The Comedy of Terrors (1964)
Directed by Jacques Tourneur

Film Review

After their successful team-up in Roger Corman's The Raven (1963), Vincent Price, Peter Lorre and Boris Karloff were soon drafted back into action by American International Pictures for another three-way round of comedy-horror hijinks, although by this time Karloff's health had declined to the point that he could play only a passive part in the proceedings.  The Comedy of Terrors owes its cult status to the enjoyably daft double act formed by Vincent Price and Peter Lorre, the one redeeming feature of an otherwise pretty lame comedy.  Richard Matheson's script shows little of the ingenuity of his other horror offerings (notably The Last Man on Earth, in which Price also starred) and Jacques Tourneur was probably not the best choice to direct a comedy, his forte being straight horror films of the kind he had helmed for Val Lewton in the 1940s - classics like Cat People (1942) and I Walked with a Zombie (1943).

Not content with bringing together three of cinema's best-known horror icons, The Comedy of Terrors also ropes in another Hollywood legend, Basil Rathbone, who, like Price, shows a surprising flair for knockabout comedy.  As nonsensical as the plot is, as idiotic as the comedic situations are, Price and the Shakespeare-quoting Rathbone give it their best shot and, through some outrageous campery, succeed in extracting oodles of laughs from the most chaotic and ungainly of scripts.  Price is particularly good in this film, and from the way he relishes his endless slew of sour putdowns you can't help thinking he wished he had built a career on comedy.  The Comedy of Terrors may not be the most sophisticated of comedies but it is for the most part a galloping romp, and the fact that it is totally, unbelievably and irredeemably silly doesn't prevent it from being fun.

Film Synopsis

In a New England town in the late 1800s, Waldo Trumbull is a crooked undertaker who has failed to make a success of the business he has taken over from his step-father, Mr Hinchley.  Despite cost cutting measures, such as recycling coffins, Trumbull is still a year behind on his rent and faces eviction from his house by his landlord, Mr Black.  The only option is to drum up extra business, which Trumbull intends to achieve by killing his future customers.  With the help of his incompetent assistant, Mr Gillie, he makes a start by murdering a millionaire, but before he can claim his fee the dead man's widow absconds with all her wealth.  Trumbull then hits on the idea of killing two birds with one pillow, the bird in question being his irksome landlord.  Unfortunately, once he has shuffled off this mortal coil, Mr Black shows a strange reluctance to stay dead...