We continue our "Vincent Price is really pissed off" film tour with this gem from 1974. I have a hard time believing that I've never seen this movie before, so it's possible I saw it years ago and have simply forgotten it in my old age. I see it was released under at least one alternate title (check out those nifty posters!) So maybe I saw it when it was called something else. Either way, it's another "angry Vincent Price getting revenge on those who have harmed him" movie. "House on Haunted Hill" is my favorite of these movies, so I hope this one is at least half as much fun as that one.
In this movie, Vincent Price plays the enigmatic "Dr. Death," a famous film villain from classic horror flicks. One night at a party in his honor, an adult film star is brutally murdered and Dr. Death was so drugged up that he wasn't even sure if he committed the murder. A trial eventually acquitted him, but his career is ruined after the scandal. Years later, he is understandably angry and bitter, living in seclusion while reporters pester him for interviews that he refuses to give. Eventually studio execs convince him to reprise his infamous role as Dr. Death, but soon the character seems to be committing murders again, independent of the actor's will. Can someone stop Dr. Death before it's too late?
It must be scary not knowing if your mind is going or not. Paul (Dr. Death) lives in a kind of hazy world between fantasy and reality. People keep dying around him, each mimicking one of the murder methods that Dr. Death used in his movies, and he can't remember what happened and if he committed the murders, and there isn't enough evidence to prove he did it, so the police and everyone suspect him, but they can't really do anything about it.
It's weird because on the one hand you pity Paul, because he's so confused, but on the other hand he's scary because he keeps acting like a lunatic. Vincent Price walks this line very well with his performance. It's a cool plot too, the mystery surrounding the deaths. The final showdown between Paul and Dr. Death, the character he plays, is creepy, and the ending has a twisted little twist that I appreciated. This is a cool little movie, and I'm glad I checked it out.
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