The Bride (1973) User Reviews

The least 'last house'.

[BA_Harrison · 5/10 · 2 May 2018]

I saw this film under the very promising title of The Last House on Massacre Street, which automatically brought to mind gritty grindhouse classics like Last House On The Left, The Last House on Dead End Street, and The Last House on The Beach, and the more recent The Last House in the Woods. Unfortunately, the movie proved to be far from the gruelling shocker I had hoped it would be: instead, I got a film that is 90% psychological and 10% supernatural, but only 50% entertaining, the action suffering from some serious pacing issues, a lack of scares, a dearth of blood and guts, and a twist ending that, while fun, seems more suited to an episode of Tales From The Crypt than a full length movie.

The film opens with a young couple, David and Barbara (Arthur Roberts and Robin Strasser), paying a visit to the house that Barbara built, the building to become their home once they are married. But their future together doesn't go quite as planned when, on their wedding day, Barbara catches her new husband getting it on with his ex-girlfriend Ellen (Iva Jean Saraceni); wigging out, Babs wounds David with some scissors and then drives off in a rage. In the following weeks, David shacks up with Ellen, but the pair are menaced by mysterious phone calls and sinister events.

Director Jean-Marie Pélissié conjures up some reasonable atmosphere, making particularly good use of Barbara's sprawling unfinished house in the film's finalé, but other scenes seriously drag, especially the wedding reception, which goes on and on (coming second only to The Deer Hunter as The Most Boring Wedding Party Scene in the History of Cinema). Some gnarly violence would definitely have helped to shake things up a bit, but all we get is a decapitated chicken and a lame axe attack, making it the least exploitative 'Last House' movie of them all.

Entertaining

[princebuster82 · 6/10 · 27 February 2015]

The Bride- AKA "No Way Out" (British title), "The House That Cried Murder" and "The Last House on Massacre Street" (re-release titles), "Scream," "Wedding/Marriage of the Dead" and "Wedding Night Slaughter" (Euro titles) is a 1974 supernatural/psychological thriller about a young couple who decide to get married. On their wedding day, the Bride walks in to find the Groom cheating on her with his ex-girlfriend.

That's where the fun starts. The hysterical Bride attacks him with a pair of scissors and ends up running off, never to be seen again. But when mysterious phonecalls and vivid nightmares start plaguing the man and his girlfriend, could something sinister be afoot? The film was shot over a three-week period in June 1972, reportedly for less than thirty thousand dollars (which was very low even for that time). The film struggled to find distribution and and sat for almost two years before hitting the grindhouse and drive-in circuit, usually as the B-film in a double feature. (This helps to explain in part why the film had so many titles. It was often paired with other "House" movies of the time like "The House That Vanished" and "The Last House on Dead-end Street.") The film is a poverty row concoction yet makes up for it in stylized cinematography that betrays its meager roots. Unconventional lighting, odd shooting angles and good use of color really help sell this film during its few generally eerie scenes. It goes to show that you could churn out a decent horror film without resorting to schlocky special effects and cheap gorefests.

But other than that, the movie is kind of weak from a story standpoint. I've only ever seen the 71 minute cut and not the 85 minute version, so I don't know what else is lurking in the longer cut. But I can only imagine that the long version trods along at a sllooooowww pace, because the plot is so simple that the story is more than adequately told in the short version.

The canned soundtrack is very poor, even in comparison to other cheap horror films of the era. The "LA LA LA LA" love theme that pops up throughout the movie sounds like it was lifted from one of those softcore Italian "Emmanuelle" pictures from the mid-70's. Every now and then though the soundtrack is used to good effect when it jarringly blares out during some of the more creepy scenes.

The acting ranges from mediocre to downright horrible. Future sitcom and soap opera mainstay Robin Strasser is at times convincing in the title role and at other times takes "hysterical overacting" to a new level.

So in a nutshell, the movie plays out like an overlong "Night Gallery" segment but manages to conjure up some of the atmospheric nuances that Hammer and Amicus Studios were turning out at the time. Sadly the movie has fallen into the public domain and a lousy film-to VHS master seems to be the only thing floating around on the bootleg circuit. As of this writing the movie is available on youtube and on DVD as part of the "Blood Bath 2" 2-disc collection. (I am hesitant to purchase the set because I'm afraid that it's going to be the same transfer I already have, which is not very good.) I'd like to see this cleaned up (and maybe paired with another similar movie) for proper DVD release, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Barbara is very angry...and that awful music probably added to her anger!

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 12 June 2019]

The terrible production values are a major problem with "The House That Cried Murder" and it's a shame, as the ending is just terrific and it could have been a good film.

