Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

The House That Dripped Blood Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson June 24, 2018

The misleadingly titled The House That Dripped Blood is an omnibus film from Amicus that is made of four semi-related stories set in an old Victorian-style house. Each section is told in flashback through the present-set Framework Story. Inspector Holloway (John Bennett) is looking into the disappearance of an actor from the house. The exposition occurs through his interviews with real estate agent A. J. Stoker (John Bryans), who tells about past tenants who have occupied the famed house. Method for Murder, the first segment told in flashback, sees horror author Charles (Denholm Elliott) live in the house in an attempt to rid his writer block and regain his literary creativity. Charles writes about and does a sketch of a dark scoundrel named Dominick, who's the main character in his new novel. Creepy things begin occurring around the house and Charles starts having visions of Dominick. He thinks he sees him strangle his wife, Alice (Joanna Dunham), and even spots him lurking in broad daylight. Method for Murder is a strong opener by scribe Robert Bloch and star Denholm Elliott, who believes he's losing his mind through these seeming hallucinations (as his psychiatrist conjectures). The follow-up, Waxworks, has Philip (Peter Cushing), a retired stockbroker and widower, move into the same house. Upon visiting the town's wax museum, Philip spots an embalmed head that reminds him of his late wife. Charles's rival Rogers (Joss Ackland) pays a visit to the house and waxworks. He also notices the facial similarity to Charles's former spouse, who he presumably once dated. The wax museum is not a safe place to frequent as evidenced by its eldritch proprietor (Wolfe Morris).

The movie's next two parts are longer and more developed than its antecedents. Sweets to the Sweet is a deliciously fun vignette as Reid (Christopher Lee, who like Cushing, plays a widower) has signed a lease to move in with his young daughter, Jane (Chloe Franks). Reid has hired Ann (Nyree Dawn Porter) to act as a governess to Jane. Lee plays the part in such a stiff, uptight manner that one expects him to be the chief villain of the piece. But there's a reason that he keeps his distance from the sweet-faced Jane. Lee's wife ostensibly had a history of practicing witchcraft and he fears that she may have passed this on to their child. Sweets to the Sweet is a primogenitor to the Omen series and features not only customarily sterling work from Lee but also Chloe Franks, who became typecast in horror films at an early age. The film's swan song, titled The Cloak, was the most widely praised episode among critics. It certainly contains the most levity as it's a mini-mockumentary of Hammer Horror (even implicitly poking fun at Lee's Dracula). Geriatric Paul (Jon Pertwee) and his muse Carla (Ingrid Pitt) are playing the leads in a low-budget "bloodsucker" feature. Paul is frustrated by the cheap sets and tawdry wardrobes. He spruces up his role by purchasing a black cloak from a creepy and mysterious store vendor. Little does Paul know the magic powers the cloak brings when he dons it and becomes Count Dracula.

Director Peter Duffell and several of his cast members agree that the title chosen and imposed by the studio was ill-conceived and not reflective of the setting. Indeed, very little gore is shown. Duffell wanted to name the picture Death and the Maiden after Schubert's string quartet masterpiece. (This is played briefly by Cushing's Philip on a phonograph.) Thirteen years after the release of The House That Dripped Blood, Polanski took Schubert as his main inspiration and source in an adaptation of Ariel Dorfman's play, Death and the Maiden. (Warner: Where is the Blu-ray?)

In spite of deceiving critics and audiences with its fallacious title, The House That Dripped Blood was warmly received and is still considered one of the best British anthology horror films behind the likes of Dead of Night (1945). Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times was quite enthusiastic: "[S]o many notches above today's usual horror fare that it deserved an exclusive Hollywood Blvd. run before being released all over town." Jerry Renninger of the Palm Beach Post-Times wrote that "American filmmakers would do well to study the method of this British movie instead of salting their productions with heavy doses of sex and carnage....an adequate film if not a great one, but then, it makes no pretensions to greatness. Taken in its own context and for what it is worth, it's several cuts above some of the rubbish making the rounds this summer."

