Theatre of Death

The plot centers around the cast of a Grand Guginol theatre group.Guginol refers to bloody & horrific explotative plays.The troupe is lead by the cold & cruel Darvas.(Darvas is wonderfully played by Christopher Lee).Darvas thinks nothing of ridiculing & humiliating his cast to get exactly what he wants. Seemingly he has no soul and no regard for human emotions other than acting them out.

A series of vampiric murders is tied in with the theatre group.Is Darvas more than just a Svengali? Is he a vampire? Without giving too much away cannibalism is the driving force behind the murders.Who is the killer stalking the cast?

This clocks in at above average. There are plenty of red herrings but the cast plays it gamely.Everyone has secrets to hide,some more terrible than others. The ending is a bit of a twist.You could do worse than to watch this one.

Theatre of Death is a pretty below the radar example of British horror. It rarely seems to get much of a mention and is relatively unknown. Having just seen it I have to say that this is a somewhat unfair situation. On the face of it, it is quite similar in terms of subject matter to a Hammer film. But in reality it has more in common with a super-stylish Italian flick from the period, like the kind of thing Mario Bava might have directed. The reason for this is that, while it stars Hammer regular Christopher Lee and has a horror based story, it is set in chic Paris and, more importantly, it looks absolutely gorgeous. The art direction really is rather fine, with nice décor and exceptional use of colours, especially red and black. And most significant of all is the sumptuous cinematography by Gilbert Taylor. It may be a low budget movie but it looks absolutely great and that kind of craftsmanship counts for a lot in my book.

The setting is a theatre based on the famous Grand Guignol of Paris. This was a place that put on macabre and gory plays. It operated for decades and had something of a reputation. Likewise in Theatre of Death the plays on offer are of the dark and sinister kind. We have a nice set-piece to enjoy of one such example, 'The Witches of Salem'. Lee plays the intense, sadistic theatre director and he comes under suspicion when a series of serial killings occur that have all the hallmarks of a vampire attack. From here on in several of the cast attempt to solve this mystery and get to the bottom of these gruesome murders. It all winds up with a climax in the theatre during a particularly impressively erotic voodoo dance sequence. It's a stylish ending to a great looking movie. This is a film that definitely deserves far more recognition.

1966's "Theatre of Death" was a one shot feature from Pennea Productions, issued by London Independent Producers in the UK, while Hemisphere Pictures did the honors in the US under the more lurid title "Blood Fiend." It was also one of the better entries in Gold Key's Scream Theater television package (and its sole British entry), which admittedly isn't saying much considering the low quality of its 19 cofeatures ("The Creeping Terror" or "They Saved Hitler's Brain," for example). A series of murders erupt in Paris while the Theatre de Mort showcases another season under director Phillipe Darvas (Christopher Lee), a lifetime of devotion since inheriting it from his missing father, showcasing torture, murder, disembowelment, decapitation, and sundry other horrific details purely for audience amusement (the real life theatre finally closed for good in 1962). Two recent arrivals are Nicole Chapelle (Jenny Till) and Dani Gireaux (Lelia Goldoni), who are both good friends as well as roommates, encouraged to perform a reenactment of the Salem witch trials in a demonstration that grows too intense for Dani's boyfriend Charles Marquis (Julian Glover). Nicole proves most susceptible to hypnosis, and agrees to move in with Darvas, who has yet to complete the final act of his new program, maintaining a grip of terror over his troupe in any horrific manner he sees fit (poor Dani is encouraged to jump in the river). As a police pathologist, Charles learns that the knife wounds on each victim's throat were triangular, the corpses drained of blood as if a genuine vampire were responsible. Suspicion naturally falls upon the tyrannical Darvas, but once he mysteriously disappears like his father before him authorities remain in a quandary until a cafe owner relates a strange tale of survival in the Swiss Alps, and a mother who raised her child on human blood. Between the hand held camera angles chosen by director Samuel Gallu and the picturesque cinematography of Gilbert Taylor ("A Hard Day's Night," "Star Wars"), the picture manages to hold together in Lee's absence, but as a whodunit it's a total washout, scripted by Ellis Kadison and Roger Marshall, the latter a veteran of THE AVENGERS. From spying on his guests to browbeating those who fail to meet his exacting standards, this mesmeric role is very similar to Lee's previous film, Hammer's "Rasputin - The Mad Monk," only here his character vanishes after a confrontation with Charles about the unsolved vampire-like murders in their vicinity; as the obvious focus throughout the first half, the picture clearly suffers from that point on, and the drawn out climax doesn't quite fill the gap. Leading lady Lelia Goldoni had one Hammer credit on her resume (1964's "Hysteria"), Julian Glover only a year away from a major role in Hammer's third Quatermass entry, "Five Million Years to Earth," little known Dilys Watling (as hungry starlet Heidi) going on to a memorable appearance on THE BENNY HILL SHOW in the late 1970s.

