Madhouse starts 12 years ago at a New Years Eve party being held by famous actor Paul Toombes (Vincent Price) best know for playing the character Dr. Death in a series of horror films to promote his new film & announce his engagement to Ellen (Julie Crosthwaite). However slimy porn producer Oliver Quayle (Robert Quarry) lets on that Ellen used to star in porn films, something which rather distresses Toombes. Later on & alone in her room Ellen is attacked & decapitated, Toombes has a nervous breakdown & gives up his role as Dr. Death as Ellen's murder remains unsolved. Jump to 'Present Day London' & Toombes is persuaded by his close friend Herbert Flay (Peter Cushing) to come out of retirement & play Dr. Death again for a TV series to be produced by Quayle, Toombes begins filming the series but soon cast, crew & various pretty women start turning up dead & Toombes is the prime suspect...
This British film was a co-production between American International & Amicus starring two horror legends was made at a time when the quaint classic British Gothic horror film was on the decline soon to be replaced by shocking big budget Hollywood fare such as The Exorcist (1973), directed by Jim Clark I have to say I rather enjoyed this camp mix of horror & humour. The script by Ken Levison & Greg Morrison was very loosely based on the novel 'Devilday' by Angus Hall & doesn't seen to take itself too seriously, the basic murder mystery storyline is a little predictable & the killer's identity is too obvious but there's still much here to enjoy. The whole film within the filming of a film is always fun & Price's character being rude to the director & his co-stars raised a smile from me. The murders are alright & with Madhouse you can see that filmmakers were starting to push the boundaries of acceptability with scenes showing pitchforks through throats, decapitated heads & people impaled on swords, while relatively tame by todays standards this was probably quite strong stuff back in 1974, there is also the noticeable fact that most of the victims are young, pretty girls who would become the staple diet for any self respecting killer throughout the slasher craze during the 70's & 80's. The film moves along at a nice enough pace, the character's are good if a little clichéd & stereotypical while some of the dialogue is bizarre in a funny camp sort of way so I'll cut it some slack. Overall Madhouse is good, if undemanding, fun that I enjoyed despite the lacklustre comments from other's.
Director Clark does alright here, Madhouse looks nice enough without being particularly memorable. Price & Cushing seem to be having a blast here & even though Cushing doesn't feature too much at least they share a number of scenes together. There's some gore here although not too graphic, there's a decapitated head, someone gets a pitchfork stuck through their throat, someone is strangled & then hanged, someone is crushed, people are impaled on swords & there's a bloody skeleton at the end. There's a nice moment during a party scene when Quarry wears his costume from Count Yorga, Vampire (1970) & The Return of Count Yorga (1971) in which he played the title role while in a reversal of roles Cushing dresses up like Count Dracula even though he used to play Van Helsing in the Hammer studios Dracula series of films.
Technically the film is fine & looks OK, it has that 70's horror film feel & atmosphere to it which I've always been a big fan of. The acting is pretty good from a solid cast including Price who sings the awful closing song that plays over the end credits, Cushing, Quarry, Linda Hayden while Boris Karloff & Basil Rathbone both appear during clips taken from The Raven (1963) & Tales of Terror (1962) respectively. It was really odd to see Michael Parkinson in this, most won't know who he is but he's a talk-show legend here in the UK & still presents a weekly chat-show even now in 2007, he just looks a lot older.
Madhouse is a fun little horror flick, everyone is having fun including me which is the most important thing. I liked it a lot although many don't, if your a Brit horror, Price or Cushing fan then it's a must, if not then there's probably not much here in interest you. Definitely worth a watch in my opinion.
This British film was a co-production between American International & Amicus starring two horror legends was made at a time when the quaint classic British Gothic horror film was on the decline soon to be replaced by shocking big budget Hollywood fare such as The Exorcist (1973), directed by Jim Clark I have to say I rather enjoyed this camp mix of horror & humour. The script by Ken Levison & Greg Morrison was very loosely based on the novel 'Devilday' by Angus Hall & doesn't seen to take itself too seriously, the basic murder mystery storyline is a little predictable & the killer's identity is too obvious but there's still much here to enjoy. The whole film within the filming of a film is always fun & Price's character being rude to the director & his co-stars raised a smile from me. The murders are alright & with Madhouse you can see that filmmakers were starting to push the boundaries of acceptability with scenes showing pitchforks through throats, decapitated heads & people impaled on swords, while relatively tame by todays standards this was probably quite strong stuff back in 1974, there is also the noticeable fact that most of the victims are young, pretty girls who would become the staple diet for any self respecting killer throughout the slasher craze during the 70's & 80's. The film moves along at a nice enough pace, the character's are good if a little clichéd & stereotypical while some of the dialogue is bizarre in a funny camp sort of way so I'll cut it some slack. Overall Madhouse is good, if undemanding, fun that I enjoyed despite the lacklustre comments from other's.
Director Clark does alright here, Madhouse looks nice enough without being particularly memorable. Price & Cushing seem to be having a blast here & even though Cushing doesn't feature too much at least they share a number of scenes together. There's some gore here although not too graphic, there's a decapitated head, someone gets a pitchfork stuck through their throat, someone is strangled & then hanged, someone is crushed, people are impaled on swords & there's a bloody skeleton at the end. There's a nice moment during a party scene when Quarry wears his costume from Count Yorga, Vampire (1970) & The Return of Count Yorga (1971) in which he played the title role while in a reversal of roles Cushing dresses up like Count Dracula even though he used to play Van Helsing in the Hammer studios Dracula series of films.
Technically the film is fine & looks OK, it has that 70's horror film feel & atmosphere to it which I've always been a big fan of. The acting is pretty good from a solid cast including Price who sings the awful closing song that plays over the end credits, Cushing, Quarry, Linda Hayden while Boris Karloff & Basil Rathbone both appear during clips taken from The Raven (1963) & Tales of Terror (1962) respectively. It was really odd to see Michael Parkinson in this, most won't know who he is but he's a talk-show legend here in the UK & still presents a weekly chat-show even now in 2007, he just looks a lot older.
Madhouse is a fun little horror flick, everyone is having fun including me which is the most important thing. I liked it a lot although many don't, if your a Brit horror, Price or Cushing fan then it's a must, if not then there's probably not much here in interest you. Definitely worth a watch in my opinion.