When the story begins, Barbara insists to her father that she is going to get married....even though her father doesn't trust her shifty fiance. Well, it turned out daddy was right and the wicked fiance didn't even wait long to begin his nasty ways. His old girlfriend shows up at the reception and he boinks her while everyone is celebrating the nuptuals! Barbara walks in on them and, not surprisingly, she goes nuts on him. She then runs out of the reception...and isn't seen again for some time.

In the meantime, the horrible husband doesn't do a lot to hide his awfulness and he shacks up with this old girlfriend. Soon, however, the pair are tormented by someone...someone bent on driving them over the edge! What's next? See the film.

The basic plot and finale are great. The problem is that the music is god-awful as are most of the production values. It just looks cheap and the director managed to make the least of an excellent story. Hardly worth seeing.

Weird But Not Enough Going For It

[Michael_Elliott · 24 December 2017]

The Bride (1973)

** (out of 4)

Barbara (Robin Stasser) goes against her rich father's wishes and marries David (Arthur Roberts). She believes their life is going to be perfect until minutes after their wedding she discovers him with his ex-lover Ellen (Iva Jean Saraceni). Most women would just cry and move on but not Barbara as she plans on using every way possible to haunt and destroy the two.

This film has been released under several different titles including THE HOUSE THAT CRIED MURDER and LAST HOUSE ON MASSACRE STREET, which was obviously an attempt to try and cash in on the Wes Craven film. I think this is the perfect example of a regional horror film that just didn't quite have enough going for it so the distributor had to keep changing up titles to hope it would draw in some crowds. THE BRIDE isn't an awful movie but at the same time it just doesn't have enough going for it to make it a complete success.

The best thing about the film is the fact that you can feel it's region. The film was shot in Connecticut and it just looks quite different. I mean, there hasn't been too many movies shot there so this here kind of just strikes you as watching something new. The locations were quite good and the film also benefits from just being very weird. There are silly moments where the bride and his man are just romantically walking around and it seems like a commercial for gum or something.

There's one brutal murder that is quite shocking in its own way. The biggest problem with the movie is the fact that there's just not much going for it storywise. The man and his new woman are constantly having nightmares or receiving strange phone calls. None of this contains any suspense. The direction doesn't add any tension to the film and it just seems very flat. The performances are decent but they all manage to hit a few bad notes throughout.

THE BRIDE will be worth watching to fans of horror films but it just doesn't have enough to make it worth viewing for others.

Well I guess no one will be sleeping with wedding cake under their pillow after this reception.

[mark.waltz · 3/10 · 10 February 2021]

After one of the longest wedding receptions in film history with no dialogue, just bouncy 70's background music, bride Robin Strasser finds groom Arthur Roberts in a rather delicate situation with his ex-girlfriend Iva Jean Saraceni. This makes the hot tempered Strasser go berserk with a pair of scissors, leaving her husband wounded and her pride destroyed as she runs out of her father's house and off the property after destroying the wedding cake. Disappearing for weeks sets her husband on the path to divorce but bizarre phone calls and deliveries and pranks begin to occur which sets into motion a violent quest of revenge as the former Rachel Davis of daytime TV leaves for another world and tries to find one life to live without her husband.

While she would win a daytime Emmy a decade after this as Dorian Lord, Strasser did not have good luck in her first film. Her classic beauty would have served this film better had it been a period piece because she could have been the American Barbara Steele. Unfortunately, she's not aided by the cliched horror script that only serves to indicate how one dimensional her character is. She's off screen for long periods of time outside of supposed nightmares and nasty phone calls which puts the focus on Roberts and Saraceni whose cheating characters aren't exactly deserving of any sympathy.

John Beal, also from "Another World", plays a stereotypical wealthy father whose spoiling of Strasser led to her emotional issues, and it's very apparent in the beginning even before Roberts' cheating is exposed that she is one step from either complete psychosis or a breakdown. Saraceni seems to get more footage than Strasser as the girlfriend, and she lacks Strasser's magnetism. The film lacks the camp elements of other gothic thrillers, and the twinkle that made Strasser's soap performances so memorable is sadly absent as well. This is a Miss Haversham nightmare gone bad.

Barbara is a little bit bonkers, but I love her...

