One of the four Mexican horrors that Boris Karloff made in the year that he died; all of them are pretty bad but Karloff's presence at least means that they deserve a cursory glance from the horror fan. DANCE OF DEATH is a muddled movie which has, as its basis, one of those clichéd "reading of the will" type plots, set in a typically spooky old mansion, but which also throws in about half a dozen other plot elements as well to try and keep things interesting. However, it doesn't really work.
Things kick off with the discovery of an eyeless corpse - ie. an actress with a bit of blood splashed on her face. This is as gory as the film gets, by the way. Via a quick jump-cut we are immediately introduced to Boris Karloff, who soon snuffs it - or so it seems. It's actually quite sad to watch an obviously close to death Karloff in this film, to see how frail and ill-looking he looked at the very end. By this time he was half-dead anyway and apparently one of his lungs had collapsed, but like a trooper he kept on working till the (bitter end). Still, it's pleasing to watch Karloff in a movie again and he's invariably the best actor of the bunch.
The rest of the cast are instantly forgettable Mexican faces, forgettable due to their amateurish and wooden acting skills. The only one of any note is a woman called Julissa (just one name), who is at least partially memorable but only for her good looks. She was also in two other Karloff films of this time. Also it's rather obvious that Karloff's scenes were actually filmed in America while the rest were in Mexico due to the difference of film clarity and the sets used.
After Karloff's death, his sinister goateed doctor makes everybody wait before they hear the reading of the will. It is at this moment that people begin to die, killed by Karloff's apparently animated toys. One woman is brutally stabbed by the figure of a dancer, another man throttled by a knight, an obese victim shot in the eyes by two miniature cannons. All deaths are executed clumsily so they don't have much impact. While this is going on, the young police inspector hero is lying around somewhere sleeping while his girlfriend is in peril!
The influences on this movie are clear. They're obviously trying to emulate some of Corman's Poe films starring Vincent Price, with less impressive effects, it has to be said. This led to the credit "based on a story by Edgar Allen Poe" appearing on the video box I have. At other times we see Karloff playing the organ, scenes which resemble THE BLACK CAT made 33 years earlier. Except there, the music was haunting and mournful, and here, it's screeching and awful!
This is a very low budget movie, with the direction on the amateurish side. The camera-work is boring and inept (at one point the cameraman's shadow appears on a table) and the editing particularly confusing; scenes jump from one to another directly after a line of dialogue has just been said; no pauses or dissolves, just a sudden new scene. The same can be said of the abrupt ending. However, there are some atmospheric moments set in cobwebby corridors and a crypt, and one frightening scene sees our hero besieged by killer mechanical soldiers in a museum. The themes of killer toys would further be explored in plus countless cheapie '80s and 90's straight-to-video flicks. DANCE OF DEATH is a poorly-made film, but the sheer quantity of bizarrely-mixed elements make it watchable, if a bit dull.
Things kick off with the discovery of an eyeless corpse - ie. an actress with a bit of blood splashed on her face. This is as gory as the film gets, by the way. Via a quick jump-cut we are immediately introduced to Boris Karloff, who soon snuffs it - or so it seems. It's actually quite sad to watch an obviously close to death Karloff in this film, to see how frail and ill-looking he looked at the very end. By this time he was half-dead anyway and apparently one of his lungs had collapsed, but like a trooper he kept on working till the (bitter end). Still, it's pleasing to watch Karloff in a movie again and he's invariably the best actor of the bunch.
The rest of the cast are instantly forgettable Mexican faces, forgettable due to their amateurish and wooden acting skills. The only one of any note is a woman called Julissa (just one name), who is at least partially memorable but only for her good looks. She was also in two other Karloff films of this time. Also it's rather obvious that Karloff's scenes were actually filmed in America while the rest were in Mexico due to the difference of film clarity and the sets used.
After Karloff's death, his sinister goateed doctor makes everybody wait before they hear the reading of the will. It is at this moment that people begin to die, killed by Karloff's apparently animated toys. One woman is brutally stabbed by the figure of a dancer, another man throttled by a knight, an obese victim shot in the eyes by two miniature cannons. All deaths are executed clumsily so they don't have much impact. While this is going on, the young police inspector hero is lying around somewhere sleeping while his girlfriend is in peril!
The influences on this movie are clear. They're obviously trying to emulate some of Corman's Poe films starring Vincent Price, with less impressive effects, it has to be said. This led to the credit "based on a story by Edgar Allen Poe" appearing on the video box I have. At other times we see Karloff playing the organ, scenes which resemble THE BLACK CAT made 33 years earlier. Except there, the music was haunting and mournful, and here, it's screeching and awful!
This is a very low budget movie, with the direction on the amateurish side. The camera-work is boring and inept (at one point the cameraman's shadow appears on a table) and the editing particularly confusing; scenes jump from one to another directly after a line of dialogue has just been said; no pauses or dissolves, just a sudden new scene. The same can be said of the abrupt ending. However, there are some atmospheric moments set in cobwebby corridors and a crypt, and one frightening scene sees our hero besieged by killer mechanical soldiers in a museum. The themes of killer toys would further be explored in plus countless cheapie '80s and 90's straight-to-video flicks. DANCE OF DEATH is a poorly-made film, but the sheer quantity of bizarrely-mixed elements make it watchable, if a bit dull.