Il teatro della morte

Theatre of Death isn't a particularly bad film, but it's a disappointing one as it really could have been a lot better. The film plays out something like a British version of the popular Italian 'Giallo' subgenre, and features Christopher Lee as the head of a Parisian theatre. The film makes this theatre its central location, and it provides a good place for a macabre tale like this to take place. Two years earlier, Mario Bava showed how a colourful location could benefit a movie about various people being killed with Blood and Black Lace, and it would seem that director Samuel Gallu realised how this could be used as the theatre at the centre of the tale utilises a bright colour scheme, similar to the one in Blood and Black Lace. The theatre at the centre of the film specialises in horror productions, and this is taken to a new extreme when performers at the theatre begin turning up dead. We focus on a police inspector who is tied to the murders through his attraction to one of the performance artists, and he soon realises that there could be a link between the murders and the theatre.

For a plot like this to engage the audience, it needs both thrills and intrigue, and while this film has both; it doesn't utilise either to a satisfying degree, and this makes the resulting movie rather cold and difficult to engage with. The acting is above average for this sort of film, however, and lesser known members of the cast manage to stand out despite Christopher Lee's massive star profile. The film seems to have taken influence from the prolific Italians on the actress front, as Theatre of Death features some beautiful women, which bodes well with the grandiose central location. Christopher Lee doesn't deliver his best performance in this film, and really never breaks a sweat in the lead role, but it's always a pleasure to see him. The mystery is never too interesting, and the short running time never really does it justice. Full credit goes to the film for the ending, however, as the film comes good by the time of the climax, even though the mystery could have gone on a little longer, had it built up more tension. Overall, this is a decent enough movie; I wouldn't recommend going into it with high expectations, but Theatre of Death is worth seeing for fans of this sort of film.

Christopher Lee and Julian Glover head the cast in a story about a pushy and overbearing theatre director obsessed with the macabre. Mwahahaha, etc. The eye candy is provided by Jenny Till and Lelia Goldoni (who lately died, God rest her), but the sexiest moment is provided by whoever that dancing lady is pretending to be a tribal African about to sacrifice a victim. Not to worry, it's all part of the guignol, my dears. Lee is the sinister director, Glover is his antagonist of sorts, a surgeon with a damaged hand, looking out for the lady he is romantically pursuing (Goldoni). Our doc also has police connections, so he's able to follow the case of a serial, vampiric murderer at large in Paris. Could the murders and the theatre's productions be connected somehow?

Good performances all round, but it's never particularly scary and the fact that they're French characters (mostly) being played by Brits as if this version of Paris was somewhere in London, well, it doesn't lend itself to versimilitude. In all honesty the plot is pure tosh, though I'll admit I saw a plot synopsis before viewing that did rather give the game away. I won't spoil it for you.

Best line in the movie: "If you find the outside world too tough there's always the asylum, and if that doesn't work, the river." How's that for cold?

A super surprise! I think I have rather dismissed this in the past either confusing it with the Vincent Price classic, Theatre of Blood or taking average reviews at face value. This is great fun and really creepy. Borrowing a little from giallo, this relishes in setting scenes up and then confounding one's expectations by lurching off somewhere else. Quirky and exotic (loved the risqué voodoo dance towards the end- great bra!) this has a great atmosphere throughout and with super cinematography is always good to look at. Lee is fiendishly good and probably at his very best looking. Set in a Paris within a sensational theatre depicting ghoulish and bloodthirsty pieces we get Lee getting involved with hypnotism and the ladies to great effect. Very often such films, whilst pleasant enough, can slow a little but here we just keep going from one surprise to another. There is one particular scene where Lee wants a young women out of his house and he brings her to tears, rubs her mascara about her face and virtually throws her out leaving us reeling because we rather thought he might take her to one side, as it were! Must see.

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.

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.