‎Theatre of Blood (1973) directed by Douglas Hickox • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

Theatre of Blood

1973 Directed by Douglas Hickox

It's curtains for his critics!

A Shakespearean actor takes poetic revenge on the critics who denied him recognition.

Vincent Price Diana Rigg Ian Hendry Harry Andrews Coral Browne Robert Coote Jack Hawkins Michael Hordern Arthur Lowe Robert Morley Dennis Price Diana Dors Milo O'Shea Madeline Smith Joan Hickson Renée Asherson Charles Gray

Country

Language

English

comedy horror

104 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Steve G ★★★★★ 9

The World Is More Than Enough 2: Back To The 30 Countries (19/30 - United Kingdom)

One of the greatest British ensembles you will ever see in a film that starts with Michael Hordern warding off a gang of murderous squatters with his umbrella. I definitely picked the perfect film for the British leg of my May 30 Countries project.

Vincent Price was perfect for this role as well, wasn't he? If you look at his horror film career prior to Theatre Of Blood, the type of performances he almost always turned in were always of the more theatrical style. To say the very least. It almost felt as though his whole career in those kinds of films were one…
Review by Mr. DuLac ★★★★ 1

Officer, if I'm not mistaken Mr. Psaltry is murdering his wife.
-Edward Lionheart

Easily in the running for my new favorite Vincent Price film as he plays a stage actor taking revenge on his critics after his supposed death with the help of his troupe of homeless followers. Each murder is elaborate and accompanied by Price performing Shakespeare. Brilliantly bonkers.

Part of:
Horroctober V: DuLac Has Risen from the Grave
Review by Peter Schubert ★★★★

Aaah the memories. Because I had very strange friends apparently, this was one of the first horror movies I ever saw; a friend of mine suggested to watch it when I came over to visit him in sixth grade or so.

I have to admit that I was quite terrified of it when I saw it the first time, but at the same time I realized that horror was my genre.

Yesterday I saw it the for the first time since that fateful day and while I definitely wasn't terrified, I was tremendously entertained by it.
It is not only the at the same time clever and silly premise of killing off critics in Shakespeare-inspired ways that amazed me (elderly…
Review by winslow leach stan ★★★½ 2

vincent price is the only man who has never done me wrong
Review by RetroHound ★★★½ 4

Vincent Price is a Shakespearean actor who is snubbed for an award so he decides to kill each of the critics in a way that matches a death scene in one of Shakespeare's plays.

What's interesting, is that the deaths also tend to line up with a critics weakness. And the names tend to match as well. "Snipe" jumps at the chance to write, "Dickman," who should be mourning his friend's death instead puts the moves on Diana Rigg, etc.

Price does a wonderfully hammy performance with almost every line taken from the Bard.
Review by DirkH ★★★★ 8

Death by Shakespeare.

This film has to be seen if only for Vincent Price's most ridiculously bizarre performance ever.

Delightfully weird early seventies Brit Horror. A must watch if that's your thing.

Recent reviews

Review by Robert A. ★★★½

It's like Se7en but with Vincent Price. If that doesn't make you want to watch it then I can't help you.
Review by the_writer ★★★★★

I do love this film...Its a camp, Horror classic with one of the best casts ever assembled for a Horror film.
Easily slots into my Top 10 of all time and will every time I watches it :P
Review by RyanWeiss ★★

I wanted to like this one but I just couldn't get into it. More focus on the characters and less on Price would have made it more fun and not as repetitive.
Review by Joe ★½

So in this movie a bunch of people talked a lot. Once again we have another Vincent Price film and I'm not sure if it's British or not. It's actually still on as I write this and people are talking, yet I can't tell if they're British or just super proper. I need to lie down.
Review by drfulci ★★★½

Another great film from Price, who now gets to kill off his critics! A wide array of performances from Price here, along with some other great actors. A must see.
Review by Zā ★★★★

American Horror Story: Shakespeare

What a fun horror comedy!! Like it's probably from my English background, but I don't care for the Bard so seeing a way to make it fun by adding gore? Perfect!! Though I've actually read Othello and they called him malevolent? Which isn't true he was just pushed over the edge. But I digress.

I also want to say this might be the best acting I've ever seen Price do? It's also great to hear this was one of his favorite films he had done too so it made it even more special.
Review by Justin ★★★★

Watched with The League of Gentlemen commentary track
Review by Maybe Ryan Swen ★★★ 1

Chalk it up to my general horror myopia, my suspicion of melodrama outside of a concrete sense of emotion, my general distaste for wanton killing, my status as a critic, or any number of general predilections, but I found it very difficult to get into Theatre of Blood as a whole. By virtue of its jerry-rigged structure, stringing together an alarming number of purportedly justified murders while it seems no investigation is ventured at all, the film goes through highs and lows, with the undisputed high being a quite well-choreographed fencing duel through a gymnasium and the low being...one of three or four particularly gruesome murders? Leaving aside the illogicality of nearly every character's actions save Price and Rigg (both…
Review by RussellD ★★★★½

Essentially "The Abominable Dr. Phibes", but instead of having Vincent Price as a mad man who holds doctors responsible for killing his wife, it has Vincent Price as an actor who holds critics responsible for killing his career. But hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, and "Phibes" is far from broke, so as long as they keep the deaths creative and the visuals pretty inventive, I'll watch as many of these types of movies as I can find. They do both here, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.