In Paris a series of grisly murders are taking place, in which the victims are stabbed with a knife that leaves a triangular wound and then are drained of their blood. Inspector Micheaud (IVOR DEAN) and pathologist Charles Marquis (JULIAN GLOVER) suspect that they are dealing with a killer with vampiristic tendencies. Marquis has a girlfriend called Dani Gireaux (LELIA GOLDONI) who is an actress at the "Theatre De Mort" - the "Theatre Of Death" where the principal themes of the plays are murder and mayhem. The company is run by the eccentric and obsessive Philippe Darvas (CHRISTOPHER LEE) who becomes the chief suspect because when Marquis gives him a lift home and tells him that a knife that resembles the murder weapon was found among his props, he seemed eager to get out of the car and continue on foot. Secondly, he seems to have hypnotic control over one of his fellow actresses, Nicole Chapelle (JENNY TILL). Things look worse for Darvas after he disappears late one night leaving his hat and blood soaked cloak in a park, but Nicole's trance doesn't appear to be letting up. Meanwhile, the death toll continues to rise and the police must either find Darvas' killer or the true culprit...

THEATRE OF DEATH begins slowly and tamely (in every murder sequence the camera moves in for a close up of the victim's terrified face then cuts away to the next scene). However, it cannot be denied that this is a unique film in its own right as it features one of Christopher Lee's best performances and it deals with an ingenious modern day vampire story, which is far more realistic than the mythical vampires that Hammer dealt with. The film pulls every hokey horror trick in the book such as eyes moving in portraits and the French characters speak with impeccable English accents very much as the Transylvanians did in the Hammer films. However, what makes the film unique is that it packs an ingenious twist at the climax and as a result the film has given us these hackneyed horror clichés before throwing them to the winds and when the identity of the killer is finally revealed it comes as quite a surprise as every one is expecting it to be Christopher Lee's character as this is a part that everyone associated with him at the time. Its not him but I won't spoil it any more for those who have not seen it! Add to that, all the performances are excellent and there is the stylish camera-work of Gilbert Taylor who would later go on to shoot the first STAR WARS (1977) for George Lucas.

Not to be confused with the 1973 Vincent Price/Diana Rigg movie "Theatre of Blood," "Theatre of Death" (1966) gives us the story of a serial killer in modern-day Paris, who stabs victims and drains their blood (kind of like a 20th century Jacques the Ripper). The director of the local Theatre of Death, a Grand Guignol-type of entertainment, falls under suspicion, and, as played by that former neck nosher himself, "Mr. Tall, Dark and Gruesome," Christopher Lee, is is easy to see why. This sneaky, tyrannical, egomaniacal, Svengali-like, mesmerizing petty dictator is one intimidating personage indeed, and a likely suspect, to say the least. Anyway, I must admit that this little film has been stylishly shot and directed, handsomely produced, and well acted by one and all. However, it is also somewhat static, never especially scary or suspenseful, and certainly suffers when Lee's character mysteriously disappears halfway through. Still, it does somehow manage to hold the viewer's attention, although I'm still a trifle puzzled as to WHY the killer decided to go on a sudden homicidal spree, as well as a few other loose ends. To the film's credit, though, that killer's identity DOES come as something of a surprise (well, it did for me, anyway, but I've always been lousy at guessing this kind of thing). Yes, despite that gruesome title, and Mr. Lee's presence, this film IS more of a mystery thriller than a horror picture. Oh, and one other thing: An 11-minute interview with Mr. Lee makes for just one of the many fine extras on the crisp-looking DVD that I just watched.