Hollywood Horror House — Hollywood Horror House(Blu Ray)
David Garfield stars as Vic Valance, a young man who takes up a position as the carer to former Hollywood star and alcoholic Katherine Packard, played by the genuinely aging Hollywood legend Miriam Hopkins. After accidentally falling down the stairs, Katherine has become wheelchair bound, thus creating the position for Vic to fill. What Katharine is unaware of is that Vic is also a serial killer, who has been dismembering aging female Hollywood stars and leaving their body parts under the Hollywood sign. Katherine falls for the much younger man, seeing him as a companion and lover, however her staff don’t trust this new interloper and try to warn the newly smitten star before it’s too late.
Set against the backdrop of late 60s and early 70s Hollywood, Hollywood Horror House is a real oddity. It’s unsure as to what it wants to be, is it a typically grubby little psychedelic, grindhouse exploitation film, or an art house take on Sunset Blvd, or perhaps it is the natural successor to Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? in the “Horror Hag” subgenre of cinema? I think it tries to be all of these things and more. Whilst the film lacks the quality of the Bette Davis and Joan Crawford classic it is certainly influenced by it, casting Hopkins as the elderly protagonist who has stubbornly become smitten with the younger man and is determined to conduct a relationship with him much to the chagrin of those around her. On top of this the film features some wild psychedelic sequences, shot by John Morrill (A Boy and his Dog). These vignettes are beautifully shot and crammed with vibrant colours, bringing a certain dayglo menace to the proceedings. The murder set pieces are also surprisingly gory, reminiscent of the splashy gore effects preferred by the likes of Herschell Gordon Lewis.
This new bluray from Vinegar Syndrome comes from the brand new 4k restoration that was struck from the original 35mm print is clean and the colours are beautifully vibrant especially during the psychedelic sequences and there is no colour bleed to speak of during those scenes. There is a lack of bonus material, however, the film features a fascinating commentary track with film director David De Coteau and film historian/ journalist David De Valle, as well as a second disc featuring the film on DVD.
Hollywood Horror House is a fun, but flawed film that revels in its utter madness, and whilst it will never be hailed a classic it remains an interesting cinematic oddity to people like myself. Many thanks to the team at Vinegar Syndrome for preserving what can only be described as a real one off, you have undertaken a real public service to those of us who enjoy weird oddball cinema