Night of the Laughing Dead

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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 2/5 Stars •  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 3.5/5 Stars •  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 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Night of the Laughing Dead

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