(359) HORROR OF IT ALL ('63) Pat Boone tries to revamp his image
4790DVD
also known as HOUSE OF GHOSTS
director: Terence
Fisher
starring: Pat Boone · Erica Rogers · Andree Melly · Dennis Price · Valentine
Dyall
American
salesman Jack Robinson visits his fiancee and her eccentric family living
in a remote old mansion in the British countryside. He soon realizes
that someone is trying to kill everyone in a plot to get the family
fortune.
This
is the second of three European films (preceded by THE
MAIN ATTRACTION) made by Pat Boone in an attempt to revamp his
squeaky clean image. Reportedly, he was so embarrassed by his performance
in the movie State Fair (1961),
overshadowed by Bobby Darin's more-adult earthy presence, that his management
company arranged for a series of 'mature' projects to be shot in Europe.
In the mid '60s, it was shocking to see a sexually active Boone, smoking
cigarettes, smirking and drinking alcohol. Shocking, yes. But also terrifying
for everyone involved, from management to Boone himself. These movies
were shown in the UK [to some surprising success] but essentially they
were shelved in the States. Pat Boone would scramble to repair his tarnished
image by taking the role of an angel at Christ's tomb in The Greatest
Story Ever Told (1965) and a crusading minister in The
Cross and the Switchblade.
Terence
Fisher directed
29 films for Hammer Studios, including all their biggest and most iconic
hits (Curse of Frankenstein and Horror of Dracula).
But he did not have a good relationship with the studio, especially
with big boss, James Carreras. After the box-office failure of the company's
most expensive project, The Phantom Of The Opera (1962),
his contract was dropped. Fisher accepted this Pat Boone project
on the rebound. He would then make ISLAND
OF TERROR for Planet Productions with friend Peter Cushing,
who paved the way for Terence to join Hammer again in late '64. At this
time, he was struggling with alcoholism and directed fewer films, usually
because Cushing insisted on him. Mr Fisher died in June 1980 at age
76 from a heart attack.
A British
film in English language; widescreen, 75 minutes;
DVD encoded for WORLD FORMAT NTSC, playable on any American machine.
Extras include selected theatrical trailers
Violence/Sexual
Themes
Advertised as "Not Suitable for Children"
