Weekly Film- Theatre of Blood

Theatre of Blood in a 1973 campy horror comedy about an Actor who because murders different reviewers as they has given him poor reviews and he does these in ways that were in Shakespeare plays. It is directed by Douglas Hickox and stars Vincent Price as the murderous actor Edward Lionheart, Diana Rigg as his daughter Edwina Lionheart.

The structure of the film and the way it is shot and made is all very traditional. The films narrative is chronological and there are are two parallel stories going one. One with Lionheart killing various critics and the other of the critics trying to work out what is going on and who is responsible. There is one use of a flashback where we see what has provoked Lionheart to do this.  

The camera work in this film is quite interesting as it uses a wide variety of shots. The opening of the film shows Lionheart in his classic Shakespearean roles and it is filmed to look like 1930's films which shows the audience how vast Lionhearts career would have been and how his character is a very established actor. Other shots that are used include lots of close ups in the murder scenes which makes you feel as though you are there and can add the the wackiness of the film as bright red blood comes spewing out of people. Sometimes the camera is also positioned in ways that is also different to other films as we get a worms eye view and are looking up at action that is happening and it makes you feel as though you can not do anything to stop it. Zooms are also used in the film at moments of realisation for a character. 

Colour and editing in the film is also very interesting as sometimes it is hyper real and lots of bright colours are used to take us out of reality. In some of the scenes as well the editing is quite fast paced and overall adds to the action happening on screen.

The film is quite a typical horror film filled with gallons of blood and gory methods of death. It never takes itself to seriously and has fun along the way. This is evident in one of my favourite scenes in the film. In this scene we see the comeuppance of one of the critics, played by Robert Morley, who loves his two pet poodles and this murder is inspired by one from Shakespeare most bloody plat, Titus Andronicus. The scene is a very comic one. A tracking shot is used to show Morley's character looking around for his dogs and his performance is very funny with the right level of eccentricity. The twist i  the scene is very effective and also shows the tone of the film brilliantly making the audicne laugh but also feel slightly uneasy. The end of the scene is also very effective with the use if camera angles zooming in on Morley while he is being tortured and then at Lionheart  looking down on him showing that he has the higher status and the backing music used also helps create tension and music also helps build the tension throughout the film as well. 

The film was also adapted into  a stage play in 2005 where Jim Broadbent played Lionheart and Diana Riggs own daughter, Rachel Stirling, played Edwina.

The critical response when the film is very positive and it is considered to be a cult classic film having a score of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and Vincent Price who played Lionheart said this was his favourite film that he made as he always wanted to perform Shakespeare but was known for his roles in horror films and in this film he got to combine the two genres. It also made about $1,000,000 but the budget is budget is not really known.

Overall this is a very fun film with very good performances throughout and pays great homage to Shakespeare. It mixes comedy with mystery and is a cult classic.