The
late Edward Lionheart was a classically trained traditionalist, but he was also
terribly corny, at least according to the dismissive London drama critics. They
panned his performances and then humiliated him when he inexplicably got the
idea in his head that he was due to win their annual award. That would make him
the logical suspect when someone starts murdering members of the drama circle
in grisly ways inspired by Shakespeare’s bloodiest scenes, except Lionheart is
dead—or rather presumed dead.
For
a while, plodding Inspector Boot focuses on Lionheart’s loyal daughter Edwina,
but she has no intention of cooperating and no sympathy for the fools who
belittled her father. Despite their police protection, Lionheart and his
accomplices, a gang of homeless crazies and a creepy hippy, keep cutting
through the critics. It rather alarms Peregrine Devlin, the arrogant chair of
the critics’ association, who was the first to suspect Lionheart.
Theater is a wonderfully
macabre but erudite film that offered Price a chance to perform some of the
greatest Shakespearean speeches, while still giving people what they wanted
from a Vincent Price movie. It is easy to see why the film was adapted for the
legit London stage in 2005, with Rigg’s daughter Rachael Stirling taking on her
role as Lionheart’s daughter. It certainly worked out for Price too, since he
met his third wife Coral Browne while she was playing one of the ill-fated
critics.
In
fact, Price and Rigg were right. Theater is a very distinctive horror
film that combines the baroqueness of The Abominable Dr. Phibes with the
tragic heft of Shakespeare and the grittiness of Death Line (a.k.a. Raw
Meat). Lionheart’s Shakespearean death traps are wonderfully theatrical,
but Price’s performance is often surprisingly poignant, especially his
ostensive suicide scene, involving Hamlet’s soliloquy. He and Rigg are terrific
together. Frankly, fans had never seen Rigg as she appeared in Theater—you sort
of need to see it to understand why.
