Das Haus der tausend Freuden

White slavery is not a topic that gets much play nowadays, but it gets a full writeup in this film. And I don't know if that's necessarily a good thing.

The film has a very strange setup. Garcia plays a man looking for his wife, who has been abducted in Tangiers. He finds that she has been forced to work in a brothel, The House of Dolls. He's discovered and killed. His friend Nader then takes it upon himself to figure out what happened to Garcia. What he uncovers is a white slavery ring run by magician Price, who uses the female volunteers from his magic act to stock The House.

The odd thing about this movie is that everything is presented rather matter-of-factly. There's no surprise to anything. We find out in the first five minutes what Price is doing. We already know what happened to Garcia and his wife. It's a suspense movie with no suspense. They throw in a twist at the end, but who cares? It has so little to do with the movie that it's completely irrelevant. There's other problems. Price is billed first, but has only about 20 mins of screen time (in the second half mostly), and he doesn't appear to be having any fun. All of the actors in the movie appear to be speaking English, yet it sounds as though the whole soundtrack (which is in English) has been looped. It's never boring, but there's no action, no excitement, no nothing. Price fans may not even enjoy this one.

If you like Price, this is an offbeat roll for him as this is not straight classic horror, but a mystery thriller with some sexed up 60's kittens and a brothel.. The film takes place in Tangiers and it is basically a clever and tame way to present a plot involving the white slavery trade. The films promo makes one think this is a very prevalent and serious issue, and perhaps it ws then? who knows? Price is a magician of sorts who gets beautiful women to get into his live stage act and then they disappear to the house of 1000 dolls. No one close to them ever sees them again, until a couple gets curious about this phenomena. The ending is a twist that you would not expect.. Perhaps the most memorable thing about this film is the theme song which gets cut off in the VHS version but exemplifies 60's groove with some cheesy pop rifts.. I mean when my ex husband an I saw this in like 1990, we laughed and sang this song for years! Then we recently turned on a few friends to it who were equally amused! don't take it so seriously, get a Pizza on a rainy weekend night and cuddle up for some excitement and intrigue with House Of 1000 DollS!

I'm actually not sure what to make of House of a Thousand Dolls. I didn't hate it, but I wasn't crazy about it either. The best thing about it is easily Vincent Price, he is not in the film much but when he is on screen he completely commands it with a durable elegance and a touch of menace. Martha Hyer and George Nader do give reasonable performances as well, but not on Price's level. There is a good score and opening credits song and some of the photography does give some effective atmosphere. On the other hand, there are a number of failings, such as the sluggish fist-fights, mind-numbing dialogue and the fact that the characters just seem to be there but with nothing to make them particularly interesting. The story never really engaged me either, the basic thrust of the story, the more mystery/thriller-like stuff, is very dull, while the deaths and floggings are bloody and nasty but with little subtlety and taste. They like the characters seem to be there but again other than for shock value little is interesting about them. The twist is irrelevant and adds nothing to the film, so overall while I have seen far worse House of A Thousand Dolls for me was a very odd film. 5/10 Bethany Cox

At the beginning of "La casa de las mil munecas" (called "The House of 1,000 Dolls" in English), we get told that this is a tale of white slavery. I must ask: aren't people concerned when non-whites get enslaved? It just seems to me that they should have concentrated on black slavery, or shown white people and other races getting enslaved. And although I really like Vincent Price, it's sort of distracting to have him as the man running the brothel; you keep expecting to quote Edgar Allan Poe or something.

So, this movie isn't awful, it just takes a weird approach to everything. There are much better movies out there, and if they wanted to show a bunch of hot young women, they could have done it differently.

For bargain-basement Bond and a not-unpleasant 90 minutes, you could do a lot worse than "Dolls." It was made right on the cusp between naughty and not-so-naughty exploitation. Nobody drops a bra, but, junior, you can tell the industry is just a step away from barin' the babes and bustin' loose those free-love vibes.

Plot is pretty standard: We've got a married couple getting ensnared by a white-slavery racket in Tangiers (location filming, by the way). It's got old pros Vincent Price and Martha Hyer in on the intrigue, and George Nader shaking off Rock Hudson long enough to fly over the pond and put this one away.

Mostly, it's all about beautiful babes swingin' their way through the swingin' '60s - and some of the most sluggish, haphazard and least- exciting fistfights you'll see in a long time. Maybe this is the key: It's a Spanish-German co-production. So... in Europe, the women are gorgeous but the stuntmen move like they're encased in slowly hardening lucite. Lotta hollering, too.

It's one of those odd movies that may leave you thinking: They need a dab more violence here. And less hollering.

And that closing song: EEEeeeee-Yowwww!!!