Review: Vincent Price Does Killer Shakespeare in "THEATRE OF BLOOD"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 10 of 2022 (No. 1822) by Leroy Douresseaux

Theatre of Blood (1973)
Running time:  104 minutes (1 hour, 44 minutes)
DIRECTOR:  Douglas Hickox
WRITERS: Anthony Greville-Bell (based on an idea by Stanley Mann and John Kohn)
PRODUCERS:  John Kohn and Stanley Mann
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Wolfgang Suschitzky (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Malcolm Cooke
COMPOSER:  Michael J. Lewis

THRILLER/HORROR with elements of comedy

Starring:  Vincent Price, Diana Rigg, Ian Hendry, Harry Andrews, Robert Coote, Michael Hordern. Robert Morley, Coral Browne, Jack Hawkins, Arthur Lowe, Dennis Price, Milo O'Shea, and Eric Sykes

Theatre of Blood is a 1973 British horror-thriller and dark comedy from director Douglas Hickox.  The film stars Vincent Price as a scorned Shakespearean actor who takes revenge on his critics using the plays of William Shakespeare as reference for his diabolical methods of murder.

Theatre of Blood opens with a murder.  “Theatre Critics Guild” member, George Maxwell (Michael Hordern), is repeatedly stabbed by a mob of homeless people turned murderers.  Maxwell and his fellow guild members recently humiliated Shakespearean actor, Edward Kendal Sheridan Lionheart (Vincent Price).  He was thought to have committed suicide by jumping from the balcony of the guild's headquarters.  Instead, Lionheart was rescued by the very vagrants and homeless people that hehas  recruited to his cause – revenge against the critics who failed to acclaim his genius.

Now, Lionheart has targeted the eight remaining members of the Theatre Critics Guild, designing their deaths using murder scenes from the plays of William Shakespeare.  The police are trying to discover the identity of the killers, and even after they do, they still can't seem to stop him.  Only one of his targets, critic Peregrine Devlin (Ian Hendry), seems smart enough to foil Lionheart.  However, Devlin has no idea just how obsessed and focused Lionheart is.

Vincent Price (1911–1993) was an American actor and a legendary movie star, in addition to being an author and art historian.  Price was and still is best known for his performances in horror films, although his career spanned other genres.  Price appeared in more than 100 films, but he also performed on television, the stage, and on radio.

I am currently reading the wonderful comic book miniseries, Elvira Meets Vincent Price, which is written by David Avallone, drawn by Juan Samu, and published by Dynamite Entertainment.  The series will end shortly, and because I have enjoyed reading it so much, I decided to watch and review a Vincent Price movie.  The first Vincent Price movie that I can remember seeing was Theatre of Blood (known as Theater of Blood in the United States).  As I haven't seen it since that first time, I decided to watch it again.

I remember really liking this movie the first time I saw it, and I enjoyed it watching it again.  Theatre of Blood is both a horror-thriller and a dark comedy, something I did not get watching it as a youngster.  Truthfully, however, Theatre of Blood is a monster movie – a Vincent Price monster movie.

At first, I found myself enjoying Edward Lionheart's revenge and the games of death he plays with his enemies, the critics who would not give him the honor he believes he is due.  Then, I noticed that Lionheart's murderous crusade drags in an ever growing number of innocents and collateral damage.  At that point, I was forced to realize that the beguiling Lionheart is a deranged maniac and probably has been one for a long time.

After I accepted that Lionheart was neither hero nor anti-hero, but was instead a lunatic, I began to enjoy Price's not-quite-over the top performance, with its alternating layers of madness, subtlety, elegance, and maniacal glee.  By the time, I finished Theatre of Blood, I realized a few things.  One is that I need a regular dose of Vincent Price cinema in my life.  Another is that I will absolutely recommend this movie to you, dear readers.

8 of 10
A

Wednesday, March 2, 2022


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Comics Review: "THE MAGIC ORDER 2 #5" is the Ultimate Penultimate Issue

THE MAGIC ORDER 2 #5 (OF 6)
IMAGE COMICS/Netflix

STORY: Mark Millar
ART: Stuart Immonen
COLORS: David Curiel
LETTERS: Clem Robins
COVER: Stuart Immonen
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Stuart Immonen; Ryan Sook
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (March 2022)

Rated M / Mature

The Magic Order created by Mark Millar at Netflix

The Magic Order was a six-issue comic book miniseries written by Mark Millar and drawn by Olivier Coipel.  Published in 2018-19, The Magic Order focused on the sorcerers, magicians, and wizards that protect humanity from darkness and from monsters of impossible sizes.

