CAST:
Frankie Howerd (Foster Twelvetrees), Ray
Milland (Stewart Henderson), Hugh Burden (Reggie Henderson), Elizabeth
MacLennan (Verity Henderson), Kenneth Griffith (Ernest Henderson), John
Bennett (Patel), Rosalie Crutchley (Jessica Henderson), Ruth Denning
(Agnes Henderson)
PRODUCTION:
Director – Peter Sykes,
Screenplay/Producers – Clive Exton & Terry Nation, Photography – Ian
Wilson, Music – Harry Robinson, Makeup – Jill Carpenter, Art Direction –
Maurice Carter. Production Company – Associated London Films/Extonation
Productions.
UK. 1973.
COMMENTARY:
Foster Twelvetrees (Frankie Howerd)
is a small time actor on the Edwardian stage - and the stages are
usually small time as well, as are the audiences. Tonight he has just
finished performing a monologue when he gets the offer to venture to a
very big house in the country and entertain its residents, but he should
have known better to accept a job without at first making sure he knew
what he was getting into. For a start, the carriage taking him there
won't go any further than half a mile from the mansion, so Foster is
forced to trudge the way though the oncoming storm, getting spooked at
what sounds like a scream in the forests... and that's not all.
Although probably most successful in his work in radio and television as
far as his media work went, eccentric comedian Frankie Howerd did grace
the cinema in a few vehicles for his unique style and delivery. This
one was a horror comedy in the mould of The Cat and the Canary,
a genre that had once been a staple of the movies (admittedly a lot of
them pretty cheap ones) but by 1973 was dying out aside from the odd try
at recapturing those glory days of comedians starring in their own
tailor made roles: that happens now, of course, but humorous thrillers
don't appear to have made it back onto the public's radar, not of this
type at any rate.
Howerd had his script penned for him by two writers best known for their
television work, Clive Exton and Terry Nation. Exton might be most
celebrated for bringing both Jeeves and Wooster and Poirot to the small
screen nearer the end of his career, while Nation of course was the man
who created the Daleks for Doctor Who; he had started out in comedy so
was better suited to Howerd's persona than he might have appeared, and
besides, this was still a horror film, with Nation a man who knew how to
put the wind up his audience. If The House in Nightmare Park wasn't
frightening exactly, it did place its star in a selection of perilous
scenes that could just as easily be played for scares.
And there was still a light mood of disquiet, mainly down to the tatty
nature of the production, though whether that was by accident or design
is debatable. When Foster visits the old dark house, he thinks the
place is deserted initially, but then discovers appearances can be
deceptive and meets with a motley collection of relatives, all of whom
turn out to be his own relatives too, not that he has any idea about
that for most of the plot. Ray Milland
plays Stewart Henderson, the patriarch, who tells Foster that he's
simply there to entertain the gathering, and never mind that his
elderly, veiled mother has just tried to bury a meat cleaver in his
bonce as there's nothing for him to worry about really.
Naturally, this indicates that there's a lot to worry about yet Foster
keeps getting coaxed back to stay, especially when he cottons on that
there's a fortune in diamonds to get his mitts on. Howerd seems as if
he's in a different film to the other actors, delivering his florid,
vain comedy quips and observations with only us in the audience
appreciating how well he's doing in such airless surroundings. He does
get a few very funny moments, yet for the larger part of the film he is
in something of a humour vacuum as the gloomy, even queasy atmosphere of
madness and imminent murder tends to suck the lighthearted aspects out
of the film. On the other hand, these moments of chills, while tugging
in a different direction to Howerd, aren't too bad at all, with the
Hendersons' idea of drawing room diversion - a weird musical act - a
notable highlight. If Frankie never really found a fit in the movie
world, then this was more amusing than some Britiish comedians' tries.
Reviewer: Graeme Clark
Images: Marcus Brooks
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