Rating: 
Summary: Price has a ball
Review: Price decided to ham it up for the Abominable Dr. Phibes and Dr. Phibes Rides again. Riding on a tide, he took up this high camp film, and some of England's biggest name actors came out to play his victims. In Phibes style, you have a series of set victims - in this case, Stage critics - and the much scorned Shakespearian Actor Edward Lionheart extracting his revenge by killing his victims through acting out a scene from Shakespeare's plays. Deliciously witty Diana Rigg is there to support Price as his doting, darling daughter Edwina, who mourns her father's recent death, and hisses at the critics who refused to honor his talent while he was alive.
Price's all-star victims include his real-life wife, Coral Browne, Harry Andrews, Ian Hendry, Jack Hawkins, Robert Morley (especially funny twist on the tale!), Denis Price and Diana Dors and more. Hot on the trail of the killer, with Hendry in tow, are Inspector Boot (Milo O'Shea) and Sergeant Dogge (Eric Sykes), but Price and his "helper" are one step ahead.
It's Price at his wickedly delightful best. And great to see the funny takes of the Bards tales being used as a murder medium. Douglas Hickox (Zulu Dawn, Sitting Target), ably orchestrated the marvelously talent crew of actors through this
black humor marathon.
Rating:
Summary: Even Better Than Phibes
Review: Price fans can debate for hours whether this or the Abominable Dr. Phibes is a better movie (although all will agree both are amongst the best black comedies ever made). Like the Phibes movies, this one has Vincent Price playing an insane genius getting revenge on those he perceives have wronged him by killing them in extremely imaginative ways (each based upon Shakespeare's plays) while bungling cops (after finally figuring out the themes and motive connecting the crimes) try to stop him. In comparison to Phibes, this film is far more gorey and Price's motive makes far more sense (the victims did actually do him wrong) making him more of a anti-hero. Also, the cops are a little less bungling, which forces Price's character to devise more brilliant ways to carry out his murders while getting past the police. Most of the murders are also far more humourous than in Phibes (although they are also more sickening for the most part). He also has an interesting crew of helpers. And you get to see Vincent having fun playing Shakespeare as a total ham. Unfortunately, in comparison to Phibes, the cops are less funny, the sets are less interesting, it has a less surreal atmosphere and you don't get Price speaking through an old Vitrola attached to his neck, but this movie is slightly nearer to perfection than Phibes.
Rating: 
Summary: Vincent Price and Diana Rigg Together!!
Review: The cast alone makes this worth the price of admission, and what a cast! Twelve of the greatest of British character actors grace this gory but delightful romp with Vincent Price in his usual fine form as a presumably dead Shakespearean ham actor who one by one murders the critics who ruined his career. The joke is that he dispatches his victims by recreating death scenes from the Shakespeare plays with the help of his equally deranged daughter, played with great skill by everyone's favorite Avenger Diana Rigg. The entire cast is in fine form, including Price's soon to be second wife Coral Browne who gets quite a "shock" in this. If you enjoy Price's work on film and if you especially enjoyed the DR PHIBES films, then THEATRE OF BLOOD will be right up your alley.
Rating:
Summary: VINCENT PRICEless Shakespeare...
Review: THEATER of BLOOD may not have been Vincent Price's opportunity to wreck artistic vengeance on an industry that consigned him to Directors like WILLIAM--House on Haunted Hill--CASTLE and ROGER(Poeman)CORMAN'S House of Usher. Yet as THE LAST MAN ON EARTH he declared,"I am Legend!"(in the gritty BxW rendering of Richard Matheson's Atomic Age Vampire classic)and may, indeed, have gotten the last word in this Shakespearean HAMLET-on-Rye horror extravaganza.The VP of B-filmdom horror essays justly maligned Edward Lionheart, an incomparably horrid Shakespearean thespian. AVENGER Diana Rigg plays his mini-dressed, Go-Go booted daughter, Edwina. SHAKESPEARE's murderous canon is the weapon they...with a chorus of London thugs; bootboys; and various raff "out for a good time"...execute in dispatching nefarious CRITICS guilty of callously "clowning" the EDster. The doomed Circle is played by a battle-array of some of England's finest character actors including Ian Hendry and Jack Hawkins. Milo O'Shea plays two boots-behind-the-scene-of-the-crime Copper,Inspector Boot. My favorite skit is when Price essays venomous RICHARD III. But some viewers may enjoy him outdoing Anthony HopKins as TITUS, feeding HOT DOGS(hmmm)to the excellently fey, Robert Morley. THEATER OF BLOOD is black humor to the max. Vincent Price and Diana Rigg are deadly serious in this right-on satire of literati who haughtily believe their dabbling is superior to artists--even failed ones--whose craft makes them possible. This is a fun movie with enough edge to make fans again appreciate what a great actor Vincent Price was, and cheer him on as Lionheart "does the dudes who dissed him" (4 & 1/2 stars).
Rating:
Summary: The Merchant of Menace....
Review: Theater of Blood ranks up there with the two Dr. Phibes movies as essential Vincent Price viewing.
Price is great as Edward Lionheart, a supposedly dead Shakespearian actor, seeking revenge on the eight critics who robbed him of the Critic's Circle Award. The murders revolve around the Shakespeare motif, and the "Pound of Flesh" murder is suspiciously used again in the movie "Seven", as is the "stuff the fat guy with food until he bursts" murder. (Think the writer of Seven saw Theater of Blood and the Dr. Phibes movies...?) Diana Rigg is great as Price's daughter, and the spectacle of the Great Vincent Price as an effeminate hairdressr is worth the price of admission alone. Theater of Blood is a true classic. (Too bad the DVD doesn't have more extras- just a pan-and-scan trailer that looks LOUSY!!)
