History Film / TheatreOfBlood

''Theatre of Blood'' is a 1973 British HorrorComedy film directed by Douglas Hickox and starring Creator/VincentPrice, who regarded it as one of his personal favorites. Also in the cast are Creator/DianaRigg and [[AllStarCast an impressive coterie]] of British character actors, including Creator/IanHendry, Harry Andrews, Coral Browne, Robert Coote, Jack Hawkins, Michael Hordern, Creator/ArthurLowe, Creator/RobertMorley, Dennis Price, Creator/EricSykes and Creator/DianaDors, to name just a few.

* PastimesProvePersonality: Devlin is a fencer; this characterises him both as well-off and intellectual, and (since despite its posh image it ''is'' based on fighting) as having more courage than the rest of the critics. [[spoiler:When facing his own death he goes for HonourBeforeReason while most of the others plead and beg.]] The only other character in the film to fence is Lionheart (who claims not to be very good at first, but then goes on to defeat Devlin--though they're not exactly following the normal rules of fencing, instead leaping around with sharp swords), which characterises him as WickedCultured and dangerous, and sets up Lionheart and Devlin as intellectual equals and {{WorthyOpponent}}s in a way that the other critics are not.

* CreepyCrossdresser: Lionheart's hippie NumberTwo, who assists him in the murders, is actually [[spoiler:Edwina, with a male WigDressAccent disguise.]]

%%* CampGay:%% CampGay requires the character to be explicitly homosexual.
%%** Meredith Merridew. He dresses mostly in pink, talks effeminately and has two poodles.
%%** Lionheart disguises himself as a campy ChattyHairdresser for one of the murders.

* ChattyHairdresser: A CampGay version with an afro hairstyle to boot. He plays AbhorrentAdmirer to the attending policeman to keep him out of the salon-- and away from his charge.

* SamusIsAGirl: Lionheart's lead henchman the British accented guy with the hippie glasses, afro, and beard turns out to be his daughter Edwina (Creator/DianaRigg).

* LoonyFan: Richard Lionheart might not have been terribly sane to begin with. It's mentioned at one point he only ever exclusively did Shakespeare plays.

* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler:Devlin]] offers to pay off the Tramps, thinking they will free him [[spoiler:however they check to see he can't escape the chair he's stuck in and leave him with the bodies of the Lionheart's and the award statuette as they lock him in the theatre with no chance of escaping or being found]].

* BlackComedy: Lionheart acts positively goofy throughout the movie, using various disguises and quotes along the way.

''Theatre of Blood'' is a 1973 British HorrorComedy film directed by Douglas Hickox and starring Creator/VincentPrice, who regarded it as one of his personal favorites. Also in the cast are Creator/DianaRigg and [[AllStarCast an impressive coterie]] of British character actors, including Creator/IanHendry, Harry Andrews, Coral Browne, Robert Coote, Jack Hawkins, Michael Hordern, Creator/ArthurLowe, Robert Morley, Dennis Price, Creator/EricSykes and Creator/DianaDors, to name just a few.

* AlienLunch / ExoticEntree: One critic is [[ForceFeeding forcibly fed]] his beloved poodles, mimicking a scene from ''Theatre/TitusAndronicus''.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Edward Kendal Sheridan Lionheart. A given, considering it’s a combination of two of the kings of England.

''Theatre of Blood'' is a 1973 British HorrorComedy film directed by Douglas Hickox and starring Creator/VincentPrice, who regarded it as one of his personal favorites. Also in the cast are Creator/DianaRigg and [[AllStarCast an impressive coterie]] of British character actors, including Creator/IanHendry, Harry Andrews, Coral Browne, Robert Coote, Jack Hawkins, Michael Hordern, Creator/ArthurLowe, Robert Morley, Dennis Price, Creator/EricSykes and Diana Dors, to name just a few.

* CampGay:
** Meredith Merridew. He dresses mostly in pink, talks effeminately and has two poodles.
** Lionheart disguises himself as a campy ChattyHairdresser for one of the murders.

* [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter Mad Actor's Beautiful Daughter]]: Edwina Lionheart [[spoiler: who's really DaddysLittleVillain and is basically TheDragon to her father]].

* IAteWhat: Merridew discovers partway through consuming what he thinks is a special meal that he is actually eating his beloved dogs.

''Theatre of Blood'' is a 1973 British HorrorComedy film directed by Douglas Hickox and starring Creator/VincentPrice, who regarded it as one of his personal favorites. Also in the cast are Creator/DianaRigg and [[AllStarCast an impressive coterie]] of British character actors, including Creator/IanHendry, Harry Andrews, Coral Browne, Robert Coote, Jack Hawkins, Michael Hordern, Arthur Lowe, Robert Morley, Dennis Price, Creator/EricSykes and Diana Dors, to name just a few.

* SkullForAHead: When Moon is killed, Lionheart has not only wired her up to a salon hairdryer but pulls the bonnet [[https://www.improbable.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/TheatreofBlood-2696-e1468854540358.jpg completely over her head]] before throwing the switch: when he cuts the juice and lifts up the bonnet, this is the result.

* BalloonBelly: Merridew gets the hose of a large sausage grinder jammed down his throat, and Lionheart proceeds to dump the pies and poodles in, [[https://64.media.tumblr.com/a4ee2550e30ae5f9d89a62e10ebc2dad/3723bf31f7eadcae-8a/s2048x3072/47373c21207547c1972a0544bd5c87823c86b30e.png causing his stomach to bulge grotesquely]] (one of the many death stage illusions created by Paul Kieve). It's possible that this happened in the original film too, but it's very downplayed as 1) the food is shoved in manually; 2) we only see a shot of Merridew's corpse at the end; and 3) Robert Morley is pretty dang round to begin with.

* BalloonBelly: Merridew gets the hose of a large sausage grinder jammed down his throat, and Lionheart proceeds to dump the pies and poodles in, [[https://www.improbable.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Theatre-of-Blood-2-e1468855645729.jpg causing his stomach to bulge grotesquely]] (one of the many death stage illusions created by Paul Kieve). It's possible that this happened in the original film too, but it's very downplayed as 1) the food is shoved in manually; 2) we only see a shot of Merridew's corpse at the end; and 3) Robert Morley is pretty dang round to begin with.

** [[spoiler:Lionheart]] doesn't die from [[falling]] he still quotes [[spoiler:Lear]] but he instead either has [[poisoned a communion wafer or has a heart attack lying next to Miranda]]. [[note]]I watched the Pro-shot so I'm unsure until I get a copy of the script.[[/note]]