Directed by Douglas Hickox
A Shakespearean actor takes poetic revenge on the critics who denied him recognition.
Théatre de sang, El Mercader de la Muerte, Matar o no matar, este es el problema, Theater of Blood, Oscar insanguinato, Théatre de Sang, Theater des Grauens, Matar o no matar, éste es el problema, Το Θέατρο του Αίματος, As Sete Máscaras da Morte, תיאטרון הדמים, Blodkabinettet, Кървава сцена, Театр крови, Krwawy teatr, 血染莎剧场, Teatrul însângerat, Krvavé divadlo, 피의 극장, Театр крові
USA 
CanadaR USA 
UK 
Ireland12 
France12 
Germany16 UK15 Canada France Germany Ireland UK USA 
Imagine the thrill of getting to kill your biggest critics. Now imagine that as Vincent Price.
Forever my favorite genre actor—I’ve seen a solid 50+ of his movies and haven’t seen a bad performance yet. He’s so deliciously devious in this I can’t help but sit here and watch with a giant shit eating grin on my face.
Yeah, I’m sure Shakespeare would’ve appreciated his works being endlessly adapted into both Oscar bait and genre films year in and year out (I mean, who doesn’t love a nice dry hand job from Kenneth Branagh every now and then?), but you know what he would’ve loved even more? Vincent Price using his plays as an excuse to put on an absolute masterclass in hamminess as a petty, slighted thespian who slices & stabs & drowns & force-feeds & electrocutes his critics to death with surprisingly legit blood and gore in a dark comedy revenge tale homage to the creativity and uniqueness of Shakespeare’s own penchant for grisly murder scenes. Who needs another black-and-white overly faithful take on Macbeth when you can have Vinnie P and a young smokeshow Diana Rigg graphically cutting a dude’s heart out of his chest?
The genius of the film is recognizing that Shakespeare’s plays are stocked with heinous and gruesome scenes; however, they usually took place off stage in Jacobean times and were stagey and anemically filmed on the screen prior to 1971 (Polanski’s Macbeth.) What would it be like if Hector was really dragged tied to the tail a horse, or Caesar slashed down by a mob of amateurs, or if Iago had extracted a pound of flesh from Antonio? It’s a testimony to the infinite fungibility of Shakespeare that he can be used as the basis for a thespian gore-fest.
Vincent Price is at his absolute best as a crazed Prospero with a cast of drunken minion Calibans and a homicidal Cordelia,…
*ominously whisks an egg
Man, I once wrote a bad review for one of Edward Lionheart's Shakespeare adaptations, and not long afterwards, he let a frickin' bear loose in my house! The only reason why I didn't end up like Antigonus in The Winter's Tale was because I started flailing my arms frantically and began yelling the lyrics to Natalie Imbruglia's Torn (don't judge me, I was in an emotionally vulnerable place). Before I knew it, the bear made its exit and I was safe again. It's a real miracle I didn't end up getting mauled.
That's actually the whole reason why I stopped writing reviews for stage plays and started posting my write-ups for movies on letterboxd; this is a much less dangerous occupation.
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I watched this awesome movie with Michelle.
I’m going to give this a 4 just to stop Vincent price coming after me because I dismissed his film. Anyways haha this is great it’s such fun to watch Vincent price slowly hunt down each of the critics that dismissed him and killing each of them in remarkably creative ways. It’s never too dark in subject matter even if it does go there in places it’s overall pretty tongue in cheek there’s so much fun to have here while amongst that you get a Vincent price performance at the height of his talents. Overall I strongly recommend due to absurdly fun nature here and the strong influence this has had on later horrors.
Shakespearean actor Edward Lionheart (Vincent Price) exacts revenge on the critics who humiliated him, in this horror comedy co-starring Diana Rigg and Ian Hendry.
It’s a lot of fun, with Price having a blast in the lead role, staying just the right side of over-the-top. The film was apparently a favourite of his, and it definitely gives him a fantastic showcase. He’s backed by a whole host of names including Robert Morley, Jack Hawkins and Coral Browne (who married Price the following year), all adding to the story.
It’s very tongue-in-cheek, although some of the earlier scenes are actually quite creepy, but it never takes itself too seriously, which adds to the enjoyment. The film starts to run out of steam a bit in the middle, as the structure becomes repetitive, but more than makes up for it with a truly epic finale.
Overall, Theatre of Blood is an entertaining, campy horror with a lot of style.
Happy birthday, Vincent ♥️
Theatre of Blood sees the great Vincent Price at his over the top best. His performance in this film is an exaggerated self parody, starring as Shakespearean actor Edward Lionheart as he takes revenge on the critics that ruined his career by murdering them in tribute to The Bard. The film riffs heavily on the earlier Abominable Dr Phibes - taking up a similar tone and plot progression, though this time really ramping up the absurd camp and black humour. Price is absolutely in his element here - taking the scenary chewing performance to preposterous new highs; his character acting out scenes from Shakespeare aswell as moonlighting as a campy chef, hairdresser, masseuse and more. The death scenes are varied…
"Theatre of Blood" is an over-the-top campy (and I guess the closest term would be) slasher. The film stars the incomparable Vincent Price as a disgruntled Shakespearean actor, Edward Lionheart. Expecting to receive an award for his final performance before retiring, he's snubbed by the critics and overlooked. After a failed suicide attempt, he gets the help of some homeless people to exact his vengeance upon every critic who gave him a bad review. He does this by murdering said critic in the same manner as the main character did in the Shakespearean play he starred in, and received the bad review from.
This is one hundred percent Vincent Price's film; he owns every second of screen time he's present…
Similar in many ways to Price’s Abominable Dr. Phibes films in that there are these elaborate, themed killings followed by joyous pageantry. Here, it’s Shakespeare recitals. Price’s character in both parts is presumed dead by all, and revenge is his motive. As the body count rises, the baffled police slowly close in on him. So very familiar, it’s almost like a third Phibes film. Huzzah!
This is Vincent Price at his peak, and I’d argue it’s peak Diana Rigg as well. Price seems to have been given the freedom to ham it up and play as flamboyantly as he wanted while adorned in a number of intricate, sometimes outrageous costumes to fit the theme of his murders. Riggs acts as…
Vincent Price performing Shakespeare and silencing his critics. This movie rocks. Creative kills abound in this revenge slasher+ as Edward Lionheart and his island of misfit toys reenact the murders from his Shakesperean repertory theater run, exacting those murders on the very critics who panned them. Loved the beheading scene but the trampoline sword duel 🤺 was 🔥. Tons of cheese, but this is all the better for it. A total blast to see Price and Rigg, two icons performing together. Killer pick, Sam. Loved this.
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Degrees of Kevin Bacon: 2
1. Vincent Price and Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands
2. Johnny Depp and Kevin Bacon in Black Mass
