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Bloodbath at the House of Death on Netflix UK & Ireland.

Started by Glebe, September 17, 2021, 11:26:46 PM

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Glebe

So I've only ever seen a trailer for it, but I thought CaB folk would be interested to know that 1984 Kenny Everett horror comedy Bloodbath at the House of Death has popped up on Netflix UK & Ireland. Looking forward to giving it a watch and giving my verdict on it!

Still blowing my mind a bit that this has actually turned up on there.

If they're suddenly into putting forgotten British comedy films from the mid-80s up on there, I hope they get 'Morons From Outer Space' added shortly. 

Barry Admin

Fucking hell. I remember being lucky enough to find this in my video store when I was a kid, and it had no kind of BBFC certification on it so I didn't have to endure the embarrassment of asking my Mum to rent it out for me. [NB]Sadly not the case with Weird Science, where my Mum quizzed the poor bastard behind the counter about the "purely sexual" quote on the cover.

And she once found my copy of Eddie Murphy's "Raw" sans cover and threw it at me in disgust, obviously thinking it was a porno.[/NB]

Thank you very much for letting us know! This is a staggering turnup for the books.

ajsmith2

#3
Is it any good then? I'm a big Everett fan (though more of his radio stuff tbh) but TV stars (esp UK ones) attempting a transfer to film, and esp in this era, in most cases doesn't seem to take well so I always assumed it would be a curates egg at best. As it's Everett's only proper tilt at the big screen (unless you count Dateline Diamonds from two decades before or the Kremmen cartoon, I guess) I am curious though.

Ignatius_S

Thanks Glebe!

Quote from: Beep Cleep Chimney on September 17, 2021, 11:59:38 PM
Still blowing my mind a bit that this has actually turned up on there.

If they're suddenly into putting forgotten British comedy films from the mid-80s up on there, I hope they get 'Morons From Outer Space' added shortly.

IIRC, Warners owns that and for the last couple of years, more of its library has been coming of off of Netflix because of its own streaming service.

thr0b

Quote from: ajsmith2 on September 18, 2021, 09:06:41 AM
Is it any good then? I'm a big Everett fan (though more of his radio stuff ybh) but TV stars (esp UK ones) attempting a transfer to film, and esp in this era, in most cases doesn't seem to take well so I always assumed it would be a curates egg at best. As it's Everett's only proper tilt at the big screen (unless you count Dateline Diamonds from two decades before or the Kremmen cartoon, I guess) I am curious though.

It's really good fun. Caught it on the Horror Channel a few years back. I'm honestly surprised it's not more well-known, considering the talent involved.

Ignatius_S

Quote from: ajsmith2 on September 18, 2021, 09:06:41 AM
Is it any good then? I'm a big Everett fan (though more of his radio stuff ybh) but TV stars (esp UK ones) attempting a transfer to film, esp in this era, in most cases doesn't seem to take well so I always assumed it would be a curates egg at best. As it's Everett's only proper tilt at the big screen (unless you count Dateline Diamonds from two decades before or the Kremmen cartoon, I guess) I am curious though.

If nothing else, it's worth watching for the cast - however, how much it's a 'good' film is very much much a matter of opinion. That opinion ranges from a very underrated film to good, albeit hit and miss, to not very good.

Spoof films will tend to divide opinion at the best of times.

Because it got a (good) DVD release about a decade ago, at least people have been able to assess it properly. A lot of the film's reputation was to do with the press furore at the time, which morphed into a consensus that the film was rubbish. However, feel it's been reassessed somewhat and there has was a lot of comment about comparing it (favourably) the Scary Movie franchise.

Personally, I quite like it, but Frankie Howerd's The House in Nightmare Park manages to mix comedy and horror in a much more effective way for me - however, that's not a quite like for like comparison.

Dug this link out as it was interesting to see how this Everett's film could have disappeared so easily: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/aug/22/comedy

Shaky

Ehhh, for me it's very thin stuff but probably just about worth a watch for Everett fans. Not terribly funny but it has that late 70's/early 80's grimy, video nasty look to it that's sort of hypnotic if you're in a seedy mood.

Rev+

It's worth a go but is a complete shambles, mainly just a grab-bag of references to other films that don't always come complete with actual gags.  I was always a fan of the occasional mad gory sketch Everett used to do on TV, so was a bit disappointed with this at the time as I expected it to be a feature-length version of that kind of business.  It isn't really, and he feels a bit squandered as he mainly plays it straight.  Vincent Price is loads of fun, though, but he's not in it nearly enough.  It does feature the screen debut of everyone's favourite funnyman Michael McIntyre - albeit in voice only - which is sure to be a big selling point to his many fans on here.

