The House That Dripped Blood (1971)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Peter Duffell

Writer:

Robert Bloch (written by)

Release Date:

March 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery

Tagline:

Vampires! Voodoo! Vixens! Victims!

Plot:

A Scotland Yard investigator looks into four mysterious cases involving an unoccupied house: 1) A writer encounters a strangler of his own creation...

Plot Keywords:

Actor | Vampire | Witchcraft | Hunchback | Writing

Cast

John Bennett	...	Det. Insp. Holloway
John Bryans	...	A.J. Stoker
John Malcolm	...	Sgt. Martin
Denholm Elliott	...	Charles Hillyer (segment "Method for Murder")
Joanna Dunham	...	Alice Hillyer (segment "Method for Murder")
Tom Adams	...	Richard / Dominic (segment "Method for Murder")
Robert Lang	...	Dr. Andrews (segment "Method for Murder")
Peter Cushing	...	Philip Grayson (segment "Waxworks")
Joss Ackland	...	Neville Rogers (segment "Waxworks")
Wolfe Morris	...	Waxworks Proprietor (segment "Waxworks")
Christopher Lee	...	John Reid (segment "Sweets to the Sweet")
Nyree Dawn Porter	...	Ann Norton (segment "Sweets to the Sweet")
Chloe Franks	...	Jane Reid (segment "Sweets to the Sweet")
Jon Pertwee	...	Paul Henderson (segment "The Cloak")
Ingrid Pitt	...	Carla Lynde (segment "The Cloak")

MPAA:

Rated PG for scary images. (2002 re-rating)

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Germany:16 | Iceland:16 | Norway:16 | UK:12 (video rating) (2003) | USA:GP (original rating) | USA:PG (re-rating) (2002) | UK:X (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Community Hall, Weybridge, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

Amicus Productions

Trivia:

Peter Cushing tried to get out of his contract so that he was not away from his sick wife, but he had to carry on.

Goofs:

Continuity: Paul Henderson's coffin opens on the right side to attack Inspector Holloway. Later, the coffin opens on its left.

Quotes:

Charles Hillyer: It's Dominick! I saw him!
Alice Hillyer: You mean you imagained him?
Charles Hillyer: No, I mean I saw him. Just last night before you came back from the theater... And again... just now!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Stephen King's World of Horror (1986) (TV)

A rather good collection of tales.

This movie is another horror anthology. It is rather good, but it could have used a bit more. I compare it to "Doctor Terror's House of Horrors", though in this one the title fits. It has four stories all somewhat connected by a house. The first tale is about a writer and his wife moving in. He creates a killer for his latest novel and then he starts seeing the killer roaming around in his house. This one is sort of predictable, but it does throw a few twists in the end. The next story is a bit more unpredictable, and you really do not know where the heck it is going. This one features Peter Cushing and was probably my favorite of the bunch. This guy buys the house, but it is not the house that takes center stage, but a rather strange wax museum. The third story starts out rather good and features Christopher Lee. This one has him as a rather bizarre dad who seems awfully protective of his daughter. The problem is that once you know what is going on the story does not end soon enough. It drags a bit leading to a very predictable conclusion. Then the final tale concerns an actor buying a cloak from an odd little shop. The actor really gets what he paid for. Then there is a small story about an officer who is seen throughout trying to find out what happened to this actor and then an explanation of why these things happened. Though I was not very satisfied with the explanation as I don't think it really explained Cushing's story much at all. I think they needed a bit more back story for that one. All in all though it was an interesting set of stories.