Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

GazerRise Fantastic!

Cooktopi The acting in this movie is really good.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

SimonJack What a cast in "Comedy of Terrors!" Only Bela Lugosi of the "monster" actors was dead when Hollywood made this film. And only Lon Chaney Jr. was missing from among those "frightful" players still living. But, "Comedy of Terrors" is a very good showcase for several actors who variously thrilled, scared or bemused audiences for decades. Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and Basil Rathbone make this a formidable 'Who's Who' ensemble of frightful character film actors from the early to mid-20th century. And, they must have had fun together making this comedy. The plot is a simple but good one. Waldo Trumbull married Amaryllis Hinchley to become a partner with her father in his mortician business. But he has "driven the business into the ground," as Amaryllis says; and he affirms that's where it should be. Now he lives only to drink and verbally abuse his wife and employee, Felix Gillie. Amos Hinchley is still alive but old age has taken its toll. Amaryllis wonders why she married Waldo instead of pursuing an opera career. The answer to that soon becomes clear to the audience. Waldo has barely kept the business afloat and himself in whisky, by an occasional late night visit to some wealthy older person whom he smothers with a pillow. Then he and Gillie just happen to be in the neighborhood when a funeral must be arranged. His business is further threatened by the landlord, John Black, to whom he owes a full year's back rent. How will things work out (or not?) for Waldo Trumbull and the others? That's the question this film pursues in very funny scenes and with outlandishly hilarious dialog at times. The screenplay is more for adults. In places, the dialog is a lesson in bad manners – of what not to say or how to act. Vincent Price's Waldo is "horribly" funny in his role. Peter Lorre's Felix secretly pines for Waldo's wife, Amaryllis, whom he hears Waldo verbally mistreat all the time. Felix also has very bad hearing or some nuts loose, because he thinks Amaryliss sings beautifully. She is played superbly by Joyce Jameson. She gives the best film performance ever of a tone-deaf would-be singer. (Not that studios or performers would be clamoring to make films of such content.) Her two songs toward the end are too much. At funeral services for Black, she croaks out, "He is not dead, but sleepeth." Later, she squawks, "Felix, you've stolen my heart." It's so unbearable to listen to, yet hilarious. Boris Karloff plays Amos Hinchley who has the funniest very long line in the film. His eulogy uses many foreign and archaic terms for coffin – the word he can't remember. Basil Rathbone is John Black who reads Shakespeare aloud in bed, with associated actions. He suffers from catalepsy, which contributes to some very funny scenes. Joe E. Brown tries Irish brogue as the cemetery keeper. The cat, Cleopatra, is shown in the film credits as Rhubarb, and is used nicely in camera shots and shooting of some scenes. The rest of the cast all perform well. This film may not be for everyone. But movie buffs, who enjoyed these actors in any of their films over the years, should enjoy it. The Quotes section under this IMDb Web page for the film has many lines of funny dialog from the film. Here are some of my favorites. Waldo Trumbull, "If you could or would, for one brief moment, shut that vast resounding chasm of a mouth, I should be grateful, madam. Grateful."Amaryllis Trumbull, "I could have been the greatest opera singer in the world." Waldo, "What world? Would the vocal emissions of a laryngitic crow be qualifications? Yes, then maybe you could have been."Waldo, "Allow me madam, in this moment of your most desolate bereavement, to lift from your sorrow-laden shoulders the burdensome task of exequiem sepulture." Mrs. Phipps, "What?" Waldo, "I'll bury him for you."Felix Gillie, "There must be a little more honest way to conduct a funeral business." Waldo, "I might have expected that kind of talk from a criminal."Waldo, "I wonder what idiot ever thought of putting bodies in a crypt instead of in the ground where they belong." Felix, "Yeah, and they fertilize plants too." Waldo, "What a terrible thing to say. Shut up." Amaryllis, "Couldn't you find it in your heart to love me, Waldo?" Waldo, "Get up. You're sitting on my money."

Robert J. Maxwell The title is a ripoff of Shakespeare's first play, "A Comedy of Errors", which wasn't funny, and neither is this, alas.It's not a terrible film but nothing quite comes together. The individual facets are okay but when you assemble them you wind up with a lump of carbon, not a diamond. I liked the performances though. Vincent Price is loud and treacherous. Little Peter Lorre is a greasy mouse. Boris Karloff is a deaf and somewhat senile old man, and Basil Rathbone does a turn as the impatient landlord. The production values are above what we might expect too.It's the script that doesn't quite make it. The screenplay is by Richard Matheson who had done quite a few "Twilight Zone" episodes, some of them good and punchy. And this feature sounds like a "Twilight Zone" episode. Characters use the grandiose language that Rod Serling was so fond of. People don't just speak if they can "spew." And nobody is broke, they're just suffering a spell of "pecuniary embarrassment" -- that kind of thing. Matheson had a splendid imagination but it didn't run to comedy. The gags here could have been written by Bob Hope's fagged out staff. The corpus is already embalmed."You never were any good at anything -- except BUMBLING." Really.On the plus side, it was directed by Jacques Tourneur, who brings nothing to the style and pacing of this attempt at comedy,. but who evidently had a good time during shooting, reminiscing about the days at RKO under Val Lewton. Tourneur directed three of the best of Lewton's productions, and Karloff had played in others. Twenty years earlier.They look pretty shabby now, and it's certainly not a gladdening experience to be old, but the troopers enjoyed themselves. Peter Lorre, for instance, slowly opening the casket, peering into it, and gasping, "Why, Jack WARNER!" Too bad more of the fun didn't get on screen.

