October Horror Movie Challenge: The House That Dripped Blood (1971)

 This one has been on my mind a lot lately, and when I saw that today's movie was Anthology (and I rechecked!) I knew I was going to pull this one out. It has been years since I have seen this.

The House That Dripped Blood (1971)

Vampires, Witches! Psycho killers, Weird waxworks! Peter Cushing! Christopher Lee! Ingrid Pitt! and Jon Pertwee? Ok. What sort of alternate universe Hammer film has all of these Hammer Horror mainstays in it?  Well...it's not a Hammer film, but rather by Amicus Productions. Or the Hammer that Americans made while in England. I am not trying to dismiss Amicus, but that is a good way to describe them.  This might be one of their best in a genre they were pretty well known for.  

This is movie is a classic for many reasons. You can see it's DNA in everything from the Horror anthology shows of the 1980s, especially one like Friday the 13th the Series to the American Horror Story season Murder House. 

There are four stories of goings-on in the house, each leading to murder and death with the framing story of a missing actor Paul Henderson, played over the top by Jon "The Third Doctor" Pertwee either when he just got the Doctor Who role or just before it.

I could go over all four stories, but you can read about them anywhere, instead, I want to talk about the movie as a whole.

First off we do not get Cushing, Lee, and Pitt in the same scenes, which is a freaking crime, really. Each one is in their own tale.  

Secondly. The movie is worth watching just for this scene alone.

Robert Bloch wrote the movie screenplay, but the individual stories came from various Pulp-era magazines like Wierd Tales and Unknown. So if these feel like, say Creepshow the Movie or Tales from the Crypt there is good reason.

A few other points. "Sweets for the Sweet" is one with Christopher Lee and features the cutest little witch this side of Wendy the Witch. Reminded me a little of the Twilight Zone episode The Most Toys. 

Watching this and knowing Pertwee was in it I thought about Peter Cushing's role as "Dr. Who" and thought we really, really needed a movie with his Doctor and Christopher Lee as the Master. Typecasting? Maybe, but I would have loved it.

I am pretty sure I have seen this house in other movies.

Pertwee commented on Dracula and how he like Lugosi but not "the new guy" who of course was Lee.

The owner of the house was "A.J. Stoker" something that even Pertwee's character remarks on.

This was a fun flick. Not a scary one, but a foundational one for any horror buff.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2023
Viewed: 7
First Time Views: 2