We continue our tour of movies where Vincent Price is really pissed off with this one from 1973. I think I saw this movie before, but it didn't register with me, so I wanted to watch it again at a time when I can devote more attention to it. I like movies where filmmakers strike back against their critics. "Lady in the Water" did it too, with M. Night Shyamalan poking back at some of his harshest critics. He didn't torture and kill them in epic setpieces, though, and I think the guy in this movie does, just based on those movie posters. I can't wait to see what happens here.
This movie is about a famous Shakespearean actor, Edward Lionheart (played by Vincent Price) who is presumed dead, but he shows up again (surprise bitches!) to get revenge on his most vicious critics over the years. It seems Lionheart is furious that he didn't win a prestigious acting award, so he tries to commit suicide, but he is rescued by a group of drunken bums who become his entourage (oh the irony) and he takes this opportunity, while everyone assumes he is dead, to get his revenge. Each critic he kills in the manner of death from a famous Shakspearean play. Damn.
We get a glimpse of what causes Lionheart to feel such rage early in the movie when we see a smug critic guy who's laughing about a line in his review that viciously attacked the actress's performance. That is pretty telling. I don't like writing negative reviews. I watch movies because I love watching movies, and I hope to enjoy every movie I see, I don't skip with glee because I have to say something mean. What a douchebag. No wonder he pissed people off enough to want to kill him.
I don't condone murder or anything, but I can kinda see this guy's point. The victims certainly seem to have it coming (maybe not death, but they're all pretty happy with themselves as they post nasty rants that ruin people's lives). It's like one of the detectives says, if a production fails, actors and writers and other crew members are out of a job and struggling to stay alive, so it makes sense that people would want revenge. Of course he says this in front of a bunch of critics who all dismiss his diatribe. They don't want to take responsibility for ruining lives; they only care if their reviews are popular.
"Theater of blood" is another term used to describe surgeries that take place in hospitals, viewable by those who sit in seats above and watch the operation. There's a scene that makes a mockery of this practice, where Edward Lionheart, surrounded by his crew of bums, performs a brutal mutilation on one of his victims as though he were a doctor performing a necessary surgery. It's pretty grisly. This movie is supposed to be a comedy, but it's more sad to me than funny. Blood and guts and torture, and no one seems to learn a lesson from any of it. It's kinda depressing.
The cops in this movie are like the worst cops ever. They don't believe who the killer is, even after tons of evidence piles up (seriously, Hitler left less clues) and then when they DO finally believe Lionheart is doing the killing (after getting a grisly present in the mail), they make a half-assed attempt to protect the next victims by sending "guards" along with them who basically just sit there while they all get murdered or chase a drunk guy in a car until they crash into a tree and then STILL don't stop the murder from happening. Great job guys.
All the murders are pretty nasty too. I'm never eating a pot pie again, that's for sure. Once the movie winds down and the person arguably most guilty is being targeted, the final showdown is worth the price of admission. I never knew Vincent Price could be this disgusting. My view of him as a classy actor is forever tarnished now, but he does a great job being disgusting in this movie. Overall I enjoyed this one (now excuse me while I go vomit).
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