1.0 out of 5 stars
Yes, it's that bad., January 23, 2012
This review is from: House of Black Death [VHS] (VHS Tape)
No matter how many bad things one hears about a particular movie over the years, it is still possible to be shocked and appalled upon actually seeing it. "House of the Black Death" is one of those movies. It is literally impossible to describe how thoroughly inept, dull and boring it is. Unlike the "masterpieces" of Ed Wood, Jr., there is no "so-wretched-it's-hilarious" quotient here. It is dull, dull, dull, with atrociously-acted scenes that go on forever with no change of camera angle, and actors speaking like they've learned the lines phonetically in a foreign language, even though they haven't. Lon Chaney and John Carradine play Belial and Andre Desard, warlock brothers--Lon's bad; John's good--who battle for power and fortune. There is also a scion of the Desard family, in the form of Tom Drake, and two visiting doctors (for some reason), played by Andrea King and someone named Jerome Thor, whose pet dog is killed by the sinister inhabitants of the witch-infested village of Widderburn. A couple of scenes of the robed-and-hooded villagers against the fog-shrouded town do actually muster up a little bit of creepy atmosphere, but they don't last long. There is also a werewolf on the loose, and a belly-dancer named Sabrina, who gyrates at the drop of a cowl, while Chaney stands in front of her, seeming to wonder whether he's still on camera or not. Even bad horror movie aficionados (and I consider myself to be one) will be in agony while watching this. It's that bad. I hope Lon and John got paid a lot...but given the production values, including photography that cuts off people's heads, I doubt it.
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