The Guardian article Ignatius_S linked to mentions the hassle involved in getting the DVD version released.  The guy responsible used to be the buyer for the now defunct Anchor Bay label, and ran their forum at the time, happily taking requests for obscure horror films that had fallen through the cracks that they might be able to licence and release.  Some of them would be shot down immediately - particularly if they were owned by Fox, who are apparently complete wankers about letting anyone near stuff they've no intention of releasing themselves - but this film kept coming up, and turned into an epic quest that went on for years.  I think I'm right in remembering that before the negative was tracked down, the big stumbling block was that nobody had a bloody clue who owned the rights to the film, with all the likely candidates just shrugging.

phantom_power

I remember seeing this in my video shop along with Boys in Blue, Transylvania 6500, Johnny Dangerously and other odd comedies. Not sure if I have seen it though, but I do remember the video cover

Lisa Jesusandmarychain

Quote from: thr0b on September 18, 2021, 09:26:21 AM
It's really good fun. Caught it on the Horror Channel a few years back. I'm honestly surprised it's not more well-known, considering the talent involved.

Sheila Steafal, Don Warrington *and* Gareth Hunt!

Famous Mortimer

I had a VHS of it way back when, and...it has its moments.

kaprisky


I watched this recently when it turned up on London Live. It's not as bad as some reviews would have you believe but it's not a lost masterpiece either. There's one good gag with Everett in the toilet but it does seem to go for the Harry Bromley Davenport or Norman Warren approach to horror (Inseminoid is on this Monday). Ray Cameron plays one of the policemen near the start. Barry Cryer, more recognisible, plays another.

Harry Badger

I've got it on now, having only seen it on a grainy VHS dub on Youtube. By god, it's a huge waste of talent. But there are four jokes I remember making me laugh out loud

1.
Spoiler alert
Kenny and Pamela Stephenson walk into the pub - everyone turns round and stares at Kenny - his flies are undone!
[close]
2.
Spoiler alert
Same scene - the pub goes through the murders to the tune of the Twelve Days Of Christmas
[close]
3.
Spoiler alert
Jaws music - but it's Kenny playing the cello sitting on the john!
[close]
4.
Spoiler alert
Sheila Steafal going hysterical and having to be slapped in the face - but she slaps Kenny!
[close]

It's incredibly crass but it does really try hard to make you laugh and Vincent Price and Pamela Stephenson properly give it some. I seem to remember it just ends in a really stupid way.

Coincidentally, I read the James Hogg biography of Kenny last week which sent me onto a Youtube binge of his radio stuff. Fuck me, he was good on the wireless.

RicoMNKN

The
Spoiler alert
"It sounded like monks exploding"
[close]
joke made me laugh.

Harry Badger

There's some reasonably good special effects too like the
Spoiler alert
Carrie pisstake where the mother is decapitated with an electric can opener
[close]

Harry Badger

Quote from: kaprisky on September 18, 2021, 03:10:49 PM
it does seem to go for the Harry Bromley Davenport or Norman Warren approach to horror (Inseminoid is on this Monday).

My Norman J Warren RIP thread died like a woman in an airlock https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,85661.msg4488989.html#msg4488989

Catalogue Trousers

A very poor film. It did make me laugh a couple of times and the cast is undeniably marvellous but there's no coherent plot or driving force behind it. Maybe Everett and his chums were trying to make an SF/Horror Hellzapoppin but the thing is, that had good jokes rather than entirely random shite thrown at the wall in the hopes that it might stick.

The whole thing peters out about 40 minutes from the end credits and never recovers. It just winds down and down and ends up feeling worryingly close to a Selzerberg effort some 20 years early.

Everett, Price, Hunt - hell, just about everyone involved - deserved a lot better. Except McIntyre. Fuck 'im.

Glebe

Quote from: Barry Admin on September 18, 2021, 01:05:41 AMThank you very much for letting us know! This is a staggering turnup for the books.

Quote from: Ignatius_S on September 18, 2021, 09:09:56 AM
Thanks Glebe!

IIRC, Warners owns that and for the last couple of years, more of its library has been coming of off of Netflix because of its own streaming service.

