Rotten Tomatoes

Movies / TV

    Celebrity

      No Results Found

       View All       Movies Tv shows Shop News Showtimes

      Night of the Laughing Dead

      PG 1973 1h 40m Comedy Horror Mystery & Thriller List
      Reviews 64% Audience Score Fewer than 50 Ratings Snakes and related corpses surround a hammy entertainer (Frankie Howerd) at a mansion in 1907 England. Read More Read Less

      Critics Reviews

      View All (1) Critics Reviews
      Eddie Harrison film-authority.com '.. The usual tropes about reading wills and hidden assassins are trotted out, with Kenneth Griffith amongst the support... Sykes’s film shows Frankie Howard in an uncommonly restrained role. Rated: 2/5 Jan 23, 2024 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

      View All (4) audience reviews
      martin a A great comedy romp in the fashion of Hammer Horror, an aging actor is recruited to a mansion to perform, little does he know that he is the living Eir, and he has a secret to a fortune but does not know it. Also the problem is that the rest of the family want him dead Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Oh dear. This really is pretty poor stuff. An old dark house spoof that isn't v funny, thrilling or plausible, and looks like it was shot over a weekend. Ray Milland seems bored, Frankie Howerd lost, and how it became a cult movie is the only mystery to be solved. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Directed by Peter Sykes, (Demons of the Mind (1972), Steptoe and Son Ride Again (1973) and To the Devil a Daughter (1976)), and co-written and produced by Terry Nation (Doctor Who, Blake's 7, Survivors), this is a very silly comedy-horror film, which EMI originally wanted to be a direct sequel to Up The Front (1972), but Nation and Sykes said no, and made it an effective yet daft caper. In 1907, struggling thespian actor Foster Twelvetrees (Frankie Howerd) is asked to do a dramatic reading at a large country house for Stewart Henderson (Ray Milland). Also at the country house is Stewart's family including his sister Jessica (Rosalie Crutchley), his brothers Ernest (Kenneth Griffith) and Reggie (Hugh Burden), and Reggie's daughter Verity (Elizabeth MacLennan). The Henderson family all have sinister intentions, which scare Foster, and they claim to have another brother locked away somewhere in the house, which piques Foster's interest. Plus, the family except Stewart treat Foster with nothing but contempt and even jealousy. It's actually effective as a comedy horror, the scares and frights are all there, but the comedy is quite hit and miss and even Howerd is a lot more restrained than what he was in the Up Pompeii films, but he manages to hold his own against Milland. It's a good film, but it's no Carry On Screaming (1965). Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member Frankie howerd stars in this horror spoof. His witty one liners are delivered to his usual high standard. Dead bodies, murders and diamonds are at the centre of the plot, but it is howerd who takes centre stage. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

      Cast & Crew

      Show Less Cast & Crew Show More Cast & Crew

      Photos

      View All Night of the Laughing Dead photos

      Night of the Laughing Dead

      Night of the Laughing Dead (1975) Night of the Laughing Dead (1975) Night of the Laughing Dead (1975) Night of the Laughing Dead (1975) View more photos

      Movie Info

      Synopsis Snakes and related corpses surround a hammy entertainer (Frankie Howerd) at a mansion in 1907 England.
      Director
      Peter Sykes
      Producer
      Beryl Vertue
      Screenwriter
      Clive Exton, Terry Nation
      Production Co
      Anglo-EMI
      Rating
      PG
      Genre
      Comedy, Horror, Mystery & Thriller
      Original Language
      English
      Runtime
      1h 40m