The House That Dripped Blood
Tags: murder

Plot synopsis:
In The Cloak episode, temperamental horror film star Paul Henderson [Jon Pertwee] has rented the house for the duration of the filming of his latest vampire movie. Paul longs for the days when movie castles and wardrobes weren't made out of cheap materials, so he decides to go shopping for a real cloak. In the costume shop of Theo von Hartmann [Geoffrey Bayldon], Paul finds the perfect cloak, and Hartmann is only happy to give it to him for the paltry sum of 13 shillings. The problem is that the cloak does strange things when Paul puts it on. For example, he can't see himself in a mirror. And a strange compulsion makes him bite co-star Carla Lynde [Ingrid Pitt]in the neck. And then there's the problem of the fangs and keeping his feet on the ground. It appears that, come midnight, wearing the cloak turns him into a vampire. When he tries to explain about the cloak to Carla, she taunts him into wearing it in front of her in order to prove that there's nothing wrong with it. When the clock strikes midnight, just as Carla predicted, nothing happens. Then Paul notices that he's wearing the studio cape. Carla pulls out the real cape, drapes it around her shoulders, bares her fangs, and goes after Paul, saying that the other vampires were so impressed with his work that they wanted him to be one of them. [Synopsis by bj_kuehl]

Review: 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.One of the things I like most about this movie is the way the humor and horror COEXIST in the film.
Another anthology from horror studio Amicus, The House That Dripped Blood features four macabre tales written by Psycho author Robert Bloch, with a wraparound story in which Detective Inspector Holloway (John Bennett) investigates the mysterious disappearance of a famous horror movie-star and learns of several other cases all linked to a creepy old house.The first case is that of Charles Hillyer (Denholm Elliott), a horror novelist who moves into the house to write his next novel, Dominick the Strangler.
It's a solid way to kick off the film, with Elliot putting in a fine performance, and director Peter Duffell delivering plenty of suspense and chills, helped no end by Tom Adams as grinning loon Dominick, who looks convincingly deranged as he lurks in the shadows.Tale number two, Waxworks, is my least favourite, which I find surprising since it stars Peter Cushing, one of my all-time favourite horror actors.
Lee plays the frightened father of a young girl with a secret; Nyree Dawn Porter is the teacher who cannot understand what he is so scared of.For my money, the final story offers the most entertainment value, and here's why: a) the story is fun and delivers quite a few genuinely amusing moments (with a couple of neat in-jokes for horror fans), b) Ingrid Pitt's cleavage is fantastic, and c) it stars both Worzel Gummidge and The Crowman (Jon Pertwee and Geoffrey Bayldon AKA Catweazle).
Pertwee is wonderful as pompous horror actor Paul Henderson, who buys a cape from Bayldon for his latest role as a vampire; the only problem is that whenever he wears the cape, he becomes a vampire for real.Pertwee and Pitt pop up again as vampires in the last part of the wraparound tale to attack Holloway, who has payed a visit to the house against the advice of estate agent A.J. Stoker (John Bryans).
Peter Duffel directed this anthology film that stars John Bennett as a Scotland Yard Investigator looking into the disappearance of two films stars(played by "Doctor Who" star Jon Pertwee, and Ingrid Pitt) who were last seen in an old house they had let while filming a new movie.
When the Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Holloway (John Bennett) comes to a precinct to assume the investigation of the disappearance of the horror film actor Paul Henderson (Jon Pertwee), the local officer tells stories about dwellers of the old house rented by Henderson.
The skeptical Holloway decides to go to the house during the night and leans the fate of Henderson in a tragic way"The House That Dripped Blood" is an anthology from horror studio Amicus with the lead story and four segments, all of them engaging and entertaining.
Joss Ackland plays Cushing's rival but his performance is massively overshadowed by the late great Peter Cushing.The third story and easily the best sees Christopher Lee - my favourite horror actor of all time - move into the house with his daughter.