[Coventry · 7/10 · 3 July 2014]

I absolutely LOVE those gloriously enticing and typically 70's horror titles starting with words like "The House That…". These juicy titles, usually in combination with a wonderfully creepy movie poster and tagline, often formed the biggest selling arguments for contemporary low-budgeted underground exploitation flicks. Productions like these couldn't always rely on overwhelming special effects or spectacular action sequences, so an extra tantalizing title is more than welcome. "The House That Cried Murder" is a downright fantastic slice of seventies' terror, and I'm actually surprised that it isn't mentioned more often by fellow genre fanatics. The film has a terrific albeit absurd plot, original twists and unexpected surprises, delightfully over-the-top performances and – most of all – a uniquely macabre and ominous atmosphere. The peculiar Barbara is a spoiled rich girl who gets everything she wants simply by shouting out the words: "Daddy, I want that". With daddy's money she designed a strange isolated house in the countryside and now she has her mind set on marrying the hunky David, even though her father doesn't trust him one bit. And right he is, as Barbara catches David smooching with his ex-girlfriend Ellen on their wedding day! So Barbara stabs him in the arm with scissors and hysterically drives off in her blood-spattered wedding dress. Two weeks later, Barbara is still missing but both David and Ellen suffer from vividly terrifying nightmares. David is lured back to Barbara's dream house, where they were supposed to spend their married life together, unaware of the ghastly surprise that awaits him there. "The House That Cried Murder" is a sick and twisted tale of horror with a marvelously gruesome finale. The director exactly knows when to mount the suspense and makes great use of eerie music (although it's more like noise) and set pieces. The titular house forms an eccentric decor as well, as it looks gloomy in its unfinished state. It's a really a shame that too many sequences are so dark you can barely see what is happening. The acting performances are good, especially Robin Strasser as Barbara. She's a totally bonkers and mildly petrifying shrew, but I love her anyways

An entertaining shocker.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 8 October 2018]

ALWAYS take your wedding vows seriously. That is the lesson that David (Arthur Roberts, "Revenge of the Ninja") needs to learn in this low budget combination of psychological and supernatural horror. David is set to marry Barbara (soap opera veteran Robin Strasser), daughter of a very rich man (John Beal, "Amityville 3-D"), but the guy has no shame. He fools around with a former girlfriend (Iva Jean Saraceni, "Creepshow") on his wedding day! Barbara promptly blows her top and drives off. The old man, despite his hatred of David, does warn him that his little girl (one of those spoiled princesses who tended to get everything she wanted) has a tendency to be vindictive and VIOLENT. Soon, David and the girlfriend are being terrorized repeatedly.

"The House That Cried Murder" (a.k.a. "The Bride" and "Last House on Massacre Street") is no lost gem begging for rediscovery, but it IS a pretty entertaining regional genre flick with the appropriate amount of surrealism. It also features a remarkable looking house, some okay atmosphere, a variable music score (sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't), and a fair amount of gore. Director Jean-Marie Pelissie (who wrote the script with producer John Grissmer) generates some scares and suspense along the way, leading to a solid finale with some surprises in store for David (and, hopefully, the viewer). As you can see, David is not exactly a sympathetic character, but the dilemma that faces him and the girlfriend IS compelling.

All in all, this minor but diverting feature is still worth seeking out for genre fans who always look for lesser-known entries like this.

Filmed in Connecticut.

Seven out of 10.

A weird forgotten film

[BandSAboutMovies · 7/10 · 27 December 2018]

The Bride was once called just that - a title that makes a lot more sense. But after Wes Craven's The Last House on the Left, we got a plethora of movies renamed to seem close to that film, even if they're nothing like it at all. Like this one - which is about when you start getting weirded out by how your new wife seems like a borderline insane daddy's girl, the best choice of action is to not bang a bridesmaid on your wedding day.

That's exactly what David does. But he's just a part of Barbara's dream life: a perfect house that daddy just for her and a perfect man to fill it. There are a bunch of match cuts that show her kiss her new husband just like she kisses daddy, so if you're starting to feel weirded out, stick around.

David decides to hook up with his old girlfriend Helen on his wedding day, which is in the very house that his wife has made for them. Barbara stabs the old flame with scissors, walks out in a blood-strewn wedding gown past all her guests and disappears.

David then does what anyone else would. He moves his new girlfriend into the house and keeps working for Barbara's dad, who has a friendly meeting with him with no anger at all. Well, he does relate a story about how his daughter used to enjoy cutting the heads off of chickens as a child. Of course, a chicken head is soon in the bed he should have shared with his wife. Trust me, things are only going to get worse.

Also, it's going to get much weirder. I mean it. This is a legitimately strange film. It's not like Wes Craven, whose film inspired the retitling of this. With his films, I often see an academic studying weird people and making a film versus real weird people who gathered together to make a movie that confounds you on every level.

