THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD (1971)
Article 2313 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-26-2007
Posting Date: 12-12-2007
Directed by Peter Duffell
Featuring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Jon Pertwee

An inspector from Scotland Yard visits a small town to investigate the disappearance of an actor. He is told the stories of four residents who lived in the house he had leased, all of which came to horrific ends.

It’s another Amicus anthology of Robert Bloch stories, and, for my money, it’s one of the lesser ones. This is not to say that it doesn’t have its moments; it does, with the third story (about a man who is afraid of his young daughter and treats her cruelly) perhaps the best. I also like the second story (about a wax museum), and the fourth story (about a horror actor who gets a cloak for a vampire movie that is a little too authentic) are also quite good. The first story (about a horror writer whose creation comes to life) nor the framing story do much for me though, and I think the movie fails in it establishing its premise that the house itself is the source of the evil; only in the first story does this seem so, whereas in the other stories, it definitely feels that the source of evil comes from other places. Peter Cushing does a good job as usual, and Jon Pertwee does a nice turn as the horror actor; he even makes an offhand reference to his castmate Christopher Lee, who is particularly good here as the father in the third story. However, I don’t think any of the stories here really hits the peaks of some of the other Amicus anthologies.