Bloodbath at the House of Death

I really have to say that this one grew on me. I didn't like it a lot at first, but then I started watching it over and it's definitely been one of my favorites for awhile now. What's not to like about it? I, too, am glad to see the positive feedback on this fun movie. It's not as gory as some might have you believe, but, as a comedy, it is a classic. They parody all kinds of fantastically themed movies here, not just horror films. The "E.T." parody is a riot. I guess to say much more on it (aside from the basic plot, which is information provided already) would give away a lot of surprises, so I'll just leave it at that.

Kenny Everett was a zany comic who started out as a DJ in the 1960s before fronting a prime time TV comedy show in the 1980s. This 1984 film is his only attempt at a big screen offering. Kenny died of AIDS-related illness in 1995, aged 50.

The film is a Hammer horror spoof, though many other films and genres are spoofed along the way. It is written by Barry Cryer, who appears in the title sequence. Eight scientists (including Kenny and, more plausibly, Dr Pamela Stephenson) investigate an old house where, 18 years earlier, 18 people were killed there in one night. The others are played by John Fortune, Sheila Steafel, Don (Rising Damp) Warrington, Gareth (coffee ads) Hunt, Cleo Rocos and John Stephen Hill. All were well known 80s British personalities but not entirely convincing as scientists!

The best known actor here is Vincent Price, though he only appears in a few scenes, as the 'sinister man'. Pat Ashton's appearance as the murdered barmaid marked her last appearance in a run of 20 years of British comedy shows before she disappeared, which is a shame as she was always good fun. It pretty much also marked the end of John Stephen Hill's acting career though he is better mapped as he went on to immerse himself in his Jesuit faith.

The film is a bit hit and miss, like Everett's TV shows - lots of scenes that don't really work, interspersed with occasional moments of genius. It is the only opportunity to see Everett on the big screen, and it represents a peak of sorts in early 80s British comedy. I don't want to judge it too harshly.

Play "spot-the-movie" in this comedy which features allusions to Carrie, Close Encounters, The Invisible man, Jaws, Rocky Horror Picture Show and many more. Sing the inventory of killings at the "House of Death" to "The 12 Days of Christmas". Don't expect a great plot or serious social commentary because this spoof isn't that kind of film. If you just want to veg out and relax you can try to guess who will die next -- and how.

"Bloodbath at the House of Death" – every horror fan will undeniably fall in love with the title alone already – is a slapstick horror comedy/spoof starring the BBC radio presenter Kenny Everett and the legendary horror acting legend Vincent Price. Now, I'm not really familiar with the works of Kenny Everett, but I am a self-proclaimed expert when it comes to Vincent and the name of his character here pretty much summarizes his entire rich and highly respectable career. He is the "Sinister Man" and appears in the film, albeit less extendedly as I hoped, as some sort of deranged cult leader. The rest of the story is relatively simple: a random group of international scientists and paranormal investigators gather together at Headstone Manor, also known as the House of Death, to research the truth behind the legend of allegedly 18 people being slain at the place. "Bloodbath at the House of Death" is far from brilliant, sometimes hardly even funny, but I would definitely say this is an underrated attempt that understandably got overlooked in the massive horror/comedy offer of the early 80's. The script, co-written by director Ray Cameron, makes fun of great and obvious classics such as "Alien", "E.T.", "Poltergeist", Carrie" and "The Shining", but also holds more subtle jokes and references in store to reward the attentive horror freaks. Something I couldn't help noticing, though, is that quite a few jokes in the more recent "Scary Movie 2" were directly lifted from this film. Okay, admittedly, both film were basically influenced by the same haunted house classics (like "The Legend of Hell House", "The Entity" and "House on Haunted Hill") but still it's quite suspicious that the Wayans Brothers supposedly thought up the exact same jokes, like for example the ghost rape turning into a kinky sex game. Other than the movie-related jokes and situations, there certainly also isn't a shortage of textbook slapstick stuff like a blind character constantly running into trees and a crippled guy repeatedly falling flat on his face. It may not be politically correct, but it sure as hell is funny. Perhaps the main reason why I – and surely many genre fanatics with me – appreciate the film so much is the gore. In spite of the comical and non-horror friendly atmosphere, there are quite a few gross killings on display. The devilish house always repeats the same macabre methods of elimination, namely stabbing, hanging, struck by lightening, drowning, slit throats, etc. Some of the illustrations of murder here are a lot nastier than the case in many contemporary slasher flicks.

Bloodbath at the House of Death did have a lot of potential, a talented cast and writer and a great title being the starting points. But the execution undermines this, so in the end Bloodbath at the House of Death is a failure. It is not without redeeming merits though, the film is not badly made, Vincent Price while underused looks and sounds as though he is thoroughly enjoying himself and the Can Opener and toilet scenes are very effective. However, I just didn't find Bloodbath at the House of Death all that funny or horrifying. I do love comedy and I don't mind it when it is stupid and rude, but I've never liked it all that much when it's distasteful. And Bloodbath at the House of Death showed great distaste, the toilet humour is utterly infantile and the innuendos are incredibly smutty making the worst Carry On movie(the later entries had a lot of smut) seem tame. The dialogue is similarly unfunny, crude and somewhat stilted too, I even questioned whether Bary Cryer actually had anything to do with the writing at all. The story is very thin structurally and doesn't make any sense at all. I got the parodies but with two exceptions they seemed randomly strung together(and that is pretty much what the story was) and were too predictable and badly written to have any kind of impact. The ET parody was also rendered cheaply. The direction was leaden, and the entire cast were wasted. Only Price was good and even he deserved much better. Kenny Everett was very talented and evidently does try very hard but the quality of the humour here disallowed him to do anything interesting or fun with what he has. The rest of the cast don't make any kind of impression. All in all, a embarrassing failure for all involved. 3/10 Bethany Cox