FEATURED POSTS

10 Questions with Shane Briant

The talented British' born actor Shane Briant made his screen debut in the Hammer horror film Demons of the Mind. Since then he's gone on to appear in over 60 films and television productions including Straight On Till Morning (1972), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1973), The Mackintosh Man (1973), Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974), Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974), The Naked Civil Servant (1975) and Lady Chatterley's Lover (1981). Currently Briant is focusing his attention on writing fiction and he has recently completed a psychological thriller called Worst Nightmares that will be released May 12th. I've admired his film work for many years so I was thrilled to get the opportunity to ask Shane Briant a few questions about his early movies and current writing projects. READ MORE

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED POSTS

The Girl On a Motorcycle (1968)

The talented director and cinematographer Jack Cardiff has passed away at the age of 94. As the tributes start to roll out from various news sites and film blogs its become clear to me that most people regard Jack Cardiff as a great cinematographer and have little regard or knowledge of his directing contributions, which is a shame. Cardiff was a brilliant photographer and his groundbreaking contributions to cinematography are well worth celebrating. But his impressive work as a director on films like the wonderful D.H. Lawrence adaptation Sons and Lovers (1960), the entertaining spy thriller The Liquidator (1965), the excellent erotic drama The Girl on a Motorcycle (1968) and the effective horror film The Mutations (1974) is also worthy of applause. READ MORE

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED POSTS

Favorite DVD Releases of 2008

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but overall 2008 was somewhat of a lackluster year for new Region 1 DVD releases of '60s and '70s era films when compared to the previous two years (See: 2006 and 2007). Some of my favorite DVD companies such as BCI Eclipse and most recently New Yorker Films have folded. Boutique DVD companies are releasing fewer products and what is being released is often of questionable quality. With the failing economy and the rise in popularity of Blu-ray discs, it seems like the number of new worthwhile DVD releases might continue to drop dramatically in 2009. READ MORE

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED POSTS

Resurrecting Yusaku Matsuda

Toru Murakawa's Resurrection of the Golden Wolf (aka Yomigaeru kinrô; 1979) is a wildly uneven Japanese crime film that left me wishing it had been helmed by another director. The film's script was adapted from a popular novel by Haruhiko Ooyabu and directors like Seijun Suzuki have had great success turning Ooyabu's hard-boiled fiction into films, but Toru Murakawa doesn't have Suzuki's eye for detail or his pop art sensibility. Resurrection of the Golden Wolf runs much too long and the dramatic filler weighs down the action, but even with its flaws the movie still keeps your attention thanks to the star performance of Yusaku Matsuda. READ MORE

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED POSTS

We Are Controlling Transmission

This year analog broadcasting is coming to an end. On June 12th 2009 television stations in the United States will stop broadcasting in analog and switch permanently to digital. Digital broadcasting promises to provide viewers with a sharper picture and more diverse programming options, but this unavoidable change is forcing millions of people to buy new television sets or opt for getting a converter box that will often cost them $40 or more. I feel for these people because I didn't have complete cable TV Access or a digital television myself until 2007. READ MORE

Theater of Blood

by Kimberly Lindbergs | April 23, 2007

Categories | Movie Reviews, Horror, Blogathons

The cast of Theater of Blood without Diana Rigg

One of my favorite British horror films is the dark comedy Theater of Blood (1973) so when the opportunity to contribute to the William Shakespeare Blog-a-thon arose I decided I would share some of my thoughts about the movie.

In Theater of Blood the wonderful Vincent Price plays the Shakespearian actor Edward Lionheart, who returns from the dead to take revenge on his many critics after suffering a lifetime of negative reviews. Lionheart’s desire for revenge is born after he is denied an important acting award by the London Critic’s Circle. When Edward confronts the critics at a private meeting he is berated and humiliated by them. In one final dramatic act, he steals the award and tries to commit suicide by throwing himself into the River Thames.

Much to Lionheart’s surprise, he does not die and when he wakes up he finds that he’s been pulled ashore by a group of beggars and tramps who quickly make Edward their uncrowned king. In a very appropiate twist, the poor drunken beggars seem to appreciate Edward Lionheart and his Shakespearian acting skills more than the educated and wealthy critics who have foresaken him.

With the help of his beautiful daughter Edwina (Diana Rigg) and the beggars, Edward Lionheart feigns death and begins secretly murdering the critics who derided his performances and referred to him as a “ham.” Edward dishes out his poetic justice in a manner that is most fitting for an actor who spent his lifetime performing Shakespeare. He kills the critics one by one in executions all inspired by death scenes from the Bard’s various plays.

The first critic to die is George Maxwell (Michael Hordern) who is stabbed and hacked to death by the group of unruly beggars, which resembles a scene from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Following that, Hector Snipe (Dennis Price) is impaled on a spear and then dragged behind a horse for miles from a scene borrowed from Troillus and Cressida. Six more murders follow and each one continues to take its inspiration from the Bard’s plays until Edward Lionheart meets his own tragic end in a scene inspired by Shakespeare’s King Lear.

Theater of Blood was made by the British director Douglas Hickox and based on a screenplay by Anthony Greville-Bell, Stanley Mann and John Kohn. The writers clearly had a lot of fun coming up with the creative Shakespearean murders that it depicts and all the actors involved in the film seem to be having a good time with their roles. The numerous costume changes and humor driven story give the stars plenty of room to show off their acting skills.

The movie is played for laughs from beginning to end with Vincent Price giving one of his best and most campy performances as Edward Lionheart. The beautiful Diana Rigg spends half the film in drag and is barely recognizable behind her groovy 70s male garb. Both of these talented actors have called Theater of Blood their favorite film from their rather large repertoires, and I think it’s easy to see why.

Theater of Blood takes a healthy jab at pompous critics who use their words as weapons to destroy actor’s careers. Vincent Price was constantly called a “hammy” actor during his lifetime and was never able to do the serious Shakespearian roles that he so badly wanted to do. Diana Rigg started her career doing Shakespeare and was part of the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company, but after her hugely successful run on the wonderful Avengers television series, she had a tough time returning to Shakespearian roles. During the start of her career Rigg had roles in films such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1968) and Julius Caesar (1970), but the movies were met with mixed critical response. Fans continued to see her as Emma Peel from The Avengers and wanted more of the same.

The entire cast of Theater of Blood is filled with great British actors such as Michael Hordern, Dennis Price, Harry Andrews, Ian Hendry, Robert Morley and Coral Browne (Vincent Price’s third wife who he met on the set of the film). Many of them started their careers performing Shakespeare plays on stage or appeared in films based on his work. This gives Theater of Blood an authenticity and overall sense of irony that’s hard to miss.

The film has gained an impressive cult following over the years and is universally considered one of Britain’s best horror films. I think that’s due to the fact that Theater of Blood appeals to such a wide variety of film lovers. Horror fans can enjoy the gory murders that it offers, comedy fans can enjoy its black humor and Shakespeare enthusiasts can enjoy figuring out how Edward Lionheart manages to creatively commit numerous murders based on the Bard’s plays.

Vincent Price is in top form in Theater of Blood and gives each Shakespeare speech that he delivers in the film his all. It’s a shame that he wasn’t offered the Shakespearian roles that he deeply longed for during his lifetime, but his amazing career as an actor did not suffer from it. He brought great drama and tragedy into many of his best horror films and always breathed new life into the material he was given. I think Price’s Edward Lionheart would have made Shakespeare proud, or at the very least, made him smile.