Bloodbath at the House of Death

Mr. Ae Rayner

at 8:20 pm

I have been a Kenny Everett fan for years – I remember the first time that his shows appeared on British TV & I welcomed the recent reruns on satellite TV earlier in 2008! However, I confess to never having seen Bloodbath at the house of death in the cinema or on video. Anyone expecting an array of manic characters from Kenny’s TV programs will be pleasantly surprised at his restrained performance as the mad professor with a dubious background – he only goes a bit nuts when the script requires him to & any overacting is down to certain other performers! The supporting cast is full of familiar faces – Graham Stark ( `Ercule in the Clouseau movies for just one example), David Lodge, veteran of countless films, John Fortune & South African Sheila Steafel, both of whom made their names on TV and are still active today & of course the biggest bonus is the participation of the incomparable Vincent Price who adds his own brand of camp dignity to the proceedings! Pamela Stephenson, best remembered for the wonderful Not the 9 o’clock news series, speaks in a strange lisp of her own invention according to one of the interviews in the Special Features section & Kenny’s very close friend & a gorgeous lady, Cleo Rocos, is around to further enhance the production!

The story has been described by other people who have written reviews on Amazon’s web site but basically the movie is homage to horror films of the era & pre dates the concept of the Scary Movie series by some 20 years!

Now to those special features which make this a fascinating DVD! Interviews with the executive producers provide revealing insights about the making of the film but the real gem is the archive footage consisting of a rare interview with Kenny, previously unseen by me.

Surprisingly enough Bloodbath didn’t do well at the box office in UK but was a hit in Australia!

Hopefully this DVD release will find a new audience with awareness having been aroused by the repeats of the old TV shows that I mentioned earlier.

10 out of 10 to Nucleus films for finding a great looking print of the film – colours are crisp & sharp throughout and the night scenes are totally clear too, so collectors can now throw their old tapes away and replace with this excellent piece of nostalgic entertainment!

Rating: 5 / 5

Roger Edward Deshon

at 10:49 pm

This is quite a poor attempt at comedy and I’m surprised Vincent Price lent his reputation to it. The whole thing’s rather silly.

If you want a good spoof on the horror genre I suggest ‘ Carry On Screaming’ and while you’re at lash out and get the whole series. There are many of them but it’s worth it to have the complete set in your DVD library. The comedy in these films is / was all ways top notch.
Rating: 3 / 5

John Frame

at 2:59 am

A group of psychics and ghosthunters return to remote Headstone Manor on the anniversary of a ritualistic mass murder by mysterious monks.

I’m pleased to see only good comments registered on Bloodbath At The House Of Death, because it’s one of my favourites. Favoured not for it’s technical merit, but for the absolute dedication to Kenny’s unique style of comedy – where no joke was either too obvious or too tasteless to be included.

Some of these jokes are supremely tasteless, for example the young woman who offers her bared breasts to the mad monk as he threatens her with a knife: “You want these, don’t you?” and then she screams “Oh my god, did you say “To take away?!”.

Vincent Price has a very good time as the very Sinister Man.

I was lucky to see this on the big screen here in Australia and I also considered myself lucky to have bought an ex-rental VHS years ago. Hhowever there are quite a few dark scenes which VHS tape simply can’t reproduce with adequate definition.

The July 2008 DVD release arrived today and I am very impressed. The video and audio quality are first class. I appreciate that we’re offered a choice of either the original mono in sensible Dolby 2.0 – or a quite reasonable simulated 5.1 surround version.

Now we get to enjoy Bloodbath in its original theatrical aspect 1.85:1 – with none of the limitations mentioned for the VHS version. The extra features are valuable – including a pdf file of the script, the UK and USA trailers, and a wonderful, highly informative 22 minute retrospective documentary. I loved seeing snippets of Kenny in Australia promoting the film – and enjoyed learning the background story of how this magnificent purposefully B grade film sadly missed getting the exposure and wide success which it truly deserved.

Twenty five years after the limited cinematic release the world has a second chance to embrace “Bloodbath At The House Of Death” as one of the all-time great kitsch cult classics.

The producers of this DVD have done exceptionally well and should be very proud. Kenny’s spirit will be smiling on them.
Rating: 5 / 5