Bloodbath at the House of Death

Bloodbath at the House of Death - 1984 | 88 mins | Horror, Comedy | Colour

The Production Team

Director: Ray Cameron.
Producer: Ray Cameron and John Downes.
Script: Ray Cameron and Barry Cryer.
Cinematography: Dusty Miller and Brian West.
Film Editing: Brian Tagg.
Art Direction: John Sunderland.
Makeup Department: Eric Allwright.
Art Department: Heather Armitage.
Sound Department: Chris Munro.
Original Music: Mark London and Mike Moran.

The Cast

Kenny Everett - Dr. Lukas Mandeville
Pamela Stephenson - Dr. Barbara Coyle
Vincent Price - Sinister Man
Gareth Hunt - Elliot Broome
Don Warrington - Stephen Wilson
John Fortune - John Harrison
Sheila Steafel - Sheila Finch
John Stephen Hill - Henry Noland
Cleo Rocos - Deborah Kedding
Graham Stark - The Blind Man
David Lodge - Inspector Goule
Barry Cryer - Police Inspector

Plot Synopsis

Produced, directed and co-written by Ray Cameron, Bloodbath at The House of Death was collaboration between EMI and Wildwood Productions to provide a vehicle for madcap radio DJ and TV comic Kenny Everett. Filmed entirely on location at Potters Bar in Hertfordshire, this dreary and knowingly camp horror spoof contains a high degree of ridiculous overacting by Everett whilst the rest of the supporting cast desperately attempt to salvage the film by playing it straight. Only Vincent Price emerges with any credit as he joyously hams it up with a caricature of himself. The script was written by Everett's regular TV show writers Ray Cameron and Barry Cryer.

Ten years after a string of grisly murders, strong radiation readings bring a group of paranormal researchers led by the one-legged Dr Mandeville (Kenny Everett) and his assistant Dr Coyle (Pamela Stephenson) to investigate a haunted English estate called "Headstone Manor." Once the site of the bloody massacre of 18 people, the house is haunted by a moronic devil-worshipping coven and their exasperated leader: "The Sinister Man" (Vincent Price).

Also heading to the haunted manor are three more cars containing paranormal investigators: John Harrison (John Fortune) Sheila Finch (Sheila Steafel); also Elliot Broome (Gareth Hunt) and Stephen Wilson (Don Warrington); and finally American investigator Henry Noland (John Stephen Hill) and his attractive companion Deborah Kedding (Cleo Rocos). The inept Satanists are determined to expel the equally incompetent psychic experts from the house by creating a fire to summon up the exultant one, but they only succeed in cremating their leader.