The House That Dripped Blood is a horror omnibus, featuring four stories that surround a creepy old house in the country and are being told to a Scotland Yard officer by an estate agent.This film is headlined by three well known stars of horror cinema; Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Ingrid Pitt, whom horror fans will recognise as one of Lee's co-stars in the greatest British horror film of all time; The Wicker Man.The first segment of the film, titled "Method For Murder" tells the story of a horror storywriter, whose creation; a strangler named "Dominic" is brought to life by his own imagination.
In a rare feature of early Seventies horror the technicalities of the movie are virtually flawless, from the faultless performances of the star-studded cast (featuring the legendary Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Ingrid Pitt) all the way to the superb direction and story telling courtesy of Peter Duffell and master of the macabre writer Robert Bloch (the author of the novel Psycho').
The only real complaints that one may have with The House That Dripped Blood' are the somewhat asinine plot-twists at the end of the first two segments and the predictable ending of the picture, but even these minor details fail to detract from the overall viewing enjoyment.The first segment, entitled Method for Murder', tells the story of Charles Hillyer (Denholm Elliott), a horror author who rents the creepy house while he works on his latest novel.
This slightly comical and light-hearted approach to the final segment is in essence an adequate and almost natural way of ending the picture even if it lets down the film when compared to the earlier examples of suspense-driven horror.To sum up, The House That Dripped Blood' is one of the greatest horror anthologies that features an incredible cast, great stories and above par direction.
Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee (Cushing and Lee are two of my favorite actors ever), as well as Denholm Elliott and the ravishing Ingrid Pitt star in this film - so which true Horror fan could possibly afford to miss it?
The story is creepy and macabre throughout and the performances are entirelly very good.In the second story, "Waxworks", retired businessman Phillip Grayson (Peter Cushing) moves into the house, and suddenly feels drawn to a mysterious Wax Museum in the nearby town...
This ingenious segment alone makes the film a must-see for every true Horror-fan.In the fourth segment, Horror-actor Paul Henderson (Jon Pertwee) moves into the house with his sexy mistress/co-star Carla (Ingrid Pitt).
The inhabitants were: author Charles Hillyer (Denholm Elliott (with hair!)), who gets haunted by one of his own creations; Philip Grayson (Peter Cushing), who gets a little too close to a wax statue; John Reid (Christopher Lee), whose daughter's cuteness is apparently a facade; and actor Paul Henderson (Jon Pertwee), on the verge of getting a little too much into character."The House That Dripped Blood" is actually worth seeing (well duh; it stars Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee).
In "Sweets to the Sweet," Christopher Lee (Mr. Tall, Dark and Gruesome, who sadly shares no screen time in this film with Cushing) is the house's next occupant; a widower who lives in mortal fear of his pretty young daughter (the remarkable child actress Chloe Franks)...and, as it turns out, for good reason!
A Scotland Yard investigator looks into four mysterious cases involving an unoccupied house: 1) A writer encounters a strangler of his own creation, 2) Two men are obsessed with a wax figure of a woman from their past, 3) A little girl displays an interest in witchcraft, and 4) A film actor discovers a cloak which gives him a vampire's powers.Amicus made numerous anthologies in the 1970s, and this is one of them.
A Gruesome strangler looking disarmingly like Boris Karloff's creation of Frankenstein  Butter-wouldn't- melt- in- mouth child witches (no of the Harry Potter school of witchcraft!) A visit to the waxworks which always manages to end in tears and B grade horror actors whose egos far outweigh any actual talent as portrayed by one of my all time favourites Jon Pertwee  all this in one movie, four very different stories based around one house!
Peter Cushing features in the second story, 'Waxworks' as a man trying to escape his past by moving to the quiet country house  he is tormented by his strange fascination with a mysterious woman  a memory he almost conquers until a visit to the local waxworks museum (as all small towns have!) and the arrival of an old friend and rival from the past!
This was arguably the most complete of Amicus's horror anthologies, mainly because it boasts an exceptional cast and a linking mechanism which effectively compliments a largely enjoyable set of associated stories.The whole film centres on a mysterious country house which has a habit of killing off it's inhabitants and the premise of a missing horror film (Jon Pertwee)forms the basis for the whole film, including the well-done climax.Story 1 is effectively eerie and involves an author's fictionally created maniacal killer coming to life; Story 2 harbours the weakest script about a wax museum, though Peter Cushing handles the contrived material well; Story 3 is a superbly performed and well-built-up story of a mysterious girl (Chloe Franks)who enacts harm to her overly-protective father (Christopher Lee); and Story 4 takes up the tale of the missing horror film actor who gets a cloak that turns him into a very authentic vampire.