DarthVoorhees 'The Comedy of Terrors' has great pieces but unfortunately the whole is a weak and often very stupid mess. It is Vincent Price film through and through and depending on what you think of Vincent Price your opinion on this film will change. In my opinion this is the absolute lowest point the horror genre has ever descended to. It has taken respectable brilliant men and has forced them to parody their lifeblood and throw away their dignity for the cheapest and silliest laughs. 'The Comedy of Terrors' is a mess and it doesn't have a single laugh in it.Vincent Price is a controversial figure for me to discuss because I don't really have all that positive a view of him in terms of his impact on the horror genre. I think he all but destroyed the Gothic horror genre. His Corman produced Poe films and the likes of 'Comedy of Terrors' turned the genre into comedy. To be far though I think Price was a highly entertaining performer and his interviews are fascinating to watch. The problem was he wasn't a Karloff. He never sought to give souls to "monsters". Price was more concerned with having fun with bizarre characters and playing for a reaction(which many times was often a laugh rather than a shriek). When looking at a Price film one is not looking at a horror film. I want to use 'Comedy of Terrors' as a discussion point because I think it is the most blatant example of Price's impact on the horror film.Karloff, Rathbone, and to a lesser extent Peter Lorre were all icons of the horror genre. Here all three are old and on their last legs and they have to parody what cemented them as great artists. I'm sorry but I found it depressing. It would be one thing if the humor here was actually funny but it isn't. Most of the comedy here is slapstick that wouldn't be funny if Moe, Larry, and Curly did it or Karloff prodding around as a senile old fart. The film seems to think it's humor is dark and macabre but it is far too afraid to take any risks. There is no deeper or darker subtext behind any of the jokes. I was hoping to see Karloff be a nasty old pervert or for there to be some naughtiness behind something. This film probably could be released with a G rating today I'd imagine. It's a shame to see our old friends reduced to such a low. Price on the other hand is right at home here. His character is throughly disgusting and unlikeable. Price can be good in creating horror comedies but the problem here is that this film seems to aspire to be a comedy rather than a bizarre horror hybrid that Price usually starred in. One thing I like about Price is that although his roles weren't deep he always seemed to have fun with them. Price consistently plays with a wink in his eye and it's always weird (sometimes delightfully so) but here it is jarring. This quasi-meta feel is a constant trait of all Price's films but it greatly hurts this one more than any others because of this terrible character. Waldo Trumball spends the whole movie being a contemptible ass who hates and bullies every character. How are we supposed to like Price in the role? He over indulges in it's quirks for a reaction and it's really really off putting especially when Trumball brutally belittles Karloff's character. To add to the matter Trumball is a very misogynistic character. Vincent Price quirkiness isn't fun when he is saying horrible things about women. The performance is far too punctuated and so Price isn't savoring bizarre quirks with his audience here. No, he's bringing to life a hateful character in a disjointed way.This is a clash between two types of horror films. The Karloff brand and the Vincent Price brand. I for one prefer the Karloff brand where the Gothic tradition had mystery and dignity. The Price brand is not without it's charm but this is a bad example of it. It's not funny or fun, it's mainly sad.

TheLittleSongbird The cast are the high point of this interesting and fun little film. Vincent Price steals the show and is brilliant, and he is supported wonderfully by Peter Lorre whose character spends a lot of time being demeaned by Price and Basil Rathbone, who is a very suave and charismatic actor and his "what place...is THIS?!" is iconic. I was a little disappointed in Boris Karloff, I love him, I liked his character, I liked what he did with it, what let me down in regards to him is that I would have loved to have seen much more of him. My only other complaint is the short length which probably accounts for why the ending was as hectic as it was, otherwise this is a very good film. The cast of course are wonderful, but there is also a deliciously witty and bleak script, a fun story, skillful photography, nice minimalist production values, efficient direction from Tourneur and an interesting sending up of past horror clichés. All in all, I like this film. 8/10 Bethany Cox