The House That Dripped Blood Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Shout! Factory has rolled out the worldwide Blu-ray debut of The House That Dripped Blood on this MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50. Duffell's four-part film appears in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The HD-sourced transfer seems to derive from a restored print that Hen's Tooth Video put out on DVD in 2013, a decade after the inaugural Lions Gate disc. The latter, according to The Video Graveyard, is "littered throughout with lots of film dirt and grain." DVD Drive-In's George R. Reis emphasized that the Hen's Tooth image "looks far better. The frequent print speckling and edge enhancement halos on that plagued the Lion's Gate DVD are nowhere to be found here, with the new clean transfer boasting improved color saturation, more accurate fleshtones and far crisper detail, with minor grain detectable in some shots." The film was also released in the UK by Anchor Bay and in Australia by Umbrella Entertainment using the LG print as its source. I've watched The House That Dripped Blood on two calibrated displays and the screenshots you see here may look brighter than it does in your tube, although Philip Sawyer of Michael's Region 4 DVD noted the Umbrella transfer appeared "bright without being washed out." Skin tones lean on the warm and pinkish side. Reds and greens are lush. Check out the picture postcard pose of Cushing in #17 and Elliot gazing into the lake in #16. I also watched the film thrice on another HDTV and the color schemes befit what critics described on the release prints. Bernard Drew of the Gannett News Service stated the picture is "appropriately photographed in gangrenous green and gray." The LA Times's Thomas commented on the "richly atmospheric settings" and "muted color photography." Both displays laid bare a good amount of grain in the frame that is nicely balanced. The average video bitrate for the feature is 31999 kbps while the total bitrate for the disc reaches a standard of 39.24 Mbps.

Shout! has given the 102-minute feature twelve scene selections.

The House That Dripped Blood Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

An English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Dual Mono (1578 kbps, 24-bit) mix is the one and only sound track. Anchor Bay created stereo and 5.1 remixes on its PAL disc but Shout! decided not to add any. The LG track reportedly had background hiss which is noticeably absent on the lossless monoaural. Dialogue is consistently audible, crisp, and clean. The unreleased musical score by Michael Dress is evocative, haunting, and a perfect complement to the house's dark inhabitants.

I watched the film twice with the optional English SDH and they are complete with few, if any, typographical errors.

The House That Dripped Blood Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian/Author Troy Howarth - an absolutely superlative audio essay on the film. Howarth wastes no time in delivering good and useful information on all aspects pertaining to The House That Dripped Blood and its cast/crew. Howarth speaks in a deliberative fashion and all his points are on-cue. His remarks are never hurried, however. In English, not subtitled.

• Audio Commentary with Director Peter Duffell and Author Jonathan Rigby - this track initially appeared on the Anchor Bay R2 UK release and Umbrella Entertainment R4 edition in Australia. It features Duffell in conversation with British horror expert Jonathan Rigby. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Interview with Second Assistant Director Mike Higgins (9:29, 1080p) - a fairly good if brief sit-down chat with Higgins, who reminisces about making The House That Dripped Blood. In English, not subtitled.

• Vintage Featurette - A-Rated Horror Film (17:03, 480i) - this recycled piece from the R2/R4 DVDs features interviews (ca. early 2000s) with director Peter Duffell, actors Geoffrey Bayldon, Ingrid Pitt, and Chloe Franks. In English, not subtitled.

• Theatrical Trailers (English and Spanish) (3:38)

• Radio Spots (3:28)

• The Amicus Radio Spots Collection (14:08)

• Still Gallery (5:04, 1080p)

The House That Dripped Blood Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The House That Dripped Blood is one of the better productions from the Amicus cannon and boasts redeeming qualities in all four of its episodes. Shout! Factory delivers an outstanding transfer and a remastered mono track that must sound as good as it did in cinemas back in 1971. Shout! has retained the extras from the European DVDs and recorded a new interview with the film's second assistant director. It loses the seven-minute interview with producer and Amicus co-founder, Max J. Rosenburg, which was on the '03 LG disc. The crown jewel on Shout!'s package is the audio commentary by Troy Howarth, which is essential listening. This is a MUST BUY for fans of Cushing and Lee and the release comes VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.