Review of The House That Dripped Blood (1971) by Stuart K — 23 Apr 2012

From Amicus Productions, who made horror films such as I, Monster (1971) and The Beast Must Die (1974), this is an anthology horror that was written by Psycho author Robert Bloch, it's very effective and it ranges from very creepy to rather cruel to unintentionally hilarious, all set around one setting.

Inspector Holloway (John Bennett) from Scotland Yard has been sent to a country house to investigate the disappearance of film star Paul Henderson (Jon Pertwee). Holloway hears 4 stories from local Police Sergeant Martin (John Malcolm) and estate agent A.

J. Stoker (John Bryans). He hears about how horror writer Charles Hillyer (Denholm Elliot) whose creation seems to have come to life and is plaguing him, then there's friends Philip Grayson (Peter Cushing) and Neville Rogers (Joss Ackland) who become obsessed with a waxwork.

There's the story of strict father John Reid (Christopher Lee) who gets more than he bargained for from his neglected, unhappy daughter Jane (Chloe Franks), and then the tale of when Paul Henderson bought a vampire's cloak from Theo von Hartmann (Geoffrey Bayldon).

It's actually a good horror film that goes from psychological to physical horror from story to story. It has a good ensemble at it's centre, and it's great fun. Jon Pertwee manages to steal the film from everyone else, God knows how, but it's a horror film that manages to hold your attention and all the stories and it's wraparound manage to work as well.