Theatre of Blood

Edward Lionheart, a Shakespearean actor savaged by critics for years, is believed to have killed himself, but he is alive and begins murdering those critics one by one. Each killing is lifted from a play, from Titus Andronicus to Othello, from King Lear to The Merchant of Venice. Douglas Hickox runs black comedy alongside horror, and Vincent Price plays it as though mocking his own career; he later called it his favourite of his films. Diana Rigg plays his daughter. The murdered critics are played by well-known British actors of the period, so the casting is itself a joke. There is plenty of blood and the register stays theatrical throughout. Who it is for: viewers who like seventies British horror comedy and Vincent Price. Who it is not for: anyone wanting realistic suspense, since this behaves like a stage production.