EDITOR’S NOTE: Theater of Death was on Chiller Theater on Saturday, October 9, 1976 at 11:30 p.m. and Saturday, June 2, 1979 at 1:00 a.m.
Theatre of Death (also released in the States under the wonderfully trashy title Blood Fiend) isn’t a Hammer picture. It was produced by London Independent Producers, distributed in the US by Hemisphere Pictures, and shot at Elstree Studios. Yet, it still manages to snag the absolute king of Euro-horror himself: Sir Christopher Lee.
Lee stars as Philippe Darvas, a total megalomaniac who directs stage shows for the Paris Theatre du Mort—a modern incarnation of the legendary, real-world Grand Guignol theatre that brought blood, murder and torture to French audiences from 1897 to 1962. Darvas isn’t just a tough boss; he hypnotizes his lead actresses to induce pure terror and almost lets real violence happen on stage.
Meanwhile, somebody is wandering around Paris draining women of their blood with sharp instruments. The police bring in medical doctor Charles Marquis (Julian Glover, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Empire Strikes Back) to consult on the case. Marquis realizes they’re dealing with a killer who thinks they’re a vampire. Naturally, all eyes turn to the sinister, hypnotizing, cloak-wearing Darvas. But because this is a 60s mystery disguised as a vampire shocker, you can bet there are plenty of twists up its sleeve.
Director Samuel Gallu wasn’t your typical horror auteur—he was a former operatic tenor who actually sang for Arturo Toscanini! Legend has it that between takes, Gallu and Lee would hurl famous opera arias back and forth across the set.
The film boasts some fantastic visual polish thanks to cinematographer Gilbert Taylor, who shot this in widescreen Techniscope. Taylor went on to shoot Dr. Strangelove, Repulsion, The Omen and Star Wars. You can see his eye at work here—whether framing Lee in front of Georges de la Tour’s 1645 painting The Newborn in his fireplace mantel or capturing the lurid Grand Guignol acts.
While Theatre of Death doesn’t quite push the boundaries of total sleaze or maintain non-stop Gothic dread, it’s a fast-paced 91-minute mystery with great atmosphere, fake gore, voodoo dance sequences (complete with The Tony Scott Drummers) and Christopher Lee eating up the scenery.
You can watch this on YouTube.
