La malédiction nuptiale

The terrible production values are a major problem with "The House That Cried Murder" and it's a shame, as the ending is just terrific and it could have been a good film.

When the story begins, Barbara insists to her father that she is going to get married....even though her father doesn't trust her shifty fiance. Well, it turned out daddy was right and the wicked fiance didn't even wait long to begin his nasty ways. His old girlfriend shows up at the reception and he boinks her while everyone is celebrating the nuptuals! Barbara walks in on them and, not surprisingly, she goes nuts on him. She then runs out of the reception...and isn't seen again for some time.

In the meantime, the horrible husband doesn't do a lot to hide his awfulness and he shacks up with this old girlfriend. Soon, however, the pair are tormented by someone...someone bent on driving them over the edge! What's next? See the film.

The basic plot and finale are great. The problem is that the music is god-awful as are most of the production values. It just looks cheap and the director managed to make the least of an excellent story. Hardly worth seeing.

A rich man's daughter Barbara marries David,one of her dad's employees.She built herself a rather strange looking house on the field.During the wedding David kisses his former girlfriend Helen.Freshly married Barbara sees love-making session,stabs David's arm with a pair of scissors and flees in her bloody bridal gown.Strange things begin to happen for example Barb finds decapitated head of a chicken on her pillow and David has ghastly nightmares."The House That Cried Murder" is an overlooked psychological horror with several creepy scenes.The soundtrack is pretty bad with one of the worst wedding bands ever captured on screen,but the climax is wonderfully eerie and bizarre."The House That Cried Murder" deserves to be seen.8 out of 10.

The 70's were such a great time for horror. Horror films were being churned out due to the glut of drive-ins and grindhouses desperate for content and so many filmmakers were only too happy to supply them with films to show. The Bride a.k.a. The House That Cried Murder is one of the strange films that could have only been made at this time.

Sometimes feeling like a feature length Twilight Zone or Tales From the Crypt episode, The Bride revolves around a man engaged to marry a spoiled rich girl who's caught making out with the ex on the day of the wedding. Needless to say, this drives the titular bride insane and she attacks him with scissors and runs away. Where is she? Perhaps at the strange modern home she just had her father build her in the country? Or is she plotting an elaborate revenge plot on her would-be husband?

The Bride keeps the audience on their toes throughout even though its chills are of the strictly PG variety. By the time you get to the insane finale, all bets are off. The Bride is one that lingers with you for awhile after you've seen it. I highly recommend it.

ALWAYS take your wedding vows seriously. That is the lesson that David (Arthur Roberts, "Revenge of the Ninja") needs to learn in this low budget combination of psychological and supernatural horror. David is set to marry Barbara (soap opera veteran Robin Strasser), daughter of a very rich man (John Beal, "Amityville 3-D"), but the guy has no shame. He fools around with a former girlfriend (Iva Jean Saraceni, "Creepshow") on his wedding day! Barbara promptly blows her top and drives off. The old man, despite his hatred of David, does warn him that his little girl (one of those spoiled princesses who tended to get everything she wanted) has a tendency to be vindictive and VIOLENT. Soon, David and the girlfriend are being terrorized repeatedly.

"The House That Cried Murder" (a.k.a. "The Bride" and "Last House on Massacre Street") is no lost gem begging for rediscovery, but it IS a pretty entertaining regional genre flick with the appropriate amount of surrealism. It also features a remarkable looking house, some okay atmosphere, a variable music score (sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't), and a fair amount of gore. Director Jean-Marie Pelissie (who wrote the script with producer John Grissmer) generates some scares and suspense along the way, leading to a solid finale with some surprises in store for David (and, hopefully, the viewer). As you can see, David is not exactly a sympathetic character, but the dilemma that faces him and the girlfriend IS compelling.

All in all, this minor but diverting feature is still worth seeking out for genre fans who always look for lesser-known entries like this.

Filmed in Connecticut.

Seven out of 10.

This came as a huge surprise to me. The movie is great!! Love the characters,story,directing and score. The little twist we get in the 3rd act is the best part!! Definitely worth a watch.