Dir. Jim Clark, UK, 1974, 91 mins
Cast: Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, Robert Quarry, Adrienne Corri, Natasha Pyne, Linda Hayden
Review by Colin Dibben
Hollywood, early 1960s: Horror film actor Paul Toombes (Price) denies murdering his fiancée at a party but is institutionalised. He claims that someone dressed up to play his signature role, the villainous, skull-masked Doctor Death, did the deed. Twelve years later, he is out and brought to England by producer Oliver Quayle (Quarry) to play Doctor Death one more time.
When a young female journalist covering the new production is murdered, suspicion falls on Toombes again. He seeks support from old chum Herbert Flay (Cushing) and moves into his cottage in the country. But when you are an ageing horror actor, whom can you call a real friend?
This was an Amicus production. Amicus was famous for trashy but fun anthology horror films. Editor turned director Jim Clark serves up something altogether more poignant here, despite several major, late changes to the script, as mentioned in the extras.
Apparently, neither Price nor Cushing liked the film, but Price’s performance is really heartfelt – all the close-ups of his craggy features point to something not usually said or meant in films like this. As Toombes puts it in his final, grand monologue: “There is always room for one more in the coffin of Time”.
It isn’t just the ‘old troopers’ who deliver something special. Adrienne Corri’s turn as the spider-loving Faye, Flay’s disfigured wife (Faye Flay, wow!) is brilliant, both unhinged and scenery chewing and terribly sad. Natasha Pyne is also great as the doomed young, innocent production assistant, Julia.
The slightly ‘meta’ goings on – ageing horror film actors playing ageing horror film actors – are consolidated by several ‘film-within-film’ sequences, set in Quarry’s screening room. He is showing bits of old Vincent Price films, featuring Boris Karloff and Basil Rathbone, no less, to the adoring production team. Price’s Toombes grimaces.
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