Bloodbath at the House of Death
Film poster, featuring Kenny Everett
Directed byRay Cameron
Written byRay Cameron
Barry Cryer
Produced by
  • Laurence Myers
  • John Downes
  • Ray Cameron
Starring
CinematographyDusty Miller
Brian West
Edited byBrian Tagg
Music byMark London
Mike Moran
Distributed byColumbia-EMI-Warner Distributors[1]
Release date
March 1984
Running time
88 min.
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Bloodbath at the House of Death is a 1984 British comedy horror film directed by Ray Cameron and starring the comedian Kenny Everett, Pamela Stephenson and Vincent Price.[2] It is an over-the-top spoof loosely inspired by The Amityville Horror and other horror films from the same period.

In the film, a manor house is under the control of Satanist monks. When two scientists investigate radioactivity in the manor house, the Satanists create clones of the scientists to replace them. Other subplots include a sexual relationship between a female scientist and a poltergeist, and a plot twist that the monks are humanoid aliens.

Plot

The film opens in 1975 at a place called Headstone Manor, which is being used as a "businessman's weekend retreat and girls' summer camp". A few minutes into the film, a group of satanic monks enter the house and kill 18 of its occupants.

In 1983, Doctor Lukas Mandeville (Kenny Everett) and Doctor Barbara Coyle (Pamela Stephenson) are sent to investigate radioactive readings in the area that have been traced to Headstone Manor, now known by locals as the House of Death. Along with several other scientists, Mandeville and Coyle set up their equipment in the house, while the Sinister Man (Vincent Price), a 700-year-old Satanic priest, prepares a rite in the nearby woods to purge the house of its unwanted guests.

During this time, Mandeville reveals that he was once a successful German surgeon named Ludwig Manheim, who was reduced to "smart-arse paranormal research crap" after a humiliation in the past. Coyle also encounters a poltergeist, and the two engage in sexual intercourse.

Several satanic clones of Mandeville, Coyle and the other scientists enter the house, and begin killing off the originals and taking their place. When Coyle is about to be killed, she is abducted by the poltergeist but also cloned. The satanic monks then take off in a spaceship, revealing that these monks are aliens using the house for their activities on Earth. The film ends with the spaceship soaring into the skies.

Cast

Production

Vincent Price plays the Sinister Man in the film; VHS box cover

Bloodbath at the House of Death was written by Ray Cameron and Barry Cryer, who had previously co-written the 1978 to 1981 Thames Television comedy series The Kenny Everett Video Show. Laurence Myers agreed to produce the film when the makers almost lost their financing.[3] The film was shot entirely on location at the town of Potters Bar in Hertfordshire, England.[4] Michael McIntyre (the son of director Ray Cameron) reveals in his autobiography that he was the voice of E.T.[5] Myers recalls that the film did not make sense; he screened the film for censor James Ferman, who enjoyed the film, but believed that the reels were played in the wrong order.[3]

Release

The book based on the film

The film was released in the United Kingdom by Thorn EMI. It was produced in the aftermath of Kenny Everett's outburst at the Young Conservatives conference in which he called for the bombing of Russia; as a result, the media frequently referenced the film in negative context in relation to the outburst during the production, and film critics reviewed the film harshly.[3] Film critic Martyn Auty wrote: "Presumably intended as high camp; looks like low-grade Carry On."[6] It was given an 18 certificate in the United Kingdom.

The film was released on DVD in the United Kingdom in July 2008, with a re-rating to a 15 certificate.[7] A novelization of the film was also published, which named Marcel Wave (one of Kenny Everett's TV characters) as the resident who underwent spontaneous combustion.

References

  1. ↑ "Bloodbath at the House of Death (1984)". BBFC. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  2. ↑ "Bloodbath at the House of Death (1984)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 O'Neill, Phelim (22 August 2008). "Phelim O'Neill on lost British films and the saving of Kenny Everett's horror movie". The Guardian. London.
  4. ↑ Bloodbath at the House of Death (1984) Archived February 16, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ McIntyre, Michael (2010). Life & Laughing: My Story. Michael Joseph Ltd. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-7181-5581-0.
  6. ↑ Halliwell's Film Guide.
  7. ↑ Bloodbath at the House of Death (1983) – Britmovie – British Film Forum Archived 2008-05-15 at the Wayback Machine
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