Bloodbath at the House of Death (1984)

You won't be disappointed!

Wonderful character development!

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Starring horror icon Vincent Price & comedy legend Kenny Everett this camp British horror comedy is a hugely mixed bag.It tells the story of a group of scientists and experts in their field who investigate the mysterious Blood House where 18 people were savagely murdered in one night.When the jokes are on point the movie is really enjoyable, sadly too many jokes fall flat and leave the movie more of a bust than it should have been. With Price & Everett this should have by all rights been a cult classic.To it's credit the film has a lot of imagination, from original death scenes to some fantastic satirical humour!However for every laugh there are three or four poor jokes ranging from silly to cringe inducing.A harmless effort and ahead of it's time, but comes across a bit rushed.The Good:Price and Everett are excellentVery inventive killsSome great gagsWell scoredThe Bad:Not as funny as it should have been Things I Learnt From This Movie:Kenny Everett should have broke Hollywood

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.

Bloodbath at the House of Death is set in rural Endland where a team of scientists arrive at Headstone House to investigate strange radioactive paranormal activity. In charge is Dr. Lukas Mandeville (Kenny Everett) aided by his young assistant Dr. Barbara Coyle (Pamela Stephenson), after an awkward encounter with the locals in a nearby village Mandeville & Coyle arrive at Headstone House & find the rest of the team waiting there. As the night passes the scientists start to experience strange phenomenon, eventually they are killed off one by one & replaced by replica Devil worshipping aliens.This British production was co-written, co-produced & directed by Ray Cameron & is generally disliked as an unfunny horror comedy spoof with zero plot & who am I to disagree with such an accurate appraisal? Made at the time when both horror & leading man Kenny Ecerett were popular it probably seemed like a good idea at the time to combine the two, quite why Everett agreed to be in this crap is a mystery to be honest. With virtually no story to speak of it's left to the loosely connected little comedy sketches that try to spoof & mock various horror films including The Haunting (1963), Carrie (1976), Alien (1979), The Shining (1980), An Emerican Werewolf in London (1981), The Entity (1982), E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), all the teen slashers that were big business back then & even references Star Wars (1977) with little success is has to be said. The main problem for me was that Bloodbath at the House of Death is just painfully unfunny, sure it comes down to personal preference but I thought the humour, jokes & gags were just lame. At just under 90 minutes long there is very little story here & none of it makes sense one bit as things happening for no apparent reason with no apparent consequence. Why is Everett given a false leg? Why not kill the scientists rather than try to scare them away?Bloodbath at the House of Death really does feel like a five minute comedy show sketch drawn out to feature film length, not one of British horror's finest moments.The film is reasonably well made & spoofs various scenes in films like the pub scene in An American Werewolf in London, the chest-burster scene in Alien, the rape scene in The Entity & even has a character decapitated by a Stars Wars style Light Saber. The special effects are variable, the E.T. spoof at the end looks awful for instance. There's some blood splatter & a couple of decapitations but not much gore.Filmed in Hertfordshire here in the UK I suspect this had a fairly low budget & again I don't really understand why TV comedian & radio DJ Kenny Everett agreed to do it, surely he didn't think it would be his big break in films? The acting is all over the place with some terrible performances & other's who just go for it. Horror legend Vincent Price is wasted in what turned out to be his last British horror film.Bloodbath at the House of Death make the Scary Movie series seem like classics, I'm sorry but I just didn't find any of it funny & it ended up disappointing as both a horror film & a comedy. A waste of some good talent & a waste of potential.

Horror deity Vincent Price is my favorite actor, and the credited name of his character in "Bloodbath at the House of Death" - 'Sinister Man' - more or less describes the roles this great man played with brilliance throughout his fantastic career. "Bloodbath at the House of Death" (1984) is a title that is impossible not to love for a fan of Horror and Cult-cinema, and while the film is neither a particular highlight nor exactly a bloodbath, it is an enjoyably bizarre spoof that Price-fans should give a try, even though the master's role is regrettably small. The film stars British Comedian Kanny Everett; I don't really know the man's other work, but as it seems, he was a funny guy.In 1975, Headstone Manor was the site of the grisly murders of 18 people. Some years later, a couple of Scientists including Dr. Lukas Manderville (Kenny Everett) and Dr. Barbara Coyle (Pamela Stephenson) gather at the the rural mansion, which is now known as the 'House of Death' in order to investigate strange phenomena..."Bloodbath at the House of Death" parodies Gothic Horror and Occult Horror films as well as Slashers. Primarily, however, the film is full of extremely bizarre slapstick humor. This is great fun at the beginning, but I must say that the non-stop slapstick and fart-jokes gets a bit monotonous towards the end. Fans of weirdness and bizarre humor should still like this, however, as it doesn't get a lot more grotesque than "Bloodbath at the House of Death". Vincent Price is, as always, magnificent in his role here. Price is hilarious as a warlock and leader of a Satanic coven who is aptly credited 'Sinister Man'. His screen time is regrettably short though. Kenny Everett is also very funny in his role, as are the other cast members. Pamela Stephenson is particularly funny, and very sexy even though she plays a nerdy scientist. The murders in the film are amusingly bizarre and the gore-effects are hilarious. "Bloodbath at the House of Death" isn't a particular highlight and certainly no Comedy masterpiece, but overall, it is a fun flick for my fellow Vincent Price fans and lovers of bizarre humor. Recommended.