Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible

Dr Terribles house of Horrible is a clever pastiche of tacky seventies horror movies. Each episode is introduced by the same character, the bald headed Dr Terrible, and the stories evolve from there. Steve Coogan plays the main character in each one.

Especially memorable is the Fu Manchu spoof and the spoof of the early seventies horror movies, such as Tales from the Crypt, where several characters would tell a tale of doom.

Coogan fans watched expecting Alan Partridge. To fans of horror this will be appreciated.

I've only seen the last episode of this series, "Scream Satan Scream!", but I have to say it was rather good. It wasn't laugh out loud funny, but neither was Alan Partridge. In fact, Captain Tobias Slater is one of the best characters I've seen Coogan play. He is a really nasty piece of work. As for Dr Terrible himself (or should that be itself?), it's hard to believe that is Coogan under all that. It would be a shame if there isn't another series of "Dr Terrible", since it would appear to be the best vehicle yet for Coogan's versatility.

Great stuff. The parodies are spot on, and with a class cast, this makes for a far more subtle vignette than can be seen at first glance. If you are an 'appreciater' of the late 60s, early 70s Hammer films (often with either Mr Lee or Mr Cushing), you should find much in this to enjoy. Of course Steve Coogan hams it up, but why else are you watching it? It's a little telling when you realise that it's no less ridiculous than the films it is sending up, and Dr Terrible is always a source of mirth.

I have not seen all the episodes, but the ones I have often encapsulate a whole sub-genre within the horror theme. There is only the one series, and it is a shame the BBC (once more) didn't have strength of character enough to commission more.

The title tells it all - and the series lives up to it admirably. It's the sort of thing you will like, if you like this sort of thing.

Time has been neither kind nor cruel to this relatively obscure Steve Coogan series (only 15 imdb reviews to date). Watching in 2020, I still have the same likes and problems with it as I did when it went out.

Of the 6 episodes, two are bona fide tv classics. One, And Now The Fearing, is a perfect pastiche of early 70s Amicus portmanteau horrors - every single cliché gets thrown into the mix with fantastically cheesy results. The way it's all crammed into 30 minutes is also impressive.

The other, The Curse Of The Blood Of The Lizard Of Doom is a deliriously silly yet engaging sci-fi tinged 19th Century body horror. The slew of knowingly horrendous one-liners in this episode had me creasing, the attention to detail of the sets (and the bad-on-purpose special effects) were spot on, and even the newspaper headlines were genius. Everything about this episode is great, and I wish it had been a full length movie.

Then there's one decent episode, Voodoo Feet Of Death. The premise/set up here is original, and the script has some funny moments, but overall it felt a bit drawn out and convoluted. Worth watching though.

The remaining 3 episodes were a bit of a slog to get through and Coogan seemed to be stuck on autopilot in all of them. Frenzy Of Tongs was especially weak, almost the entire episode seemingly taking place in a big dark cupboard. The other two were historical period pieces and vaguely forgettable, although in fairness all 3 of these had at least one moment that made me laugh.

As a series overall, I'd say of Steve Coogan's non-Partridge tv work this ranks below Paul Calf's video diaries and Coogan's Run, but above Saxondale (overrated), The Trip (yawn) and Tony Ferrino.

This show is so funny and well written.

The jokes are so obviously but the audiences don't actually expect them thus resulting in laughter once said, one that would stick with me is 'I kicked her head in...the fire'

This is one of Steve Coogans best bits.

Like many other TV shows however, it has its bad bits, but the hilarity of the show and the plots will let make you forget about that in no time soon!

At least give it a try, it's like one of those things which you need to watch, just to say you have seen a classic piece of comedy, especially because of Coogan in his prime!