Die Nacht der lachenden Leichen

I've seen some crazy films with absurdly far-fetched storylines in my days, but I can safely state that "The House in Nightmare Park" has one of the most bonkers and wickedly convoluted scripts I ever beheld. Well, actually, I'm not sure there even was a script! It looks as if the film may be adapted from a stage play but, I swear, it often feels as if the plot simply got improvised as they went along! Don't get me wrong, though, it's a hugely entertaining and immensely creative hybrid between whodunit-mystery, comedy and horror, but it's practically impossible to write a half-decent synopsis! The titular house is the gathering place for four siblings that are awaiting the death of their oldest brother Victor and greedily look forward to the inheritance. The patriarch Stewart (the fantastic and versatile Ray Milland) hired the clumsy but good-hearted stage actor Foster Twelvetrees; - supposedly to provide some distracting amusement during the evenings, but it's quite evident that Twelvetrees got lured to the house for other and much more macabre reasons! Absolutely nothing or nobody in this house is even remotely normal. The silent and grumpy sister nurtures an impressive collection of killer snakes in the basement, the entire family performs in genuinely spooky dance/sing-along acts and their hatchet-wielding old hag of a mother is locked away in the highest attic! The gags and comical aspects nearly don't always work, but when they do "The House in Nightmare Park" is downright laugh-out-loud funny. I'm personally not very familiar with lead actor Frankie Howerd, who resembles Albert Finney but with goofier grimaces, but he's good and carries the film rather well. The patience of horror fanatics is tested for quite long, but when the first murder occurs the rest quickly follows. The biggest trump of "The House of Nightmare Park" is definitely its originality. The plot is full of surprising and ingenious twists, like the final one, for example! The ending is truly one of the most mischievously joyful ones I've ever seen.

In this 1973 British comedy horror film (known as "Crazy House" in the U.S.) directed by Peter Sykes, British comedy legend Frankie Howerd is the victim of sinister shenanigans as he stars as Foster Twelvetrees, a struggling actor who scrapes a living by giving hammy performances from the classics. When he is invited to give a performance at the country home of a well-off family he thinks his luck is in, but his joy soon turns to horror when he discovers dead bodies, foul intentions, lots of snakes and a madwoman in the attic. Ray Milland, Hugh Burden, and Rosalie Crutchley are among the supporting cast who want to kill Foster, and in one classic unsettling scene they dress up as dolls and sing a bone-chillingly odd song. This movie successfully spoofs the Hammer horror movies that were popular in the 1960's and early 1970's, and is generally good fun. Alongside Carry on Screaming it has a fairly decent laugh rate, even if most of the humour will probably be lost on International audiences. Terry Nation (creator of the Daleks from TV's Doctor Who) co-wrote the story alongside Clive Exton. The producers conceived this film as a star vehicle for Howerd, but it didn't exactly propel him to super-stardom.

Struggling 'master of the spoken word' Foster Twelvetrees (Frankie Howerd) is hired to give a performance at the spooky stately home of the Henderson family, unaware that he is also a Henderson and heir to both the estate and the vast fortune of diamonds that lies hidden within. But will he live long enough to find out about his inheritance?

"Titter ye not!", as Frankie Howerd would say, and there's pretty good chance that you won't, even if you were raised on a steady diet of '70s British comedy and Carry On films. I'm a big fan of Howerd's droll humour and sly innuendo, but the succession of stale gags on offer in The House in Nightmare Park did little to make me chuckle.

I'm not saying that the film isn't enjoyable -- as a fan of the 'old dark house' format, I appreciated the creepiness, murder and mayhem -- but while this spoof of all things that go bump in the dark is fun, it isn't all that funny. Howerd does his best, but the material just isn't up to standard, meaning that those who tuned in for 90 minutes of side splitting double-entendres and general bawdiness will leave feeling rather disappointed.

Director Peter Sykes (whose previous film was the lacklustre Hammer thriller Demons of the Mind) conjures up some genuinely creepy moments - the homicidal old lady in the attic, the macabre Dance of the Dolls performed by the Hendersons, and the exploration of the snake house are actually superb - which makes one wonder whether this film would have worked much better if it had been played for real scares rather than for laughs.

N.B.: A lingering shot of a chandelier suggests that the crystals are actually the missing diamonds. They're not.

N.B. again: The marvellously gothic titular house is actually The Oakley Court in Berkshire, England (now a hotel), as seen in several Hammer horror movies and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Well worth a gander if you're ever in the area.

Frankie Howard got few chances on film to showcase his comedic talents. Nightmare Park(AKA House of the Laughing Dead) is probably his best effort to do so on film. Like Benny Hill, only not quite as blatant, Howard is walking innuendo. We see through his eyes and speech an almost endless stream of one-liners, albeit rather tame by today's comparisons. Howard is funny in the main role of a third-rate entertainer who loves himself that has been invited to a mysterious mansion in the English countryside. The rest of the cast is comprised of the inhabitants of the house, a strange lot indeed with Ray Milland as the head of the family. The story is whimsical, and utterly absurd, but through the efforts of Howard, Milland, et all, and the fairly atmospheric direction of Peter Sykes, the film comes off quite well as a somewhat gothic comedy.

Franke Howerd plays Foster Twelvetrees, a second rate performer of the spoken word to barely awake, small audiences in the early 1900s. He thinks his luck is in when he is invited to a wealthy family's home to perform for them, but he is unaware that they have ulterior motives for the invite.

I've always enjoyed watching Frankie Howerd and this film is no exception. There are some classic Howerd moments that fans will revel in, and perhaps the casual observer too. Plenty of one liners, surprised ooohs and comical countenances that only Frankie Howerd could pull. He's ably supported by the rest of the cast, particularly film legend Ray Milland. It did occur to me, on more than one occasion, that this was meant to be a much bigger success than it ended up, for someone of Milland's calibre to take a role.

There are some very odd, quirky moments which add to the overall eeriness of The House In Nightmare Park and help make it unforgettable. This is not in anyway a Carry On movie which is where I normally see Frankie Howerd. It has a similar feel to many a haunted house film instead, with virtually the entire movie being set in the house and its grounds. There is a sense of foreboding from start to finish, and is genuinely scary and unsettling.

Plot holes abound but they are not enough to spoil your enjoyment of this eccentric horror. The title is perfect and the film does exactly what it says on the tin. Underrated in my opinion, this is an enjoyable hour and a half.