Grimerlana Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Lee Eisenberg Samuel Gallu's "Theatre of Death" starts out interesting but peters out once Christopher Lee disappears. The movie can't be seen as Lee's finest moment but he makes the movie worth seeing. He plays a theater director whose theater may be linked to a series of murders. The only other prominent cast member is Julian Glover, who played Walter Donovan in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" and now stars on "Game of Thrones" (which I haven't seen). Christopher Lee plays a really impressive role, as does Leila Goldoni, but the movie would've been a whole lot better had Lee stayed in the whole thing.Does anyone know if Samuel Gallu directed any other movies?

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.

Coventry Please note that the phrase in this comment's headline isn't necessarily a negative criticism towards the movie, but a direct quote spoken by the almighty Christopher Lee as he portrayed a director of horror plays himself in this rather mediocre, but nevertheless overlooked late 60's chiller. Mr. Lee once again dominates the screen as the arrogant and truly sardonic Philippe Darvas, creator of macabre and blood-drenched plays in the Parisian "Theatre of Death". Real murders are committed in the streets simultaneously and the police investigators promptly link them to the theater and its eerie set pieces, since none of the victims have any blood left in their bodies. Darvas is immediately profiled as the killer, but when he mysteriously vanishes as well while the murders continue, the search for the culprit is totally stuck. The film has a strong and compelling first half, but it all goes down together with Lee. When Darvas disappears, the atmosphere and definitely the dialogs become a little dire and uninteresting. The remaining leads aren't capable of carrying the movie and it quickly turns into an uninspired whodunit-story that desperately yet unsuccessfully tries to mislead you. Still, even during the dull moments, there's always the beautiful decors and imaginative photography to admire. "Theatre of Death" is a type of Gothic horror effort, with rather neat costumes and an excellent theater setting. Certainly worthwhile for fans of contemporary British horror, but no patch on the Hammer highlights of that time (on which director Samuel Gallu obviously wanted to cash in). ** Spoiler ** the film is worth tracking down if it were only for the scene where a mad-raving Christopher Lee "advises" a wannabe actress to urgently look for a different profession, and if that doesn't work out, jump into the nearest river. Now that's what I call pep-talk!

The_Void Theatre of Death isn't a particularly bad film, but it's a disappointing one as it really could have been a lot better. The film plays out something like a British version of the popular Italian 'Giallo' subgenre, and features Christopher Lee as the head of a Parisian theatre. The film makes this theatre its central location, and it provides a good place for a macabre tale like this to take place. Two years earlier, Mario Bava showed how a colourful location could benefit a movie about various people being killed with Blood and Black Lace, and it would seem that director Samuel Gallu realised how this could be used as the theatre at the centre of the tale utilises a bright colour scheme, similar to the one in Blood and Black Lace. The theatre at the centre of the film specialises in horror productions, and this is taken to a new extreme when performers at the theatre begin turning up dead. We focus on a police inspector who is tied to the murders through his attraction to one of the performance artists, and he soon realises that there could be a link between the murders and the theatre.For a plot like this to engage the audience, it needs both thrills and intrigue, and while this film has both; it doesn't utilise either to a satisfying degree, and this makes the resulting movie rather cold and difficult to engage with. The acting is above average for this sort of film, however, and lesser known members of the cast manage to stand out despite Christopher Lee's massive star profile. The film seems to have taken influence from the prolific Italians on the actress front, as Theatre of Death features some beautiful women, which bodes well with the grandiose central location. Christopher Lee doesn't deliver his best performance in this film, and really never breaks a sweat in the lead role, but it's always a pleasure to see him. The mystery is never too interesting, and the short running time never really does it justice. Full credit goes to the film for the ending, however, as the film comes good by the time of the climax, even though the mystery could have gone on a little longer, had it built up more tension. Overall, this is a decent enough movie; I wouldn't recommend going into it with high expectations, but Theatre of Death is worth seeing for fans of this sort of film.