Dehydrator
11-08-2001, 03:41 PM
It's Vincent Price in an early close-to-slasher movie. Any questions?
I might bash german censors for banning lots of great stuff but I gotta give credit to german Television. Lots of little gems like this in the middle of the night lately. This movie stars Vincent Price and Peter Cushing all in one, I guess it's pretty much a must see for all of their fans. Here's the plot:
Price stars as an ex-horror movie star. He played the infamous Dr. Death until someone beheaded his cheating wife at a party. Price fell under suspicion and was in hiding for some time. Now his closest friend ( Cushing ) plans a revival of Dr. Death movies and who other will be casted than Price itself. As soon as the movie starts to get filmed, someone masked as Dr. Death goes on a killing spree. Guess who's the main suspect.
A good old creepy horror movie, cheesy to the core and a heartly recommodation for me. This movie could have kicked even more ass if it didn't became so damm ridicolous in the last 15 minutes where someone gets devoured by house-spiders in like 4 seconds. You've got to be even more arachnophobic than me to believe this. But all in all, the movie delivers, making me question why Halloween is labeld "first slasher movie". This movie has lots of dark and eerie stalk sequences and even the final monologue by the killer ( the whodunit isn't too clever though ).
Fans of hammer movies will certainly have a blast with it, even if this isn't a hammer movie. Fans of Price as well, he's on top of his game here, swallowing scenery to no extend and even plays a very different character than the ones he's been playing for a long time ( pure evil assholes ). You don't know if Price is really mentally ill and is killing all of this people but in his role here, he looks like a man who's been through a lot in his life. He's very human here actually and makes you feel for him, even if you have no idea if he is the killer. His reactions to what goes down around him are believeable and I rooted for him all the way.
Cushing, on the other hand, hasn't got too much to do but he's not playing a Van Helsing kind of character here. He's also way beyond from a role like, say Dr. Terror. This is definitely Price's movie but Cushing gives his best with the little he's given. I really find it odd to see two horror icons in one movie, acting completely out of their trademarks.
Still, the movie goes to shit in the last act, deep shit. The ending feels rushed and out of place, the villans demise is completely ridicolous. But he sure is creepy when he's wearing the Dr. Death mask. Aaaah, I wish someone made a Dr. Death movie series in real life. Maybe these fictional series are to be taken as some sort of parody on Price's ( or Cushing's ) career, I don't know.
Check it out if you like Price but be warned. THE ENDING IS SHIT!!
The overall quality of MADHOUSE won't let me rate this any lower than 7/10
I might bash german censors for banning lots of great stuff but I gotta give credit to german Television. Lots of little gems like this in the middle of the night lately. This movie stars Vincent Price and Peter Cushing all in one, I guess it's pretty much a must see for all of their fans. Here's the plot:
Price stars as an ex-horror movie star. He played the infamous Dr. Death until someone beheaded his cheating wife at a party. Price fell under suspicion and was in hiding for some time. Now his closest friend ( Cushing ) plans a revival of Dr. Death movies and who other will be casted than Price itself. As soon as the movie starts to get filmed, someone masked as Dr. Death goes on a killing spree. Guess who's the main suspect.
A good old creepy horror movie, cheesy to the core and a heartly recommodation for me. This movie could have kicked even more ass if it didn't became so damm ridicolous in the last 15 minutes where someone gets devoured by house-spiders in like 4 seconds. You've got to be even more arachnophobic than me to believe this. But all in all, the movie delivers, making me question why Halloween is labeld "first slasher movie". This movie has lots of dark and eerie stalk sequences and even the final monologue by the killer ( the whodunit isn't too clever though ).
Fans of hammer movies will certainly have a blast with it, even if this isn't a hammer movie. Fans of Price as well, he's on top of his game here, swallowing scenery to no extend and even plays a very different character than the ones he's been playing for a long time ( pure evil assholes ). You don't know if Price is really mentally ill and is killing all of this people but in his role here, he looks like a man who's been through a lot in his life. He's very human here actually and makes you feel for him, even if you have no idea if he is the killer. His reactions to what goes down around him are believeable and I rooted for him all the way.
Cushing, on the other hand, hasn't got too much to do but he's not playing a Van Helsing kind of character here. He's also way beyond from a role like, say Dr. Terror. This is definitely Price's movie but Cushing gives his best with the little he's given. I really find it odd to see two horror icons in one movie, acting completely out of their trademarks.
Still, the movie goes to shit in the last act, deep shit. The ending feels rushed and out of place, the villans demise is completely ridicolous. But he sure is creepy when he's wearing the Dr. Death mask. Aaaah, I wish someone made a Dr. Death movie series in real life. Maybe these fictional series are to be taken as some sort of parody on Price's ( or Cushing's ) career, I don't know.
Check it out if you like Price but be warned. THE ENDING IS SHIT!!
The overall quality of MADHOUSE won't let me rate this any lower than 7/10