We are now deep into a second six-issue miniseries, The Magic Order 2.  It is written by Mark Millar; drawn by Stuart Immonen; colored by Sunny Gho and David Curiel; and lettered by Clem Robins.  The new series focuses on a magical turf war between The Magic Order and its new leader, Cordelia Moonstone, and a group of Eastern European warlocks whose ancestors the Order once banished.

The Magic Order 2 #5 opens with the story of Francis King and his father, the Lord King.  Then, in the forests outside Bucharest, The Magic Order gathers to battle the warlock Victor Korne and his allies.  This may be the Order's final bid to keep Korne from gaining the last piece of the Stone of Thoth, a talisman from ancient Egypt that summons anything from space, time, and beyond.  But Cordelia and the Order have been a few steps behind their enemies since this conspiracy began, and now, it is worse than ever.

THE LOWDOWN:  As I wrote in my review of the fourth issue:  with each issue, The Magic Order 2 surpasses it predecessor.  That is quite the accomplishment, as the first miniseries, The Magic Order, was and is awesome.

If The Magic Order series is not the best English-language, magical fantasy comic book franchise of the twenty-first century, it is damn close.  In The Magic Order 2 #5, Mark Millar offers a penultimate issue that would make a monster of a final issue.  I may be running out of words to describe how good this series is, but luckily, Millar is not cursed with my deficiency because the words in his storytelling are magic.

Stuart Immonen turns Millar's script into superb comic book storytelling, but what else is new?  Immonen has been an ass kicker in storytelling for ages, so he must be a member of The Magic Order.  David Curiel's lovely colors make the story pop off the page, and Clem Robins' lettering super-charges art and colors that are already super-charged.

Comic book readers who hate good comic books are not reading The Magic Order 2.  Are you reading it, dear readers?

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Mark Millar and of The Magic Order will want to read The Magic Order 2.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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Comics Review: "Nita Hawes' NIGHTMARE Blog #5" is Dark and Hell is Hot

NITA HAWES' NIGHTMARE BLOG #5
IMAGE COMICS

STORY: Rodney Barnes
ART: Szymon Kudranski
COLORS: Luis Nct with mar and Silvestre Galotto
LETTERS: Marshall Dillon
EDITOR: Greg Tumbarello
COVER: well-BEE
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Jason Shawn Alexander
28pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S. (March 2022)

Rated “M/ Mature”

Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog created by Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander

“The Fire Next Time” Part V: “Soul Searching”

Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog is a comic book series created by Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander.  Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog is written by Barnes.  It has been drawn by the artists Jason Shawn Alexander, well-BEE, and Patrick Reynolds, with Szymon Kudranski being the current artist.  Colorist Luis Nct and letterer by Marshall Dillon complete the creative team.  The series focuses on a woman who is on a quest to root out the evil in her city.

In Baltimore, Maryland, which some call “Bodymore, Murderland,” there is a woman named Dawnita “Nita” Hawes.  She is the owner of “Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog” where citizens can contact Nita when they have a problem of a supernatural or paranormal nature.  Nita has just begun her quest to root the evil out of her city – with the help of her dead brother, Jason.

As Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog #5 (“Soul Searching”) opens, an elderly, wheel-chair bound Steve Carpenter attends the graveside funeral of his son, daughter-in-law, and two grandsons.  Once upon a time, Carpenter and his late business partner, Harry Boartfield, owned the recording contract of the legendary blues singer, “Howlin'” Henry Hawkins.  Old Henry gave his body over to one of the four demon kings, Corson, to pay back Carpenter and Boartfield for screwing him over.  Carpenter's kin just happened to be on the worst end of the payback.

Somewhere down below, our new favorite paranormal investigator, Nita Hawes, is philosophizing with a big boss demon.  And if that weren't bad enough, Nita will end up in a still worse place and have to deal with an ex – someone familiar to us.

THE LOWDOWN:  Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog is a spin-off of Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander's hit vampire comic book, Killadelphia.  Nita's connections to the series play a big part in this opening story arc, “The Fire Next Time,” which has reached it penultimate issue.

Writer Rodney Barnes approaches Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog with the same force of imagination with which he brings to Killadelphia.  However, Nita Hawes is the eye of the storm in her own series in a way that no single character in Killadelphia is.  In that way, Nita has power in a manner that the character John Constantine had in his series, Hellblazer.  Since DC Comics ruined Hellblazer, Barnes' has created the perfect series to take its place.

