Leofwine_draca This little thriller plays more like an Italian giallo than your typical British horror film along the lines of Hammer, Amicus and the rest. Gone are the atmospheric locations and supernatural overtones; instead, we have a black-gloved killer murdering girls with a spring-loaded knife and a dedicated police surgeon hunting him down. Much of the film takes place in the theatre of the title, which, as Michele Soavi found twenty years later in his STAGE FRIGHT, makes for an unsettling, atmospheric location.The film benefits from some excellent sets, the design is really artistic. There is also some great camera-work and the colours flow off the screen. The film is thus very arty and nice to look at, and the murder-mystery type plot keeps you guessing until the very end. There are also some good set pieces, with the witch burning being the most arresting, while at the end a half-naked woman indulges in some voodoo dancing.The acting is uniformly good, with Julian Glover a strong, if not likable, hero type, and with extra attention being paid to the female characters in the film, which is unusual and pleasingly different (frankly I'm fed up of the girls being just the victims or the romantic interests). However, as you might have guessed, it's Christopher Lee who deserves the acting honours here, although he only appears in roughly half of the film before disappearing. His arrogant, patronising, self-obsessed director is typical of the actor's roles and one of the best that he's played. If not likable, he is totally believable and invokes a sense of awe when he appears on screen. The film is not particularly gory, with a few splashes of blood here and there to liven things up, but then again it doesn't need to be. It's a pleasing, intelligent horror thriller which retains the interest throughout. There are better films and there are worse, but this is at least nicely crafted.

ma-cortes Pigalle slums, Paris , there takes place severals murders . As police are baffled by a series of mysterious killings . Meanwhile, new Theatre director Phillipe Darvas (the great Christopher Lee , still performing), son of the old director, vows to dedicate his life to the Theatre, as did his father. At the opening night cast party, patroness Mme Angelique (Evelyn Laye) requests that Darvas give a preview of coming attractions, so Darvas asks Dani Gireaux (Lelia Goldoni) and newcomer Nicole Chapelle (Jenny Till who receives an "introducing" credit) to play a scene from 'The Witches of Salem'. But Dani's sweetheart , Dr. Charles Marquis (Julian Glover), interrupts the scene . Once again occur murders , each bearing a trace of Vampirism , being main suspect Darvas . The picture is based on a real Theatre known as the Grand Guignol ,it was a Theatre in the Pigalle area of Paris . From its opening in 1897 until its closing in 1962, it specialized in naturalistic horror shows. Its name is often used as a general term for graphic, amoral horror entertainment . A genre popular whose founder was Oscar Méténier was the Grand Guignol's and original director. Under his direction, the theater produced plays about a class of people who were not considered appropriate subjects in other venues: prostitutes, criminals, street urchins, and others at the lower end of Paris's social echelon. At the Grand Guignol, patrons would see five or six plays, all in a style that attempted to be brutally true to the theatre's naturalistic ideals. The plays were in a variety of styles, but the most popular and best known were the horror plays, featuring a distinctly bleak worldview as well as notably gory special effects in their notoriously bloody climaxes . Some of the horror came from the nature of the crimes shown, which often had very little reason behind them and in which the evildoers were rarely punished or defeated. To heighten the effect, the horror plays were often alternated with comedies . Paula Maxa was one of the Grand Guignol's best-known performers. From 1917 to the 1930s, she performed most frequently as a victim and was known as "the most assassinated woman in the world". During her career at the Grand Guignol, Maxa's characters were murdered more than 10,000 times in at least 60 different ways and raped at least 3,000 times . Terror , killing , suspense , well-planned intrigue and mayhem make up the principal ingredients of the Theatre De Morte . This exciting , bizarre film contains tension , thriller , drama , mystery , plot twists and shocks , including decent scares with tense terror sequences especially in its final part , in a creepy denouement . The movie is intriguing and some moment brilliant, and the players are quite reliable . Eerie movie builds taut by showing virtually well staged killings , adequate theatre settings , unsettling score and evocative cinematography . Although is sometimes slow moving , overlong and stagy , however is entertaining for continuous suspense . Sinister , mysterious atmosphere is nicely photographed by magnificent cameraman Gilbert Taylor , and standing out the scenarios with luxurious images . Suspenseful and frightening soundtrack heightens the suspense .This flick displays genuine chills , thrilling events , mystery and dark atmosphere and a twisted finale , being skillfully proceeded by Samuel Gallu . Director Sam Gallu, who once sang tenor for Toscanini, and star Chris Lee hurled snatches of arias at each other between takes. Sam Gallu was a craftsman who founded his own production company, Gally Productions, in the 1950's , his Productions included "Border Patrol" and "The Blue Angel¨ . He wrote , produced and directed a few movies such as ¨Arthur , Arthur¡¨ , ¨The limbo lime¨ , ¨The man outside¨ and this , ¨Theatre of death¨ that resulted to be his best movie . Rating : 6.5/10 . The movie will appeal to Christopher Lee fans .

