In the early 1970s, Vincent Price made two Dr. Phibes films that the fans adored. Much of the reason these films did so well were the many very creative and rather cool murders Phibes committed in the film. Phibes, who seemed to have died in a traffic accident, is actually alive and with much style and panache kills those who he thinks were responsible for his wife's death--using each of the ten plagues as a basis for the killings in the first film (though a few were mixed up--they should have read their Bible better). In the second, he just uses an amazing array of ways to kill. During this crusade, Phibes is accompanied by a beautiful mute girl and his weird clockwork automatons.

Here, in THEATER OF BLOOD, we have just about the exact same formula once again and the film was made just a year after the last Phibes film. Instead of revenge for his wife's death, it's revenge on theater critics who savaged his career--saying his Shakespeare performances were unoriginal and lacked creativity. So, after appearing to die, Price returns to kill off the critics one by one in the most devilish ways--all inspired by the plays of Shakespeare. And, instead of a mute girl and automatons, he's accompanied by his daughter (Diana Rigg) and a group of wacky homeless freaks who are his audience for each murder. In addition, just as in THE ABOMNIBLE DR. PHIBES, one of his intended victims does escape at the end--so you can tell that the writers chose to stick closely to this successful formula.

So let's talk about the film aesthetically as well as the "cool factor". Since the film is very derivative, it certainly can't be see as one of Price's best works, though the acting is quite competent and Price gets a chance to really ham it up when he creates scenes from Shakespeare. The role must have been a lot of fun for him. Now as for the "cool factor", this isn't the greatest horror film I've seen, that's for sure, and the ending was rather poor when Miss Rigg got inexplicably bonked on the head, but because of the creativity of the murders and how funny they were (yes, it's sort of a dark comedy),this was definitely a film that kept my interest despite its cheesiness. I also liked seeing Rigg in drag--she looked a lot like a Muppet character (you know, that guy with glasses in the Muppet band).

So for fans of horror and or Vincent Price, then this is a wonderful film. The artsy people out there that like high-brow films will most likely hate this film. Depending on which group you most likely gravitate towards will determine what you think of the film. I really liked it.

"Theater of Blood" is an absolutely superb comedy horror. It is stylish and witty, not to mention often quite shocking. The premise about a Shakespearean actor who kills off theatre critics inspired by famous Shakespeare death scenes-it is great fun in itself recognising what death scenes are what- is irresistible, and the murders are clever and disturbing even, particularly Meredith's(the grossest and the cleverest, though it was Chloe Moon I think who suffered most painfully) and when the woman tries to wake up her husband and his head falls right off. The inspired cast include Michael Hordern, the lovely Diana Rigg, Robert Morely and Harry Andrews, all do a fabulous job. The music is fabulous, the romantic music playing during the head decapitation is deliciously ironic. And of course the production values are excellent, the cinematography is skillful and the effects are ahead of their time. Add a dark, sophisticated and witty script and a superb climax you have an almost perfect film. But it was the performance of Vincent Price, an absolutely brilliant actor, that made the film so enjoyable; he not only plays an "inferior" actor with such superiority, but mixes comedy and tragedy with such skill and gusto even with those brilliant disguises. The part when he recites Hamlet and throws himself off the balcony is a definite highlight. Overall, I thought I wouldn't enjoy this, but I did. No, I loved it! 10/10 Bethany Cox

One of Vincent Price's best films is a black comedy that stars a whole slew of talented British players about a classical ham actor who is taking revenge on the critics who have panned his performances for years. It's really the kind of role any player would sell his soul to have, one where he can lose all restraints and feed on a winter's supply of scenery.

Price is the only American in the cast in this film set in London, but with his classical training and magnificent speaking voice it's not anything even a critic might find fault with.

One thing I do love are the names of the characters, you would think that Charles Dickens might have collaborated with Edgar Allan Poe had this been done a century earlier.

Price has saved each bad review he's gotten and dispatches the critics with a method from the play. Some of the Bard's work used are Julius Caesar, Troilus and Cressida, Titus Andronicus, and King Lear and others.

Diana Rigg plays Price's daughter and such worthy people as Jack Hawkins, Dennis Price, and Robert Morley are some of the critics. Morley's performance and method of shuffling off this mortal coil are the best in the film.

For those who like seeing the light side of Vincent Price, do not miss Theater of Blood.