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous film on a mediocre DVD
Review: Theatre of Blood has always been my favorite Vincent Price film. I saw it when it first came out , before I was legally entitled to see an "R" picture, and it is etched into my unconscious mind like a branded iron. Hammy, but always gracious, Price has the time of his life in this film, and Diana Rigg is marvelous in male drag. Unfortunately, MGM -- or whatever conglomerate now owns the rights to this film -- has chosen to do a careless, sloppy transfer to DVD, far less than this film deserves. The print is hardly pristine, and no effort has been made to improve it; the sound is muddy and you can scarcely hear Michael Lewis's haunting main title theme. Despite this, the DVD has an honored place on my shelf, at least until Criterion decides to tackle the vast and creepy Price back catalog.
Rating: 
Summary: And you thought blackbirds in a pie were disgusting
Review: There's not much of a plot here, but watching Mr. Price's character concoct and carry out all kinds of interesting murders based on classic Shakespeare scenarios is black humor at its finest. There's a good bit of gore and several memorably disgusting images (those poor poodles!), but as none of this is meant to be taken all that seriously, such scenes aren't that hard to take. The DVD offers a nice widescreen image of a good source print.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Movie!!
Review: This is a super movie. Vincent Price at his best. This is one of my favorite films starring Vincent Price. I have this movie on VHS & DVD. If you have not seen this film I suggest renting it or buying it.
Rating:
Summary: Et Tu, Vincent?!
Review: This is probably one of his weirdest films. Price plays Edward Lionheart, a 2nd rate actor who plots his revenge on the critics who snubbed him by killing them with ideas based on Shakespeare's plays. The 1st is killed like Julius Caesar, another from the Merchant of Venice (I know no one dies in the original but Lionheart makes a few changes), another is fed his children(actually his dogs) from Titus Adronicus, another is stabbed and dragged like Hector in Troilus and Cressida, etc. You get the picture. At the end, Lionheart and his dutiful daughter (Diana Rigg) are killed as the theatre burns down.
Price is wonderful is playing a terrible actor who thinks he is the best Shakespearean actor of the time. He is melodramatic, over-acting to the point of hamming, and in general Price gives a terrific performance. In his soliloquys, though, Price shines as he speaks the parts from the various plays with passion, clarity and intensity.
Probably the mosy enjoyable scene is the fencing duel, a la Romero and Juliet, with one of the critics. The swordplay is great but the physical prowess displayed by Price is hilarious as he swings from a rope and bounces on a trampoline.
The film is filled with well-known British actors. I wonder how the director persuaded so many great actors to take part in a low budget slasher film. Rigg plays the dutiful daughter with intensity and dedication.
I really enjoyed this film.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Funniest Horror Films Ever Made
Review: This is really a fun film to watch, especially if you are: A)Into Shakespeare's plays B) A disgruntled English major C) A frustrated writer/actor/artist who has been slighted by critics D) Someone who hates effete academic snobs with a passion. The Shakespeare afficiandos will be likely to get the most out of this film (although, make no mistake, it doesn't make great demands of the viewer) because each of the murder scenes is patterned after the more brutal murder scenes in Shakespeare's plays. And you only have to think of "Titus Andronicus" to remember just how grisly and gory and devilish the Bard could be in devising death and dismemberment for his characters (Lavinia getting her tongue cut out; the two sons being sliced up and put into a meat pie for their mother to eat--Ouch!). Vincent Price plays a really corny, ham-it-up Shakespearian actor named Edward Lionheart, who feels that he has been cheated out of an important award (which should have been the culminating event in his long career). The award goes to some young whippersnapper instead, and Lionheart goes insane with jealousy and rage. Here the fun begins. First he fakes his death (appearing to commit suicide out of despair) and then begins to exact revenge, one by one, on all of the drama/theater critics who ever wrote him bad reviews--all with the help of his lovely daughter (Diana Rigg), who lures the unwitting victims to her father. Lionheart draws his revenge out in order to savor it and ensures that each victim, before he/she dies, is fully aware of just who is going to kill them and why. That is the ideal revenge, of course--it must be slow, cruel, deliberate, and the victim must understand that it is just punishment for past transgressions. One is hacked to pieces by squatters armed with meat-cleavers and shards of glass, another is drowned in a barrel of wine, another is dragged behind a galloping horse, another has her head fried in one of those beauty-salon hair driers, one is anaesthetized and beheaded with a bone saw, one has the "pound of flesh" literally removed from his torso, and another is forced to eat his two prized poodles. Although the film is 30 years old now, it is still pretty gory by today's standards and probably not for the squeamish. The surgical beheading scene (a-la "Cymbeline") is guaranteed to elicit a wince and a shudder. But the film is also extremely humorous--not in the unintentional way that B-horror films usually are, but in a tongue-in-cheek, "black humor" sort of way--and this makes it so much fun to watch. Some of the funniest lines are the choice passages that Lionheart reads aloud to his victims before dispatching them--passages from critical essays (written by the victim in question) that pan Lionheart's performances. Really a neat little movie. After passing the comprehensive examinations for my M.A. in English, which were extremely gruelling (I was being ridiculed by a pompous professor who bore a striking resemblance to one of the critics in the film), I let off steam by watching this film and cheering for Price every time he moved in for the kill.
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