Artist Szymon Kudranski current run as the series' artist is straight hellfire.  Kudranski brings Barnes' occult infusions to life with madness and magic, and he makes the “Nightmare” in the title stay nightmarish.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Killadelphia and of the original Hellblazer will want Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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Comics Review: "SHEENA Queen of the Jungle #4" is an Excellent Fourth Issue

 

SHEENA: QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE VOLUME 2 #4
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

STORY: Stephen Mooney
ART: Jethro Morales
COLORS: Dinei Ribero
LETTERS: Taylor Esposito
EDITOR: Joseph Rybandt
COVER: Lucio Parrillo
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Rose Besch; Arthur Suydam; Joseph Michael Linsner; Leslie Leirix; Ken Haeser; Jimmy Broxton; Lucio Parrillo; Rachel Hollon (cosplay)
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (March 2022)

Rated Teen+

Sheena originally created by S.M. “Jerry” Iger and Will Eisner

Sheena, Queen of the Jungle is an American comic book character.  She first appeared in the British magazine, Wags #46 ( January 1938), and was created by legendary American comic book creators, Will Eisner and S. M. “Jerry” Iger.  Sheena made her first American appearance in Jumbo Comics #1 (Fiction House, cover dated: September 1938) where she was a mainstay until 1953.  Sheena was also the first female comic book character to star in her own series.  A “jungle girl heroine,” Sheen was an orphan, like Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan, who had adventures featuring African natives, wild animals, and white hunters and villains.

Dynamite began publishing Sheena comics in 2017 with a series that ran ten issues.  Dynamite is debuting a second series, Sheena: Queen of the Jungle, Volume 2.  It is written by Stephen Mooney; drawn by Jethro Morales; colored by Dinei Ribero; and lettered by Taylor Esposito.  The story finds Sheena investigating the strange goings on in “MegaPark,” Cardwell Industries' cutting-edge bio-dome in the middle of the Val Verde jungle.

Sheena: Queen of the Jungle, Volume 2 #4 opens with a flashback.  We see how Sheena lost her missing trio of animal friends and what brought her to MegaPark.  Now, those friends are the prizes in a game that involves hunting Sheena.

Meanwhile, in the forest of this biodome/park, Sheena has united with Beatrice Toussaint.  She is the skinwalker who can transform into the giant jaguar that has been killing all the tourists/hunters.  Will they truly unite to fight the men that would kill them?  And even if they survive, they must discover who is really behind the death, the destruction, and all their recent problems.

THE LOWDOWN:  In July 2021, Dynamite Entertainment's marketing department began providing me with PDF review copies of some of their titles.  One of them is Sheena Queen of the Jungle Volume 2 #4, which is the fourth Dynamite Sheena comic book that I have read.

Sheena Queen of the Jungle Volume 2 is one of my favorite Dynamite titles.  The entire creative team:  Stephen Mooney, Jethro Morales, Dinei Ribero; and Taylor Esposito is doing stellar work.  I didn't think that they could top last issue's tale of Beatrice Toussaint, which was was filled with magic and mystery.  But of course, they did.

The action adventure is an invigorating mix of Tarzan and Indiana Jones, and I can never get enough.  If blood and gore are your thing, however, Sheena and Beatrice know how to chop up their opponents.  Dear readers, you will love this comic book.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Sheena will want to try Sheena Queen of the Jungle Volume 2.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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Comics Review: "HELL SONJA #3" Takes the Fight ... to Heaven?!

HELL SONJA, VOLUME 1 #3
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

STORY: Christopher Hastings
ART: Pasquale Qualano
COLORS: Ellie Wright
LETTERS: Jeff Eckleberry
EDITOR: Nate Cosby
COVER: Lucio Parrillo
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Joseph Michael Linsner; Jae Lee with June Chung; Junggeun Yoon; Joseph Michael Linsner; Jamie Biggs; Pasquale Qualano; Lucio Parrillo; Gracie the Cosplay Lass (cosplay)
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (March 2022)

Rated Teen+

Based on the characters and stories created by Roy Thomas, Barry Windsor-Smith, and Robert E. Howard

Conan the Barbarian #23 (cover dated: February 1973) saw the debut of a high fantasy, sword and sorcery heroine, Red Sonja.  Created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith, Red Sonja was loosely based on “Red Sonya of Rogatino,” a female character that appeared in the 1934 short story, “The Shadow of the Vulture,” written by Robert E. Howard (1906-1936), the creator of the character, Conan the Cimmerian.

