It's obvious that veteran oscar-winning actor Ray milland wanted to keep working as long as he can, and with the success of "Love Story", he was everywhere, particularly in campy horror movies. In fact, next to Peter Cushing, Vincent Price and Christopher Lee, Milland probably appeared in just as many science fiction and horror films as they did. Here, he's the patriarch of a wealthy family who has an isolated country house and has invited comic Frankie Howerd there for a weekend for mysterious reasons, and with the whole slew of wacky relatives and other weird guests, there seems to be several attempts on various people's lives, allegedly by a crazy mother who gives Norman Bates' mom some rivalry in the wacko department.
This is a fun but average horror comedy, filled with attempted butcher knife murders (one which could have slit Howerd down the middle), and it's about the hint of horror, not the actual blood and guts. It's pretty obvious why Howerd has been invited, but who cares, because it's about everything going on and the suspense building that makes it fun.
The mixture of comedy and grand guignol has worked a lot of times over the years, and when the horror is subtle but the comedy over the top, you end up with fun results that are perfect for a small darkened room and someone to share the scares with. I can see that Howerd is a comic actor who may not be everybody's cup of poisoned tea, but he reacts hysterically to the things going on around him. Milland is imperious and the more uppity he gets, the funnier he is. There's nobody of note in the featured cast but they do pretty good jobs with the material given. This is an old fashioned old dark house film, a subject matter that has stood the test of time, and even though it's predictable, there are still plenty of surprises to make it fresh.
This is a fun but average horror comedy, filled with attempted butcher knife murders (one which could have slit Howerd down the middle), and it's about the hint of horror, not the actual blood and guts. It's pretty obvious why Howerd has been invited, but who cares, because it's about everything going on and the suspense building that makes it fun.
The mixture of comedy and grand guignol has worked a lot of times over the years, and when the horror is subtle but the comedy over the top, you end up with fun results that are perfect for a small darkened room and someone to share the scares with. I can see that Howerd is a comic actor who may not be everybody's cup of poisoned tea, but he reacts hysterically to the things going on around him. Milland is imperious and the more uppity he gets, the funnier he is. There's nobody of note in the featured cast but they do pretty good jobs with the material given. This is an old fashioned old dark house film, a subject matter that has stood the test of time, and even though it's predictable, there are still plenty of surprises to make it fresh.