'No, I got coke, speed, smack, grass and acid.'
Welcome back to my Dark Corner of this Sick World.
‘You must be the ice cream man’
There’s really only one reason we’re reviewing Hollywood Horror House, also known as Savage Intruder.
‘You simply must come to my little party’
It was the last film of Miriam Hopkins,
remembered by horror fans for her role opposite Frederic March in the Oscar-winning Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
‘It’s a real comeback’
This is an example of hag horror,
that unpleasant sub-genre in which actresses from Hollywood’s Golden era
play hideous caricatures of themselves as mad old bats living through their memories.
‘Not like a starlet, like a star’
because that’s what happens to actresses – and it is only actresses – of a certain age,
and it’s a shame that as a brilliant a film as Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard gave rise to so much crap.
‘You really are a bastard’
Speaking of Sunset Boulevard, what if William Holden’s character turned out to be Jack the Ripper.
That’s not a spoiler, it’s established that handsome young man Vic is the killer as soon as he moves into the house of faded star Katherine Packard,
under false pretences.
‘Are you from the registry?’
‘Yeah’
I know it’s a movie cliché but in real life has the ‘yes I’m that guy you’re expecting’ tactic ever worked?
‘You mean I got the job?’
‘Yes’
He’s posing as a nurse...
'Victor, that's too hard.'
and at no point does anyone question his total lack of knowledge,
or indeed get in touch with the agency to say; yeah we’ll take him however unsuitable he is.
‘I don’t think you like me in particular’
Well, he’s only just shown up but, no.
‘What are you talking about?’
For half the movie, Vic helps Katherine to recapture her zest for life.
‘I’m the Queen of the Christmas parade’
watching her old films,
'Get hm out of here.'
dining with her old friends…
'Holywood is no place for an idealist.'
'Better for a masochist'
and, yes, generally channelling Sunset Boulevard, but then,
someone remembered this was supposed to be a slasher,
Vic kills the cook, then uses Katherine’s obvious attraction to him...
‘Kiss me Victor’
to get some swag.
‘Where’d that watch come from?’
‘Well you bought it for me Katherine’
And when she calls him on it
‘I must have been a lonely miserable woman not to have imagined what an opportunist you were’
he lashes out.
'No Victor, don't me'
This makes Katherine’s live-in maid and PA mildly suspicious.
‘She doesn’t seem to listen to me any more’
You haven’t spoken to her for days, you’ve only seen her from a distance on the balcony
and one of her dummy’s is missing from her gallery.
'Well, are you burying your conscience?'
I’m not saying it’s definitely time to call the police, but maybe it’s time to stop paying him.
‘I seem to forget that you’re an employee here’
and definitely time to check Katherine’s room.
This is a little weird.
Especially since Katherine turns out to be his mother
‘You only had time for those drunk friends of yours
’ revealed via a series of trippy flashbacks being a bit of a monster, whose hand he cut off.'
'Get out.'
The PA joins the ever-increasing pile in the flowerbed and the maid continues to make breakfast .
‘Miss Leslie?’
without noticing that every time she turns her back there’s one less person to cook for.
‘Come on, she’s old enough to be my grandmother’
This is the slasher Sunset Boulevard but it’s also got elements of Whatever happened to Baby Jane and Psycho.
It’s a mess. It’s sold as being about Hopkins’ character, but she’s dead half an hour before the end.
Sometimes Vic is a cunning conman.
‘Here’s to lonely rich old bags’
other times, he’s just nuts.
‘Are you awake’
Just barely.
'Think nothing of it.'
Thanks for watching. To see our other slasher movie reviews, click here.
What’s your favourite horror movie based in Hollywood or around the film industry?
Let us know in the comments below.
'Get out.'