This is surprisingly effective given the jokey, over-the-top premise, and Jon Pertwee (in a role originally intended for Christopher Lee) and Ingrid Pitt show a good on-screen chemistry.This was one of Peter Duffell's first projects as a director and he keeps the film going at a decent pace and stylishly enhances the horrific elements of the script.
"The House That Dripped Blood" may be similar to a lot of anthologies in that it is somewhat uneven (this viewer liked "Waxworks" (thanks to Cushing) and "Cloak" the most), but it's well-made overall, and pacing is fairly good up until the coda where Bennett comes face to face with terror.If you dig other Amicus portmanteau pictures, you will likely find this to your satisfaction as well.Seven out of 10..
There are Four Stories in this Amicus Anthology, a Horror Sub-Genre that was Popular in its Era.A Very Good Cast including Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Denholm Elliott, Jon Pertwee, and Ingrid Pitt are Interspersed Throughout the Stories.
The latter infuses the film with a great deal of style which is not so common with this type of film and, frankly, it makes one regret the fact that he wished to distance himself from the genre (though more so as not to be typecast rather than because he felt it was beneath him).Now to the individual stories themselves: "Method For Murder": the opening segment does not offer any real surprises but, to make up for this, it's quietly suspenseful and appropriately creepy at times (Tom Adams' 'fictitious' villain looking like the long-lost brother of Boris Karloff from THE OLD DARK HOUSE [1932]); also, it ends with a satisfactory DIABOLIQUE-type twist, and features a fairly intense role for Denholm Elliott in the lead.
That's all we need out of it, really."Waxworks": for the second story we are introduced to a curiously romantic mood which is quite unusual for this type of film; Peter Cushing and Joss Ackland are both excellent (as well as impeccably dressed) in their roles of two jilted lovers of a woman who continues to obsess them even after such a long time, and whose friendly rivalry can only lead them blindly and inexorably to a fate that is literally worse than death; an ominous hallucination scene with Peter Cushing is quite well done in view of the limited resources at hand, and Ackland's inexplicable inability - or unwillingness - to leave town somewhat recalls the house-trapped aristocrats of Bunuel's THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL (1962)."Sweets To The Sweet": this is perhaps the finest episode of all - with his ambiguous role here, Christopher Lee continues to demonstrate his versatility and he is matched by an understanding Nyree Dawn Porter and the deceptive innocence of Chloe Franks (who appears as Lee's daughter).
"The Cloak": a wacky but oddly reverent vampire tale (that still manages to debunk many of the myths attached to the subgenre, while inventing some new ones!) which takes in some wonderful digs at exploitation cinema and, at one point, Christopher Lee himself!; Jon Pertwee is marvelous as the campy horror star who gets more than he bargained for when he attempts to bring a measure of authenticity to his work; Ingrid Pitt sends up her image nicely though her role is somewhat subsidiary to the proceedings; Geoffrey Bayldon (made up to look like Ernest Thesiger) also has a memorably quirky bit; the 'silent-cinema' style of the ending was a pretty audacious one to pull on an audience, I suppose - and, while some of the humor comes off as heavy-handed a' la THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS (1967) or THEATRE OF BLOOD (1973), it's also rather infectious and certainly ends the film on a high (and highly unusual) note!
Peter Cushing,"Black Jack",'80 gives a great performance as one of the person's living in the home and even Christopher Lee,"Curse of the Crimson Altar",68 and his little daughter, Chloe Franks,(Jane Reid) make a wonderful exciting story together, his daughter for some reason loves to read WITCHCRAFT BOOKS!
The best episodes of this are the first with Denholm Elliot playing a horror writer stalked by  a character from his novel in the works ( a perfect example of the acting pulling this out of the merely pedestrian); the third, with Christopher Lee as a man terrified of his own daughter and the final episode with the late great Jon Pertwee as a pompous horror film star who gets more than just a new role on his latest project.
