Frankie Howerd was enjoying something of a career renaissance in the early '70's, thanks to 'Up Pompeii!', going on to star in three feature length spin-offs, the last of which was 'Up The Front!' in 1973. Also that year he starred in this curio, a delightfully old fashioned comedy thriller in the mold of 'The Cat And The Canary'.
Howerd plays 'Foster Twelvetrees', a ham Shakespearian actor invited to give a performance at the house of the sinister Henderson family. Somewhere on the premises is buried treasure, and someone is determined to find it - even if it means committing murder.
As you'd expect in a Frankie Howerd movie, the saucy jokes come thick and fast. But the reason why I've given this unusual British film a ten out of ten rating is because it expertly mixes comedy with terror. The shot of a defaced poster of Twelvetrees just before the opening credits is accompanied by a blood-curdling scream - perfectly setting the tone for what follows. The scene in the snake house, the live puppet show, and Twelvetrees almost being butchered with a meat cleaver by an insane old woman are unusually strong by comedy standards. Credit for this must not only go to the underrated director Peter Sykes, but writers Clive Exton and Terry Nation. The latter had written for Tony Hancock a decade earlier, as well as creating the Daleks for 'Dr.Who' so he knew all about scaring audiences.
The presence of Ray Milland adds class to the film and marks it out from the other British comedies around at the time. My favourite supporting character, though, is played by Hugh Burden, muttering 'swine!' under his breath each time he claps eyes on Twelvetrees. 'Park' came out on Network D.V.D. some time ago, and I would unhesitatingly recommend it to people even if they weren't fans of Mr.Howerd.
Howerd plays 'Foster Twelvetrees', a ham Shakespearian actor invited to give a performance at the house of the sinister Henderson family. Somewhere on the premises is buried treasure, and someone is determined to find it - even if it means committing murder.
As you'd expect in a Frankie Howerd movie, the saucy jokes come thick and fast. But the reason why I've given this unusual British film a ten out of ten rating is because it expertly mixes comedy with terror. The shot of a defaced poster of Twelvetrees just before the opening credits is accompanied by a blood-curdling scream - perfectly setting the tone for what follows. The scene in the snake house, the live puppet show, and Twelvetrees almost being butchered with a meat cleaver by an insane old woman are unusually strong by comedy standards. Credit for this must not only go to the underrated director Peter Sykes, but writers Clive Exton and Terry Nation. The latter had written for Tony Hancock a decade earlier, as well as creating the Daleks for 'Dr.Who' so he knew all about scaring audiences.
The presence of Ray Milland adds class to the film and marks it out from the other British comedies around at the time. My favourite supporting character, though, is played by Hugh Burden, muttering 'swine!' under his breath each time he claps eyes on Twelvetrees. 'Park' came out on Network D.V.D. some time ago, and I would unhesitatingly recommend it to people even if they weren't fans of Mr.Howerd.