Those strange people are John Grissmer (who also did another weird movie, Blood Rage, which features Last House on Dead End Street/The Bride as the movie playing in the drive-in that starts the film) and the only film directed by Jean-Marie Pélissié, this is the kind of strange magic that could only come from the early 1970's. And much like another freakout from that decade, The Baby, this movie is also rated PG.

Blood-spattered bride.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 8/10 · 14 April 2010]

A rich man's daughter Barbara marries David,one of her dad's employees.She built herself a rather strange looking house on the field.During the wedding David kisses his former girlfriend Helen.Freshly married Barbara sees love-making session,stabs David's arm with a pair of scissors and flees in her bloody bridal gown.Strange things begin to happen for example Barb finds decapitated head of a chicken on her pillow and David has ghastly nightmares."The House That Cried Murder" is an overlooked psychological horror with several creepy scenes.The soundtrack is pretty bad with one of the worst wedding bands ever captured on screen,but the climax is wonderfully eerie and bizarre."The House That Cried Murder" deserves to be seen.8 out of 10.

Offbeat and atmospheric shoestring horror flick

[drownsoda90 · 7/10 · 25 May 2019]

"The Bride" follows a vengeful young woman whose husband cheats on her on their wedding day with an ex-flame. The bride disappears, but her beau and his recent indiscretion find their lives tormented.

Written by John Grissmer, who later directed the offbeat thriller "Scalpel" (1977) and the utterly bonkers gorefest "Blood Rage" (1987), "The Bride" is a swift, surreal, and all-around entertaining horror flick that is very much of its era. While it was obviously a low-budget effort, there is some fantastic cinematography on display, and a jarring guitar-based score that amps up the proceedings.

While the film excels visually, its budget limitations instead show themselves in the sparseness of the plot and the overall short runtime (barely an hour and fifteen minutes). There are really only a handful of scenes and settings, and four characters, so it's a small affair (no pun intended); it seems like the production attempted to stretch the material as far as they could with what they had. While I think the plot the could have been thickened up a bit, there are still a handful of twists and turns packed into the swift runtime. Future soap star Robin Strasser plays the lead unhinged bride with audacious flair, while John Beal understatedly potrays her wealthy father. The other two actors portraying the groom and his ex-girlfriend are also solid. The finale of the film is well-done, and there is some truly nightmarish cinematography inside the half-finished estate that the titular bride was building for herself and her lover.

All in all, "The Bride" is a sturdy, small film that is effective in its conciseness. There is not a lot to it, but the filmmakers make off well with what is there. It's similar in tone to another short, low-budget horror flick from the era: 1977's "Axe." An appreciable, genuinely weird film. 7/10.

Unique and Creepy

[gracehenson-30790 · 8/10 · 28 June 2019]

The 70's were such a great time for horror. Horror films were being churned out due to the glut of drive-ins and grindhouses desperate for content and so many filmmakers were only too happy to supply them with films to show. The Bride a.k.a. The House That Cried Murder is one of the strange films that could have only been made at this time.

Sometimes feeling like a feature length Twilight Zone or Tales From the Crypt episode, The Bride revolves around a man engaged to marry a spoiled rich girl who's caught making out with the ex on the day of the wedding. Needless to say, this drives the titular bride insane and she attacks him with scissors and runs away. Where is she? Perhaps at the strange modern home she just had her father build her in the country? Or is she plotting an elaborate revenge plot on her would-be husband?

The Bride keeps the audience on their toes throughout even though its chills are of the strictly PG variety. By the time you get to the insane finale, all bets are off. The Bride is one that lingers with you for awhile after you've seen it. I highly recommend it.

Great Movie, good storyline

[Lovescarymovies · 10/10 · 7 January 2019]

Just found this gem of an old movie on amazon prime. This movie has a great storyline. Barbara (who may be a spoiled brat) and get anything she wants from her rich Dad has just built her dream home. Which is amazingly beautiful even by todays standards. Much to her fathers objections, she marries an employee at her fathers company. The guy is a complete bad person and cheats with his ex on their wedding day. Poor Barbara catches them in the act & stabs David with scissors then disappears for two weeks. Immediately Davids ex moves in with him and strange things start happening to them. Menancing phone calls, strange gifts, home break-ins. Barbara gets her revenge! Great movie!

What a underrated gem!!

[treakle_1978 · 9/10 · 13 June 2020]

This came as a huge surprise to me. The movie is great!! Love the characters,story,directing and score. The little twist we get in the 3rd act is the best part!! Definitely worth a watch.