Of course as an adult the Amicus anthology films don`t have much of an impact but they were good at the time and I guess this is one of the better efforts Story 1 ) Rather corny but it is somewhat amusing watching Tom Adams camp it up and it does contain the classic quote " My name is Dominick "Story 2 ) Despite the presence of Peter Cushing and Joss Ackland the actors do little with their roles because their characters are so sketchilly written .
"Not exactly." Denholm Elliott plays a mystery writer whose latest creation, a mad strangler, haunts him at night; Peter Cushing, mourning the demise of his one great love, finds her replica in a waxworks museum in town; Christopher Lee is afraid of his own daughter, an angelic-seeming child with an interest in witchcraft; and Jon Pertwee is a ham actor of vampire films who becomes a real bloodsucker whenever he wears a vintage cloak.
Inquiring at the local police station, the inspector learns the house's history of multiple odd occurrences.*Special Stars- Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Denholm Elliott, Jon Pertwee *Theme- Old houses in England have a long history, possibly ghosts, and influences beyond the grave.*Trivia/location/goofs- British, Many short stories anthology revolving around this house's various occupants.
Price gained USA notoriety playing in the 3-D film, "The House of Wax' with an early film role for Charlse Bronson.*Emotion- An enjoyable series of stories putting England's best horror actors through their paces, but my most enjoyable one was a comedic tale with Jon Pertwee in it as a cowardly reluctant vampire.
The other thing that really stands out is the cast, which is comprised of a slew of Brit Horror all-stars, including Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and the luscious Ingrid Pitt, along with Indiana Jones' best buddy and a former Dr. Who.The drawback of the movie, in my opinion, is that it is often very "stage bound".
Amicus would provide better framework stories in some of their later anthologies."Method for Murder" is the first segment with Denholm Elliot as a horror writer with a case of writer's block, who rents the house for inspiration and gets more than he bargained for.
Good use of the point-of-view twist: is the writer getting mentally ill...or (as the ending shows) his trophy wife wants her lover to play along with the husband's phobias to drive him mad & secure his estates...yet will the scheming bimbo survive to enjoy the fruit of her ingenious plan?In the second segment two long time lost friends get together in the same secluded old house but cannot seem to help visiting a bizarre horror museum featuring the wax statue of the long lost love of their youth, which had once separated them.
Probably the least successful of the Amicus product up to and possibly including 1973's The Vault of Horror.A very languid production sees three segments unfold without any real sense of urgency, stars like Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee not doing their best work in a film that's less than their worth.
Only the third tale has any real, and a great cast (Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Ingrid Pitt and Denholm Elliott to name but a few) are sadly wasted.The first tale has an interesting premise, albeit one that has been dealt with many times before and since, in which a writer is haunted by his own character, but the tale is let down by a disappointing twist and a final few seconds which seem to make no sense whatsoever.The second tale introduces Peter Cushing (looking like an aged Jason King) who, shortly after moving into the titular house, comes across a waxwork museum containing an effigy of his dead lover.
Add to that the acting talents of Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Denholm Elliott, Joss Ackland, Ingrid Pitt and Jon Pertwee and you've got a movie that can be enjoyed again and again.
Now, a Scotland Yard inspect is here to get to the bottom of things.In Method for Murder, a horror writer (Denholm Elliott, Marcus Brody from the Indiana Jones films) and his wife are haunted by the villain of the novel he's currently writing.Then, in Waxworks, Peter Cushing and Joss Acklund (the bad guy from Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey) all in love with a mannequin.Sweets to the Sweet is all about a widower (Christopher Lee!) battling a governess over how to best raise his daughter, who may or may not have evil powers.Finally, in The Cloak, we learn that Paul Henderson (Jon Pertwee, the third Doctor Who) found an evil cloak that transformed him into a vampire.
This story works on many levels but mainly because it made me wanna know more about what happened before with the mother and what happened going forward with Jane.The last segment surrounds a flamboyant and arrogant actor (Jon Pertwee) who moves into the old house whilst filming his latest horror movie.