Red Sonja remained a fixture in comic books from then until about 1986.  In 2005, Dynamite Entertainment began publishing comic books featuring differing versions of the character.  One of those is a spin-off title, Hell Sonja.  The series is written by Christopher Hastings; drawn by Pasquale Qualano; colored by Ellie Wright; and lettered by Jeff Eckleberry.  The series focuses on Hell Sonja, who intercepts the prayers of the desperate and then, sends her team of champions to fill Hell's belly with would-be conquerors and those most deserving of its punishment.

Hell Sonja #2 opens in … Heaven?!  Why are the Hell Sonjas leading a raid on Heaven itself?  Is there a war between two opposite realms?

No, the Hell Sonja team of Red Sonja, Blue Sonja, Gold Sonja, and Moon Sonja have taken a mission in a virtual reality paradise for the dead, a planet-sized computer mainframe that keeps digital soul copies happy in perpetuity.  The Heaven Server, however, has been corrupted by “Root Rot,” a living, jacked-in hacker that wishes to rewrite the afterlife to his wishes.  Now, it's up to the Sonjas to wrangle his digital soul before they can pull the plug on his body, dragging both down to Hell!

Meanwhile, the “Fungiverse” …

THE LOWDOWN:   In July 2021, Dynamite Entertainment's marketing department began providing me with PDF review copies of some of their titles.  One of them is Hell Sonja #3, which is one of several Red Sonja-related comic books that I have read

Hell Sonja has turned out to be a bit more than I expected it to be.  Christopher Hastings' scripts are surreal and crazy.  The hereafter as data in a planet-sized computer mainframe is a bit much to simply ignore.  Hastings makes me pay attention; I can say that much about Hell Sonja.  I think this series is hitting its stride at the right time.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Red Sonja and of Sonjaversal will want to try Hell Sonja.

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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Comics Review: "DIE!NAMITE Never Dies! Volume 3 #1" Welcomes Tarzan

DIE!NAMITE NEVER DIES! VOLUME 3 #1
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

STORY: Fred Van Lente
ART: Vincenzo Carratù
COLORS: Kike J. Diaz
LETTERS: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
EDITOR: Nate Cosby
COVER: Tony Fleecs
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Arthur Suydam; Lesley Leirix; Jamie Biggs; Lucio Parrillo; Gracie the Cosplay Lass (cosplay)
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (March 2022)

Rated Teen+

DIE!namite is a series of zombie apocalypse comics from Dynamite Entertainment that utilizes some of the publisher's most popular characters and licensed properties.  The latest is DIE!namite Never Dies!  It is written by Fred Van Lente; drawn by Vincenzo Carratu; colored by Kike J. Diaz; and lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

DIE!namite Never Dies! Volume 3 #1 opens in the Uziri National Forest, at the Kenya/Tanzania border, where a spacecraft of some type crashes.  This is also the home of Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) and his Jane, his wife, and Korak, his infant son.  Alerted to the crash, Tarzan soon encounters … “Zombie Dinosaurs!”

Meanwhile, Evil Sonja, Vampirella, and Pantha arrive and are on the hunt for vampires and zombies.  So how does all this tie into Mars (Barsoom)?

THE LOWDOWN:  In July 2021, Dynamite Entertainment's marketing department began providing me with PDF review copies of some of their titles.  One of them is DIE!namite Never Dies! Volume 3 #1.  It is only the fourth DIE!namite comic that I have read, although I've known of the series since it first began.

I don't have much to say about DIE!namite Never Dies! Volume 3 #1, which is like any other issue in this series … except that there is Tarzan, and I am a fan of the character.  I must admit that Tarzan brings something extra to the series.

Fred Van Lente offers a first issue that intrigues.  The art team of artist Vincenzo Carratu and colorist Kike J. Diaz present some nice looking art and clear storytelling.  So I think DIE!namite Never Dies! Volume 3 has potential, enough to make me come back for the second issue.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of DIE!namite will want DIE!namite Never Dies! Volume 3.

[This comic book includes “Dynamite Dispatch,” which features an interview with writer Fred Van Lente.]

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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Negromancer Marches Into March 2022

Welcome to March 2022. Welcome to Negromancer 2.0.  This is the rebirth of Negromancer, the former movie review website as a new movie review and movie news site.

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