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1973
Directed by Douglas Hickox
Synopsis
It's curtains for his critics!
A Shakespearean actor takes poetic revenge on the critics who denied him recognition.
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- Cast
- Crew
- Details
- Genres
- Releases
Cast
Vincent Price Diana Rigg Ian Hendry Harry Andrews Coral Browne Robert Coote Jack Hawkins Michael Hordern Arthur Lowe Robert Morley Dennis Price Milo O’Shea Madeline Smith Diana Dors Joan Hickson Renée Asherson Bunny Reed Peter Thornton Charles Sinnickson Brigid Erin Bates Tutte Lemkow Stanley Bates Eric Francis Sally Gilmore John Gilpin Joyce Graeme Jack Maguire Declan Mulholland George Oliver Show All…
DirectorDirector
Douglas Hickox
ProducersProducers
Stanley Mann John Kohn
WriterWriter
Anthony Greville-Bell
EditorEditor
Malcolm Cooke
CinematographyCinematography
Wolfgang Suschitzky
Assistant DirectorAsst. Director
Dominic Fulford
Executive ProducersExec. Producers
Sam Jaffe Gustave M. Berne
Camera OperatorCamera Operator
Ronnie Taylor
Production DesignProduction Design
Michael Seymour
Set DecorationSet Decoration
Ann Mollo
Special EffectsSpecial Effects
John Stears
ChoreographyChoreography
Tutte Lemkow
ComposerComposer
Michael J. Lewis
SoundSound
Simon Kaye Doug E. Turner Les Wiggins
Costume DesignCostume Design
Michael Baldwin
MakeupMakeup
George Blackler
HairstylingHairstyling
Pearl Tipaldi
Studios
Cineman Productions Harbour Productions United Artists
Country
UK
Language
English
Alternative Titles
Théatre de sang, El Mercader de la Muerte, Matar o no matar, este es el problema, Theater of Blood, Oscar insanguinato, Théatre de Sang, Theater des Grauens, Matar o no matar, éste es el problema, Το Θέατρο του Αίματος, As Sete Máscaras da Morte, תיאטרון הדמים, Blodkabinettet, Кървава сцена, Театр крови, Krwawy teatr, 血染莎剧场, Teatrul însângerat, Krvavé divadlo, 피의 극장
Genres
Horror Comedy
Themes
Intense violence and sexual transgression Graphic violence and brutal revenge Gory, gruesome, and slasher horror Gags, jokes, and slapstick humor Spooky, scary comedy Extreme gory horror and cannibalism Show All…
Releases by Date
- Date
- Country
Theatrical
16 Mar 1973
CanadaR
05 Apr 1973
USAR
07 Jun 1973
UK15
20 Jul 1973
Ireland12
16 Aug 1973
France12
27 Sep 1973
Germany16
Physical
21 Oct 2002
UK15
Releases by Country
- Date
- Country
Canada
16 Mar 1973
- TheatricalRToronto
France
16 Aug 1973
- Theatrical12
Germany
27 Sep 1973
- Theatrical16
Ireland
20 Jul 1973
- Theatrical12
UK
07 Jun 1973
- Theatrical15
21 Oct 2002
- Physical15DVD
USA
05 Apr 1973
- TheatricalR
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Review by Ian West ★★★★½ 7
Imagine the thrill of getting to kill your biggest critics. Now imagine that as Vincent Price.
Forever my favorite genre actor—I’ve seen a solid 50+ of his movies and haven’t seen a bad performance yet. He’s so deliciously devious in this I can’t help but sit here and watch with a giant shit eating grin on my face.
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Review by Matt! ★★★★ 3
Yeah, I’m sure Shakespeare would’ve appreciated his works being endlessly adapted into both Oscar bait and genre films year in and year out (I mean, who doesn’t love a nice dry hand job from Kenneth Branagh every now and then?), but you know what he would’ve loved even more? Vincent Price using his plays as an excuse to put on an absolute masterclass in hamminess as a petty, slighted thespian who slices & stabs & drowns & force-feeds & electrocutes his critics to death with surprisingly legit blood and gore in a dark comedy revenge tale homage to the creativity and uniqueness of Shakespeare’s own penchant for grisly murder scenes. Who needs another black-and-white overly faithful take on Macbeth when you can have Vinnie P and a young smokeshow Diana Rigg graphically cutting a dude’s heart out of his chest?
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Review by Channing Pomeroy ★★★★½ 3
The genius of the film is recognizing that Shakespeare’s plays are stocked with heinous and gruesome scenes; however, they usually took place off stage in Jacobean times and were stagey and anemically filmed on the screen prior to 1971 (Polanski’s Macbeth.) What would it be like if Hector was really dragged tied to the tail a horse, or Caesar slashed down by a mob of amateurs, or if Iago had extracted a pound of flesh from Antonio? It’s a testimony to the infinite fungibility of Shakespeare that he can be used as the basis for a thespian gore-fest.
