“He wanted to change comedy into tragedy and tragedy into comedy. ”
There is a serial killer in Paris. He stabs his victims in the neck with a triangular shaped instrument and drains them of blood. There have been several victims. The police are baffled and clues are scarce.
Phillippe Darvas (Christopher Lee) is the director of the “Theatre of Death”. It is a local playhouse that specializes in macabre entertainment. A “Theatre du Grand-Guignol”. It did small “Horror Plays”. The performances were several skits from different points in history all based on blood and gore. Darvas’ father had been director of the theater before it closed. Darvas wants to bring it back to its original splendor. This is their opening night. Darvas has a Svengali-like reputation. He is a pompous bully and a rude egotist. He ends up being the main suspect in the murders.
The police inspector assigned to the case is Inspector Micheaud (Ivor Dean). He asks Charles Marquis (Julian Glover) for his opinion on the murders. Marquis is a surgeon who, due to an accident, is not able to perform surgery.
Marquis is also a friend of one of the actresses in the Theatre of Death. Dani Gireaux (Lelia Goldoni) is a former ballerina who had an accident and then a breakdown. She had been in a mental institution before becoming part of the theater’s company.
Nicole Chapelle (Jenny Till) is also an actress with the theater. She had been Dani’s roommate until Darvas took an interest in her. He has been hypnotizing her; he says to bring out the actress in her. He has her move in to his home so he can “instruct” her.
When Darvas disappears the entire theater comes under suspicion. All that was found of Darvas was a blood stained hat and cloak. Some believe that he is dead. Others think he is in hiding and is still killing.
“Theatre of Death” AKA “Blood Fiend” was released in 1966 and was directed by Samuel Gallu. It is a British mystery with horror aspects. The horror is represented by the many skits done by the actors in the theater. They are interspersed with the main mystery story. Between the two there is enough going on to keep your attention.
There is also enough suspicion thrown on a lot of people to make you wonder who the killer is. Is it the broken ballerina who spent time in the mental hospital? Is it the surgeon who can no longer operate? Is it the dark and mysterious director who must control everything? Is it the young ingénue who is susceptible to another’s will?
In 1897, the French playwright Oscar Metenier created the first “Theatre du Grand-Guignol”--which means literally the "big puppet show". Metenier was succeeded as director in 1898 by Max Maurey. It was Maurey who, from 1898 to 1914, turned the Theatre du Grand-Guignol into a house of horror. He measured the success of a play by the number of people who fainted during its performance, and, to attract publicity, hired a house doctor to treat the more fainthearted spectators. A sort of William Castle of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.