Tom Poston ends up in an old dark house in England during a huge storm. Inside lives a very weird family called the Femms. They're all hoping to get a huge inheritance--but only one must still be living. During the night, they all start getting killed off. The phones are dead, the roads are washed out--who will survive till day?
I had good memories seeing this as a kid on Saturday afternoon TV. I remembered it being funny and only scary at the very end when someone has a machete held to their throat! Seeing in now I can't figure out why I liked it.
The plot is dumb and ALL of the comedy is either childish or stupid--I didn't crack a smile once. The murders are bloodless and supposed to be funny (they aren't). Some of the acting is good. Poston is very good playing the straight man basically. Robert Morley hams it up as the head of the household. Janette Scott has the thankless "good girl" part (but plays it well) and Fanella Fielding REALLY chews the scenery as the bad girl Morgana. The script drags, the revelation of the killer is no surprise and there's tons of very unfunny slapstick. It's also VERY loud. Kids might like this--adults probably won't. I expected more from a co-production between William Castle and Hammer Studios.
Trivia note: For some reason this was released theatrically in black & white...it's in color on TV.
I had good memories seeing this as a kid on Saturday afternoon TV. I remembered it being funny and only scary at the very end when someone has a machete held to their throat! Seeing in now I can't figure out why I liked it.
The plot is dumb and ALL of the comedy is either childish or stupid--I didn't crack a smile once. The murders are bloodless and supposed to be funny (they aren't). Some of the acting is good. Poston is very good playing the straight man basically. Robert Morley hams it up as the head of the household. Janette Scott has the thankless "good girl" part (but plays it well) and Fanella Fielding REALLY chews the scenery as the bad girl Morgana. The script drags, the revelation of the killer is no surprise and there's tons of very unfunny slapstick. It's also VERY loud. Kids might like this--adults probably won't. I expected more from a co-production between William Castle and Hammer Studios.
Trivia note: For some reason this was released theatrically in black & white...it's in color on TV.