Vincent Price is at his absolute best as a crazed Prospero with a cast of drunken minion Calibans and a homicidal Cordelia,…
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Review by Lou (rhymes with wow!) ★★★½ 11
Man, I once wrote a bad review for one of Edward Lionheart's Shakespeare adaptations, and not long afterwards, he let a frickin' bear loose in my house! The only reason why I didn't end up like Antigonus in The Winter's Tale was because I started flailing my arms frantically and began yelling the lyrics to Natalie Imbruglia's Torn (don't judge me, I was in an emotionally vulnerable place). Before I knew it, the bear made its exit and I was safe again. It's a real miracle I didn't end up getting mauled.
That's actually the whole reason why I stopped writing reviews for stage plays and started posting my write-ups for movies on letterboxd; this is a much less dangerous occupation.
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I watched this awesome movie with Michelle. -
Review by Josh Gillam ★★★½
Shakespearean actor Edward Lionheart (Vincent Price) exacts revenge on the critics who humiliated him, in this horror comedy co-starring Diana Rigg and Ian Hendry.
It’s a lot of fun, with Price having a blast in the lead role, staying just the right side of over-the-top. The film was apparently a favourite of his, and it definitely gives him a fantastic showcase.He’s backed by a whole host of names including Robert Morley, Jack Hawkins and Coral Browne (who married Price the following year), all adding to the story.
It’s very tongue-in-cheek, although some of the earlier scenes are actually quite creepy, but it never takes itself too seriously, which adds to the enjoyment. The film starts to run out of steam a bit in the middle, as the structure becomes repetitive, but more than makes up for it with a truly epic finale.
Overall, Theatre of Blood is an entertaining, campy horror with a lot of style.
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Review by Carlo V
*ominously whisks an egg
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Review by Ian West ★★★★½ 1
Happy birthday, Vincent ♥️
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Review by Ben Hibburd ★★★★ 2
"Theatre of Blood" is an over-the-top campy (and I guess the closest term would be) slasher. The film stars the incomparable Vincent Price as a disgruntled Shakespearean actor Edward Lionheart. Expecting to receive an award from his final performance before retiring, he's snubbed by the critics and overlooked. After a failed suicide attempt he gets the help of some homeless people to exact his vengeance upon every critic that gave him a bad review. He does this by murdering said critic in the same manner as the main character did in the Shakespearean play he starred in, and received the bad review from.
This is one hundred percent Vincent Price's film, he owns every second of screen time he's present…
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Review by Slig001 ★★★★½ 2
Theatre of Blood sees the great Vincent Price at his over the top best. His performance in this film is an exaggerated self parody, starring as Shakespearean actor Edward Lionheart as he takes revenge on the critics that ruined his career by murdering them in tribute to The Bard. The film riffs heavily on the earlier Abominable Dr Phibes - taking up a similar tone and plot progression, though this time really ramping up the absurd camp and black humour. Price is absolutely in his element here - taking the scenary chewing performance to preposterous new highs; his character acting out scenes from Shakespeare aswell as moonlighting as a campy chef, hairdresser, masseuse and more. The death scenes are varied…
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Review by Kevflix And Chill ★★★★ 5
Vincent Price performing Shakespeareand silencing his critics. This movie rocks. Creative kills abound in this revenge slasher+ as Edward Lionheartand his island of misfit toys reenact the murders from hisShakesperean repertory theater run, exacting those murders on the very critics who panned them. Loved the beheading scene but the trampoline sword duel 🤺 was 🔥. Tons of cheese, but this is all the better for it. A total blast to seePrice and Rigg, two icons performing together. Killer pick, Sam. Loved this.
More #SlasherSaturday reviews of Theater of Blood
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Degrees of Kevin Bacon: 2
1. Vincent Price and Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands
2. Johnny Depp and Kevin Bacon in Black Mass -
Review by 🇵🇱 Steve G 🐝 ★★★★★ 10
The World Is More Than Enough 2: Back To The 30 Countries (19/30 - United Kingdom)
One of the greatest British ensembles you will ever see in a film that starts with Michael Hordern warding off a gang of murderous squatters with his umbrella. I definitely picked the perfect film for the British leg of my May 30 Countries project.
Vincent Price was perfect for this role as well, wasn't he? If you look at his horror film career prior to Theatre Of Blood, the type of performances he almost always turned in were always of the more theatrical style. To say the very least. It almost felt as though his whole career in those kinds of films were one…
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Review by Helen_S ★★★½ 1
If this film had ended around the 50 minute mark I woulda been on here telling you how I didn't remember it being this great, this twisted and creative in its kills and that I loved it. Alas after that it just became way too comical for my tastes. If it had been like that all the way through fair enough, but for the first half to be so wonderfully dark and disturbing and then to turn so far left field I just didn't fully appreciate it. Reminds me a little of how I feel with From Dusk Till Dawn.
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