Madhouse (1974)
Genre: Horror / Crime
Duration: 89 minuten
Alternative titles: Deathday / The Revenge of Dr. Death
Country:
United Kingdom
Directed by: Jim Clark
Stars: Vincent Price, Peter Cushing and Linda Hayden
IMDb score:
6,2 (5.227)
Releasedate: 22 May 1974
Madhouse plot
"If stark terror were ecstasy...living here would be sheer bliss!"
Paul Toombes plays a character called Dr. Death in a series of horror movies written by a friend. But his fiancée is murdered and he has a nervous breakdown. After a while he picks up the thread again, but then the murders start again.
Actors and actresses
Paul Toombes
Herbert Flay
Oliver Quayle
Faye
Elizabeth Peters
Julia Wilson
TV Interviewer
Gerry Blount
Alfred Peters
Louise Peters
Reviews & comments
Richard_Voorhees
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- 2311 messages
- 2135 votes
A somewhat lesser-known film from the Amicus studio (at the time pretty much Hammer's only competitor in the UK). I must say that I found it to be great entertainment again. Price plays a sort of double role as actor Paul Toombes and his horror alter ego Dr. Death. When the women around him start dying in ways from his films, suspicion soon falls on Price's character. He even starts to doubt himself.
Strong acting by the man himself, and fun to see clips from his Corman Poe adaptations pop up here and there. Furthermore, I personally think the makeup on "Dr. Death" is just really cool. Cushing also supports him in a fitting manner.
I cannot relate to the comparison above, as the subject of the "washed-up actor" is the only similarity between these two prints.
Translated from Dutch · View original
mrklm
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- 12465 messages
- 10512 votes
Horror icons Vincent Price and Peter Cushing appear together in this account of
Paul Toombes, an actor who suffered a nervous breakdown after the gruesome and unsolved murder of his wife, partly because the police suspected him of the murder. His return to the big screen generates renewed publicity, and everything seems to point to a glorious comeback. But then it turns out that Paul's wife's murderer has also returned... or is he perhaps responsible himself?
This reasonably stylishly filmed horror movie is certainly entertaining, and fans of Price will undoubtedly enjoy the retrospectives (one presented by BBC legend Michael Parkinson in a cameo) in which we see glimpses of the horror maestro's impressive oeuvre. But Madhouse is less inventive than The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) and Theatre of Blood (1973), and above all, it lacks the sardonic humor that made these films so memorable.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Noodless
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- 10097 messages
- 6207 votes
Solid without a doubt: atmospheric horror film, praise for the make-up, a strikingly creepy mask worn by the killer, plenty of kills, an interesting story with references to Price's oeuvre, the creepy creepy thoughts of the spiders, and of course, the actors Price and Cushing. The ending does have a peculiar execution, though, and I had to let it sink in for a moment : Price survived the fire, manages to survive thanks to Faye (Adrienne Corri), and simply takes over the role of Herbert (Cushing) thanks to appropriate make-up. 6/10
Translated from Dutch · View original
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