What a Carve Up!

When Uncle Gabriel dies, all his relatives are summoned to an old country mansion in the middle of nowhere to hear the reading of his will. Once there, tho, somebody starts murdering them one by one and the remaining group must solve the mystery or expect not to see the night out.

What a Carve Up! is adapted from Frank King's novel The Ghoul and stars Sid James, Kenneth Connor, Donald Pleasence, Shirley Eaton, Dennis Price, Esma Cannon and Michael Gough. Basically this fine and amusing film is a sort of British version of genre pieces like Scared Stiff, The Cat And The Canary and The Ghostbreakers, or a spoof of its source material if you like. All the elements are in place, a bunch of eccentric and odd characters land at a ghostly mansion, greeted by a limping scary looking Butler {Gough}, and they then promptly spend the night trying to stay alive. Set to a backdrop of a thunderstorm, creaking floorboards, revolving secret doors and "what was that?", did the eyes just move on that painting? There's nothing new here of course in terms of creepy house formula, it is however a premise that never grows old if it is done right. Either seriously or as a comedy. Thankfully, What a Carve Up! does everything it possibly can to make it work as a creepy house mystery spoof. The gags are excellently written by Cooney & Hilton, which in turn are delivered with comic agility from the cast. Who rightly are having a blast with the material to hand. The "who done it?" reveal is a good one after the red herrings have been and gone, and a nice cameo at the finale feeds Sid James another in a long line of fine gags within the piece.

Finally getting a DVD release in late 2008, this film has now started to pick up newcomers and the revisit crowd alike. Which is real nice to see. Because as long as you are a fan of the creepy house comedy mystery then you shouldn't be disappointed in this one. 8/10

Spooky-looking Donald Pleasance visits Kenneth Connor to tell him that his uncle is dead and he must be present for the reading of the will. Out at the castle on the moor, there is the usual assortment of greedy relatives, Shirley Eaton, the cute nurse, and Michael Gough doing a Boris Karloff impression as the butler. Plus of course, Connor's pal Sid James, who figures he's on to a good thing. When Pleasance reads the will, however, only Miss Eaton is left anything: the pill bottles. They all settle in for the night, and then someone starts killing them all in this Old Dark House comedy.

There's long been a tendency of the Old Dark House genre to indulge in comedy, and this looks suspiciously like a feature-length version of THE LAUREL-HARDY MURDER CASE, with James and Connor playing a variation on the Boys. While the mystery aspect of the movie is pretty good, the comedy is fairly standard.... but very well executed.

A good film that borrowed on the 'mousetrap' plot, & rather predictable. Acted out at a fast pace with great enthusiasm by all. Sid James was his usual brilliant self & Ken Connor too. Shirley Eaton played her part well. Dressed in a shift over a nylon slip for much of the film, strange how, when running from room to room, she'd continually hold her shift together in an attempt to stop it falling open thus giving us a glimpse of her slip underneath. Naively prudish of her, & ironic in that 2 yrs later she would appear in a Bond film wearing nothing but a coat of paint! At the time Ken Connor was one of the most sought after comedy film actors.

I often wonder if movies like this had the audiences of the time rolling in the aisles or did folk react in much the same way most people today would, with a certain cynical boredom? Personally, I'm a fan of all sorts of humour, and that includes the light silliness of movies like this. Few people, probably nobody in fact, will get belly-laughs from this film, but my girlfriend and I, and her sister, watched it together smiling and chuckling all the way through. We were entertained and we'd watch it again.

Part of the appeal, of course, for a thirty-something like me is that strange nostalgia for a time you never experienced and certainly never was. Even though it's an unrealistic spooky murder mystery, you'd still quite like to be there with the characters, enjoying this curiously innocent world where people die in a remarkable bloodless fashion.

There's a good cast, full of recognisable faces - there's fun to had from finally realising that you're looking at a very young Michael Gough and playing a butler long before Alfred in the first four Batman movies.

It's ultimately absurd, but it's a well-put-together little film, with a great cast, an atmospheric set and a light but entertaining plot, perfect for lazy Sunday afternoon viewing.

I've finally managed to get my hands on a copy of this movie, after searching websites, video stores, and many a failed bid on eBay. And although it's a while since I last watched it, this movie is as good, if not better, than I remember.

Sid James gets the best lines, and delivers them with the consummate ease of a true professional. Kenneth Connor is a bit like his roles in the early Carry On's - but he was very good in them. Throw in a wonderfully sinister Donald Pleasance, the typically statuesque and beautiful Shirley Eaton, and a host of other suitable strange and quirky characters, all locked in a creepy mansion where the guests begin dropping like flies one by one. It all adds up to a marvelous romp - not so much scary as very creepy, very suspenseful, and very, very funny.