House of the Long Shadows │ Kino Lorber
Courtesy of Kino Lorber
by CHAD KENNERK
Unable to secure the rights to remake The Old Dark House, director Pete Walker and screenwriter Michael Armstrong set about creating an homage to classic horror using the bones of the mystery novel Seven Keys to Baldpate—marking the seventh time the story had been adapted for film. The result was the 1983 British horror comedy House of the Long Shadows, which brought iconic horror legends Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and John Carradine together for the first (and only) time.
When young novelist Kenneth Magee (Desi Arnaz, Jr.) makes a $20,000 bet with his publisher (Richard Todd) that he can churn out a best-selling Wuthering Heights-style novel in 24 hours, he finds himself spending the night at the spooky Baldpate Manor. Instead of writing, he becomes preoccupied with the caretakers and numerous guests that unexpectedly arrive throughout the night. All the various ingredients and cliches of a classic ‘old dark house’ tale come together to spoof the genre. Horror buffs will appreciate figuring out all of the nods to other films. The drive to the manor house, for instance, is a direct homage to Janet Leigh’s rainy drive in Psycho. Screenwriter Armstrong wrote the film in just two weeks, packing as many ingredients from classic horror and cliched lines into the script as possible.
Vincent Price gets top billing in this camp homage to the careers of the four stars. There are plenty of nods to Hammer horror and Roger Corman’s Poe Cycle at American International Pictures, such as a mystery brother named Roderick who caused the “fall of the house of Grisbane.” It’s an evening dominated by secret identities, a family curse, and a house haunted by past indiscretions. All of the core four actors deliver and that’s really the reason it all works. It would be the last film for English director and producer Pete Walker, who previously focused on sexploitation and horror films like House of Whipcord and Schizo. Never before used as a filming location, the impressive Rotherfield Park, a manor house in rural Hampshire, England, was the ideal setting for the film.
The disc’s bonus features pool those found on previous releases, including an interesting feature length documentary from 2012, which sees director Pete Walker, actress Julie Peasgood, and cinematographer Norman Langley touring the manor house where they shot the film 30 years prior. As it turns out, the set dressing was minimal and mostly consisted of adding bedsheets and appropriately eerie lighting. As seen in the documentary from eleven years ago, much of the house hasn’t changed since the early 80s, right down to the artefacts in each room and the paintings on the walls. Intercut with the tour of the house are interviews with a significant portion of the cast and crew, who share anecdotes such as the jovial tone Vincent Price set for the shoot. Julie Peasgood tells of the treasured handwritten chicken recipe she received from Price, which calls for 50 cloves of garlic. She jokes that she always imagined he invented the dish to keep the vampires away.
There are audio commentaries by author Derek Pykett and director Pete Walker, and another from film historian David Del Valle. Pete Walker's House of Horror provides further interview footage with Walker. Newly remastered in HD, the Kino Lorber release is the best the creaky film has ever looked. As Walker himself says, “It’s not a great film, it was never intended to be a great film.” Yet there’s a lot for fans of the ‘Four Kings of Horror’ to appreciate in this handsome edition.
House of the Long Shadows was released on blu-ray 14 December from Kino Lorber.
Order now at: kinolorber.com
KINO LORBER has been a leader in independent art house distribution for over 45 years, releasing 35 films per year theatrically, which have garnered seven Academy Award nominations. The company also brings over 350 titles to home entertainment each year through digital and physical media releases. Most recently, the company has expanded its own direct digital platforms through the acquisition of leading international series streamers MHz Choice and Topic, as well as the launch of Kino Film Collection, a subscription service for film lovers showcasing new releases direct from theaters plus curated international, indie, and documentary films and newly restored classics from the Kino Lorber library.
