Review of Madhouse (1974) by Kevin N — 05 Oct 2011

Vincent Price stars as Paul Toombes in this winking and campy picture about a washed-up horror star who seems to be haunted by his own macabre films and takes up murdering the women who enter his life.

Of course, the plot thickens as we begin to wonder if it is really Toombes at all, or if one of the many suspicious people in his life might be up to something far more devious than simple murder. As a piece of fun and self-reflexive midnight cheese the movie works, and it even reaches fleeting moments of brilliance.

Jim Clark directs the film with a fine touch, and the cinematography manages to be both grounded in that special 1970s way and a nod to spook flicks of the past. Mostly, though, the film works because of Price, an actor of supreme caliber who never treated a role as minor and always gave his films a special kind of spark.

He absolutely chews away at his scenes here and gives Toombes his own brand of charm while never taking away the plausibility that he could, in fact, be a serial killer.