar end-twist, but it's definitely an original idea for a horror short. The story opens with images of an elderly couple drinking tea in their middle-class house. The husband sadistically kills his wife and several years later the "cursed" house is still for sale. A young couple and their cherubic daughter move in and start to restore it, but mysterious events occur and affect especially the young Sophie. Her beloved cat is killed an even her birthday party gets ruined when one of the house's pipes suddenly sprays blood all over the guests (a particularly chilling sequence, this one!). Is the old house really haunted? Or maybe the seemly helpful neighbors cause all the horror? The answers to these questions are provided in the original and fairly unpredictable climax and there's even room for a real shock at the very end. The tension is masterfully built up and the titular house is filled with eerie scenery, like the pair of rusty machetes used by the husband to slay his wife. Little warning though, the sequence with the cat is hard to watch when you're an animal lover. In conclusion, another winner for Hammer's short-running TV series!