The House That Dripped Blood (1971)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Peter Duffell

Writer:

Robert Bloch (written by)

Release Date:

February 1971 (UK)

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 | Witchcraft | Vampire | Anthology | Waxfigure

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:

Vincent Price was first offered the part of Paul Henderson.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The ax the waxworks owner uses to kill Philip Grayson binds like it is cardboard or a fake ax.

Quotes:

Paul Henderson: I'm Paul Henderson.
Theo von Hartmann: Who?
Paul Henderson: The great film actor.
Theo von Hartmann: I'm sorry. But I have not heard of such person.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Robert Bloch doing his legendary thing.

The script of this ghoulish horror anthology is Robert Bloch at his diabolical best. I only saw this recently; I've wanted to see it for quite some time, but circumstances conspired, and I had to wait for the DVD release. But it was worth it!

This film is cartoonish throughout and constantly winks at the audience, but it also has an unwavering serious side. It's very sparing on special effects (and saves most of what little there is for the last segment), and is much more dependent on its actors. From the beginning, there is an outrageous over-the-top quality that is very reassuring--it's confident that it will deliver the horror its audience wants to see. Even the funniest segment (starring John Pertwee) manages to be rather disturbing. The box says "Rated PG - For Scary Images," and I must say, the sight of a vampiric Ingrid Pitt floating magically through the air towards one of her victims is a very scary image.

A surprisingly effective horror film from the early 70's that still packs a punch today. I have seen the other Amicus anthology films, and they're good, but this, for some reason, is the instant favorite.