Really Surprised!

Best movie ever!

Absolutely Brilliant!

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Desi Arnaz Jr plays Kenneth MacGee, a bull-headed American writer who boasts to his agent Sam Allyson (Richard Todd) that he can write a novel in 24 hours isolated in a remote Welsh mansion. It is to Arnaz Jr's credit that MacGee emerges as such a likable character, so brash is his character written.All the horror atmospherics are then applied - an endless storm, long shadows (naturally) and – in the film's major selling point – four of the genre's most celebrated actors. John Carradine is Elijah Grisbane, grouchy, irascible and ancient. Peter Cushing appears next as Sebastian Grisbane, lisping, tipsy and nervous. Out of the night then steps Vincent Price as Lionel Grisbane, suitably theatrical and soliloquizing. Finally, Corrigan emerges, played with typical fruity authority by Christopher Lee. Sheila Keith ably joins the ensemble as the frightening house-keeper, and Julie Peasgood, who seems to be utterly delightful in every acting job and personal appearance she has given, plays wide-eyed Mary Gorton.Emerging as an enjoyable, but far inferior version of 'The Old Dark House (1932)', this proved the final filmic project of Director Pete Walker, who had helmed a string of 1970's 'exploitation' horrors ('House of Whipcord' and 'The Flesh and Blood Show' amongst them). Never meeting with huge success, he retired from the profession after the release of this was also met with a muted response, despite being the only grouping of the four legendry thespians.A fondness of Walker is to end his film with a twist. The twist here is not only as improbable as the others, but there are several of them, piled one after the other, which leaves the viewer a little shell-shocked. Here, the twists push the narrative further towards being almost entirely tongue-in-cheek, which is either detrimental or beneficial to the film, depending on your point of view.Despite a bigger than usual budget, the director's work is still a little murky, the murders awkwardly staged. The results prove enjoyable despite the flaws, mainly because of the tremendous cast enjoying themselves.

Oh boy - it's been around 25 or 26 years since I've seen this film "House of Long Shadows". I was 11 years old when it first came out and I recall it playing throughout the 80's on TV (ya know HBO, Cinemax, Showtime - which ever it was) along side of films like Clue (1985) and Deathtrap (1982). Well, all these years later I finally watched HoLS again and I have to say I still find it quite a good movie.The movie is full of twists and turns - you are beginning to suspect one thing then something else happens to which throws your suspicion another way - and this is exactly what a good mystery is all about: keeping your suspicions aroused while tossing it around from suspect to suspect.Four iconic stars in one film (Cushing, Lee, Carradine and Price) only tells the viewer there must be something good about this film -and as usual it is good.As far as Desi Arnaz Jr. goes - that is part of the humor I think - a young star in stark contrast to four icons. "Come on this is the 80's" is basically the attitude Kenneth Magee (Arnaz) - when you see the film you'll understand.8/10

House of Long Shadows is a joy to watch simply to see the great horror actors together. Base loosely on Seven Keys To Baldpate, it is about a popular novelist Kenneth Magee making a bet with his publisher as to whether he can write a Wuthering Heights type novel in 24 hours. In order to be able to write and to soak up the right kind of atmosphere, he drives through the Welsh countryside to a manor house called Baldpate Manor. There he finds an elderly couple, father and daughter who are supposedly the caretakers. That is when the fun really begins. I have always loved the old style horror movies and I grew up watching the films of John Carradine, Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Seeing them together was an absolute treat and while the story itself becomes a little silly, their presence lifts it into something more. The rest of the cast a wonderful in their roles, but really the film belongs to the four actors that play father and sons. Even if you find the plot of the film a little simplistic, sit back and watch the masters of the silver screen do their stuff. Enjoy.

This is a great movie. OK, it's not Shakespeare, I know, but I remember seeing this on cable when I was a kid and I loved it!! Were those people real or were they simply the writer's imagination? I still don't know for sure. It would be great to see this as an adult. I loved Murder By Death as a child and even more so as an adult (when I understood the humor better) and this is one of those movies from my memories that I think I'd enjoy just as much. There were so many acting greats in this flick, it was like a horror who's who. I would be so thrilled to watch this again. This movie was such good fun. I hope someone finally gets to putting this on DVD. I don't understand why we can get trashy slasher flicks on DVD but not this one. So sad for us all!