When your movie has Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and John Carradine, it should have been better. House of the Long Shadows (1983) had a plot that kept my Arts Editor and I baffled, and the acting from the four names was their usual creepy excellence, but after that, I am doomed to enumerate burdens. The acting of the lead, Desi Arnaz, Jr., was awful. The acting of Sheila Keith had my Arts Editor cheering on the bad guy to catch and kill her. Much of the dialog was awful. Much of the cinematograpy was awful. The audio ranged from mediocre to the classic “speak into this can, sonny!” awful.
The setting, an old English manor in poor upkeep, however, was rather good.
If you’re a fan of any of those four leads, then see this. Otherwise, it’s mostly … awful.
