''The Horror of It All'' is a 1964 British horror comedy film directed by

Terence Fisher Terence Fisher (23 February 1904 – 18 June 1980) was a British film director best known for his work for Hammer Films. He was the first to bring gothic horror alive in full colour, and the sexual overtones and explicit horror in his films, ...

and with a screenplay by

Ray Russell Ray Russell (September 4, 1924 – March 15, 1999) was an American editor and writer of short stories, novels, and screenplays. Russell is best known for his horror fiction, although he also wrote mystery and science fiction stories. His most ...

. It stars

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...

and Erica Rogers.

Plot

American encyclopedia salesman Jack Robinson arrives at a dilapidated mansion in the English countryside belonging to the Marley family. Robinson has fallen in love with Cynthia and wants to ask permission to marry her. Cynthia's family include: her uncle Percival, an inventor; her cousin Natalia, a macabre, vampire-like creature; Cornwallis, a hammy ex-actor; her uncle Reginald; Grandfather, who lies bedridden upstairs; and cousin Muldoon, who is kept locked up in the fear that he will harm someone. A cousin of Cynthia has just died and Cornwallis dies after drinking a toast. Jack wants to get the police but they are 20 miles away and the family have no car (Jack's has broken down). Several attempts are made on Jack's life. He learns that the family fortune consists of one million dollars and one of the Marleys intends to end up with all of it. Later grandpa is killed. Jack and Cynthia make a dash for freedom and Cynthia reveals that she is the murderer. She conks out Jack. In hospital, Jack discovered that Cynthia made up the confession to protect him - the real killer is Cornwallis, who was pretending to be dead.

Cast

as John Robinson * Erica Rogers as Cynthia Marley *

Dennis Price Dennistoun Franklyn John Rose Price (23 June 1915 – 6 October 1973) was an English actor, best remembered for his role as Louis Mazzini in the film ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949) and for his portrayal of the omnicompetent valet Jeeves ...

as Cornwallis Marley * Andree Melly as Natalie Marley *

Valentine Dyall Valentine Dyall (7 May 1908 – 24 June 1985) was an English character actor. He worked regularly as a voice actor, and was known for many years as "The Man in Black", the narrator of the BBC Radio horror series '' Appointment with Fear'' ...

as Reginald Marley * Archie Duncan as Muldoon Marley *

Erik Chitty Erik Chitty (8 July 1907 in Dover, Kent – 22 July 1977 Brent, Middlesex), was an English stage, film and television actor. Early life Chitty was the son of a flour miller, Frederick Walter Chitty and his wife Ethel Elsie Assistance née Fra ...

as Grandpa Marley * Jack Bligh as Percival Marley * Oswald Laurence as Doctor

Production

The film was made at Shepperton Studios in England. The story is essentially a remake of the classic

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

comedy horror film '' The Old Dark House'' (1932), which had already been remade a year earlier. The plot also has elements of the horror comedy ''

Murder, He Says ''Murder, He Says'' is a 1945 American black comedy film directed by George Marshall and starring Fred MacMurray about a murderous rural family and the hapless pollster who becomes entangled in their hunt for a cache of money. It was filmed in ...

'' (1945).

Reception

The ''Los Angeles Times'' thought Terence Fisher "had the right idea playing the silly plot for laughs but his snail's pace spoils the show. He kills much of the humour by holding a scene after he's made his point." According to ''Diabolique'' magazine "The movie is populated by a fine supporting cast of English character actors playing various eccentrics ..Boone is a solid straight man, and the film is lively. It’s not up to something like ''The Cat and the Canary'' (1939) which it was clearly aping, but those films are harder to do than they look. It’s not bad. It could have done with color and songs."

References

External links

* * * *
''The Horror of It All''
at

BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horror of It All 1964 films 1964 horror films 1960s comedy horror films 20th Century Fox films British comedy horror films Films directed by Terence Fisher Films scored by Douglas Gamley Films set in country houses Films set in England Lippert Pictures films 1964 comedy films 1960s English-language films 1960s British films