Paul Andrews Theatre of Death is set in present day Paris where the Theatre du Mort, which translates into English as the Theatre of Death, is open for business in the seedy backstreet's & specialises in gruesome plays that feature torture & death. Forensic doctor Charles Marquis (Julian Glover) visits his actress girlfriend Dani Gireaux (Leila Goldoni) who has a staring role in the Theatre du Mort's latest production, at a party held by the Theatre's own Philippe Darvas (Christopher Lee) he hypnotises another actress named Nicole Chapelle (Jenny Till) who then almost murders Dani in a trance before Charles stops her. Charles is asked by Inspector Micheaud (Ivor Dean) to help investigate several strange murders, murders where the victims all display the same neck wounds. Charles comes to the conclusion that the killer think of themselves as some sort of Vampire & suspects Darvas but when he to is found dead Charles has to rethink...Originally released in the US under the alternative title of Blood Fiend this English production was directed by Samuel Gallu & was one of several similar sounding films that took some mundane establishment & added some sort of sensationalistic word to make a cool sounding title like Horrors of the Black Museum (1959), Circus of Horrors (1960) & Theatre of Blood (1973) which is not to be confused with Theatre of Death as one stars Vincent Price & is a class while the other features Christopher Lee is is a bland & forgettable mix of ideas. The script can't quite decide what it wants to be, it's part murder mystery, part thriller, part stage musical, part Vampire horror film & part detective drama as none of it really gels together that well. While it's competent & fairly well paced it never grabbed me, I never had any real interest in anything that was happening & the story never drew me in. At 90 odd minutes it does feel quite long at times too. The twist ending is alright, it has no great impact other than it being unexpected & a bit bizarre but at least this is one aspect where Theatre of Death is mildly effective. A rather lethargic & bland film overall I would find it hard to recommend Theatre of Death of anyone, watch the infinitely better Theatre of Blood again instead.The killings are spliced into the film almost at random, none of the victims have any connection to anyone else in the film until the end & there's little build-up to them & we never see that much anyway. There's no real gore, there's a few dead bodies & a bit of brightly coloured blood but nothing else of note. Shot in full 2:35:1 widescreen Theatre of Death looks quite nice with bold & bright colours which look almost garish at times. The opening titles feature skulls & eyeballs are cool but unfortunately the film thereafter goes downhill. The setting of the film is obviously based on the infamous real life Theatre du Grand Guignol which staged similarly gruesome plays in Paris between 1897 & 1962.Although filmed entirely at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire here in England the film is set entirely in Paris. The production values are good but it's shame the film is so forgettable & doesn't deliver on it's promise or it's lurid title. The acting is alright, Christopher Lee gets top billing but only features in the first half of the film.Theatre of Death is a bit of a bore really, I can't say I liked it that much although it looks nice enough & while the twist ending is abrupt & out of context with anything that has gone before it's different & unexpected I suppose. Not one of British horror's finer moments I'm afraid.

BaronBl00d In the dark streets of Paris, innocent victims mysteriously die, having had all their blood drained from their bodies by sharp punctures. A Theatre of Death, or Grand Guingol theatre, is nearby and a great success, thanks in large part to the efforts of its somewhat mysterious, demented, hypnotic director Phillipe Darvas. Christopher Lee plays the director in this above-average horror-mystery. A friend of the cast, Julian Glover, and a policeman, somehow find that the theater and the mysterious deaths are related. Lots of red herrings in this one and a neat, creative story tying up the loose ends. Not a lot of action but more mood and psychological horror. The setting is Paris but you only know that, because everyone has French names - otherwise it seems like London. Production values are pretty good, and the film boasts some fine scenes such as when two actresses rehearse a Salem witch-burning scene for the first time whilst one is hypnotized by Lee and the house of the director is a truly scary place with a very good painting of Lee that has eyes cut out and a back panel. Good old-fashioned horror here!