V. welcome folks, thought this would be worth mentioning... will be away for couple of days so prolly won't watch until next week myself!

jobotic


steveh

Quote from: Ignatius_S on September 18, 2021, 09:09:56 AM
IIRC, Warners owns that and for the last couple of years, more of its library has been coming of off of Netflix because of its own streaming service.

Morons from Outer Space has had regular appearances on VHS and DVD over the years, though in rubbish transfers. Studio Canal now own the original rights I believe, with MGM having US rights from buying Cannon. Bloodbath at the House of Death does at least have some funny moments even if it's a scrappy film that runs out of steam, Morons is just consistently unfunny throughout and sadly not a maligned hidden gem.



Catalogue Trousers

Trust me, you didn't miss much.

It surprises me that anyone can reckon that this is funnier than Morons From Outer Space. Granted neither's comedy gold, but I laughed a lot more when watching Mel and Griff's space spoofery.

Yeah, I do still like Morons From Outer Space.  It peters out towards the end, but I loved it as a kid and am still fond of it.
I've had the Region 2 MGM DVD for a few years now.  Bought it for about 50p in CEX.  Seen it go for stupid prices these days on eBay.

Glebe

So I finally got around to watching this last night... fairly poor IMHO, although there are a handful of genuinely funny moments. Actually Kenny Everett is on top form when he's going off the rails as the unhinged prof, while Pamela Stephenson and Vincent Price make the best of what they're given (actually the whole cast is pretty game it's just they could have done with a better script).

Numerous sub-Airplane! kind of moments, and the opening 'Give or take a day or two' caption gag is like a crap version of the 'Around tea-time' title in Life of Brian. Among the better gags there's Kenny giving plot exposition and doing everything but steering the car when he's supposed to be driving and a couple of good lines ("It sounds like a load of monks exploding."), but there's a lot of crassness and jokes that don't really land, not to mention some unpleasant homophobic digs and the oddly shocking moment where Pamela Stephenson rather demeaningly has her breast exposed by an invisible man that appears inexplicably.

Plenty of parodying of other movies of course, with The Shining, Jaws and (in an oddly unsettling flashback) Carrie getting nods, not to mention a weird bit with what is supposed to be a kind of lightsaber and E.T.  - voiced by CaB 'favourite' and son of director Ray Cameron, Michael McIntryre! - missing his ship again.

Besides Price, Brazilian-born Everett cohort Cleo Rocos and Canadian actor John Stephen Hill (who isn't well known but looks vaguely familiar), the cast is a real who's-who of British TV/film... Gareth Hunt, Don Warrington, John Fortune, Sheila Steafel (recognised her face, didn't know her name), Graham Stark (doing 'blind man' schtick) and David Lodge, with co-writer Barry Cryer popping up as a detective. The Barmaid (Pat Ashton) looks familiar, apparently she was in a couple of On the Buses films and The Benny Hill Show. CaB favourite Gordon Rollings pops up in the pub scene, and there's also an appearance from Tim Barrett, who played Malcolm in Terry and June.

Maybe I'm being a big harsh, but yeah, I thought it was pretty mediocre on the whole. Like I said, I thought there were a few decent gags, and Kenny is good fun. The 1080p HD transfer Netflix is using looks pristine in any case.

Shaky

You weren't harsh at all, Glebe - it's not a good film but it has... something, even if it's mostly just the novelty of seeing Everett and a few others in a movie. Watching it again recently, I honestly can't say I was bored even though it's a total vaccuum at times. That the movie exists at all is sort of fascinating.

You're right about the Carrie scene. Genuinely unsettling in that grimey video nasty way, and it emphasises how they're never able to weld the comedy and horror together successfully.

Glebe

Quote from: Shaky on October 26, 2021, 02:43:56 AMYou're right about the Carrie scene. Genuinely unsettling in that grimey video nasty way, and it emphasises how they're never able to weld the comedy and horror together successfully.

Spot on. Apparently it was originally given an 18 cert, and it is actually surprisingly nasty in a couple of places.

The last 20 minutes are rather pedestrian, with everyone getting offed by their evil clones one by one. Not exactly boring, but the gag rate drops to just a few eye-rollers.

Catalogue Trousers

Not to mention such pointless and unfunny stuff as the glowing-eyed evil teddy bear. What was the point?

Glebe

Quote from: Catalogue Trousers on October 26, 2021, 08:27:21 PMNot to mention such pointless and unfunny stuff as the glowing-eyed evil teddy bear. What was the point?

Same thing with the invisible man. No explanation.