Starring..... the one and only Vincent Price. Essentially a horror/comedy, Theatre of Blood, directed by Douglas Hickox, stands as one of Price's crowning achievements. In it, he plays Edward Lionheart, a hammy, egotistical Shakespearean actor.

When a group of critics deny him an award he covets, Lionheart shows up at one of their gatherings and makes a dramatic speech before plummeting from a terrace balcony. He falls into the river below and swims to safety, while everyone believes he has committed suicide. The actor soon finds himself with a group of vagrants and forms a new "theatre company."

With this group and with the aid of his daughter Edwina, played by Diana Rigg, he avenges himself on his critics by murdering them in various ways and modeling their deaths on violent set pieces created by Shakespeare himself.

With Lionheart and his troupe donning different disguises, we see:

In a particularly good scene, Price is dressed up as a flamboyant hair dresser, complete with afro wig, and Rigg is done up in male hippie drag. They pretend to be doing a female critic's hair (played by Price's wife Coral Browne), but end up frying her instead (Henry the 6th, Pt. 1).

In the final scene, as the police have closed in on Lionheart, he sets the theatre on fire and with Edwina dead in his arms, he leaps to his death. King Lear, anyone?

This film works on many levels. The acting is first-rate, the direction is top-notch, the script by Anthony Greville-Bell is witty, and there's a lush score by Michael J. Lewis. Rent this one!

Hunter: A great piece of filmmaking, filled with wonderful macabre touches and a devilish sense of humor. Vincent Price and Diana Rigg are both excellent. Although Price had a long and durable career in the genre, I'd have to pick this one as my favorite.

Jason: Price is superb in this standout piece, the material giving him plenty of reason to strut his stuff. Strong death sequences.