THE FILM:

Horror maestro Vincent Price shot over one hundred films in his lengthy career. Madhouse is not one of Price's best, but is still worth a look. Madhouse is a bit meta, and sees Price playing an aging actor known for his Dr. Death villain. A masked killer begins murdering young women, and Price's callous, mentally unstable Paul Toombes is questioned. Jim Clark's film is an endearing mess: part spook-house slasher, part Hollywood expose, part occult horror, all 1970s cheese. If the amazing poster and Blu-ray key artwork do not pique your interest, you should probably get your kicks elsewhere. Price seems in on the joke, and Ray Parslow's dreamy cinematography adds to the atmosphere of dread.

Dr. Death returns to the screen for a fifth time, and Paul Toombes (Price) announces his engagement to his much younger co-star Ellen Mason (Julie Crosthwait). Hours later, Ellen's head rolls into Toombes' hands, sparking a mental breakdown that sends him to an asylum amid questions about his involvement in her death. Several years later, an acquitted and stabilized Toombes joins longtime friend and producer Herbert Flay (Peter Cushing) to shoot a Dr. Death television series for the BBC. The masked murderer reappears, and more young women begin to die. Toombes and company push through the production with a cruel indifference to their dead colleagues.

The filmmakers incorporate scenes from Price's earlier works; a smart way to save cash and stock the highlight reels necessary to build Toombes' character. Price seems worn out here, but maybe that's just good acting. His character is a womanizer, and seems to travel with a gaggle of young blonde women. There are scorned lovers, too, who return to challenge the aging actor and confuse the audience. The Dr. Death villain is as schlocky and demented as his films, and Madhouse paints an interesting portrait of the bowels of respectable Hollywood, complete with sleazy producers, porn queens, and dangerous sets. That the in-film shoot continues despite several on-set deaths is part of Madhouse's sick humor, as are the overly dramatic heroines and kill scenes.

Price is compelling to watch here, as always, and he encounters a rogue's gallery of crazy red herrings. A former leading lady with a love of spiders, Faye Carstairs (Adrienne Corri), foreshadows impending death, and the killer begins recreating Dr. Death's murder scenes to implicate Toombes. This drives Toombes crazy, and the actor fears he may well be the killer, taking lives during mental blackouts. Madhouse is not a particularly good horror film. It is not particularly frightening, and its mystery is thinly veiled. It is a welcome curiosity, however, to see Vincent Price playing a fictionalized version of himself. Madhouse is a drunken costume party full of terrible sinners and glorious excess. Price, Cushing and Robert Quarry, as an adult film producer, are respectable leads, and Madhouse marks both Price's final starring role in a horror production and the final collaboration between the actor and American International Pictures.

THE BLU-RAY:

PICTURE:

The 1.78:1/1080p/AVC-encoded image from Kino Lorber is respectable. The picture first appears a bit washed out, with drab colors, but there is a surprising amount of fine-object detail and texture throughout. As the film progresses, things liven up a bit, and the climax is ripe with crimson reds and fiery primaries. Black levels are decent, though there is a fair amount of crush, much of which is likely inherent to the source. The print has a few scratches and some dirt, but Kino wisely avoids digital tinkering.

SOUND:

The 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio mix is clear and clean, with strong dialogue delivery and decent depth for the score and ambient effects. I noticed a few rough deliveries, but this mix is usually quite effective. When the knives come out, the track responds appropriately. I noticed some sync issues, which, again, are likely inherent to the source. No subtitles are available.

UPDATE (9/9/2015): Kino has acknowledged the sync issues and is issuing replacement discs. Visit their Web site or Facebook page for more information. Because I received the defective disc, I've removed the star rating for sound.

EXTRAS:

The disc includes an interesting Commentary by Film Historian David Del Valle; the film's Theatrical Trailer (1:48/HD); and a Making-Of Featurette (10:56/HD). The latter is particularly insightful, as it covers some of the issues during production.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

This is certainly not horror legend Vincent Price's best film, but fans will find Madhouse of interest because Price basically plays a fictionalized version of himself. This interesting, somewhat melodramatic look at old Hollywood is spliced with death and haunted-house thrills. Kino Lorber's Blu-ray looks and sounds good, and includes an interesting making-of. Recommended.

William lives in Burlington, North Carolina, and looks forward to a Friday-afternoon matinee.