four tale of terror regard the event at a creepy old mansion be recount to sceptical scotland yard investigator holloway ( john bennett ) a he investigate the whereabouts of the late occupant of the house that drip blood . one can only struggle to find the word to describe the true brilliance that be the house that drip blood . this seventies horror anthology be quite remarkable in the way that such a visually innocent movie be capable of induce horror in even the most discerning of viewer . incredibly and the number of depiction of violence on screen can be count on one hand but the film be still able to portray brutality and succeed in conjure up the most horrific image in the viewer own imagination and all the while refrain from take the obvious route of graphic violence . in a rare feature of early seventy horror the technicality of the movie be virtually flawless and from the faultless performance of the star stud cast ( feature the legendary peter cushing and christopher lee and ingrid pitt ) all the way to the superb direction and story tell courtesy of peter duffell and master of the macabre writer robert bloch ( the author of the novel psycho ) . the only real complaint that one may have with the house that drip blood be the somewhat asinine plot twist at the end of the first two segment and the predictable end of the picture and but even these minor detail fail to detract from the overall viewing enjoyment . the first segment and entitle method for murder and tell the story of charles hillyer ( denholm elliott ) and a horror author who rent the creepy house while he work on his late novel . while work on the novel and hillyer continue to start see the murderous character from his story in and around the house and soon begin to question the difference between fiction and reality . elliott performance in this piece be truly exceptional and his character be give a surprising air of believability . the key to this segment and a with the others and be the mystery surround the event that take place . the viewer be make to question whether the sight of the murderous character of dominic be merely a hallucination and a schizophrenic disorder or whether the character be actually there . duffell direction succeed in create an unsettling atmosphere couple with a slow and methodical approach to engender the tension and suspense require to make the segment greatly enthral . the following segment feature peter cushing a the new occupant of the sinister house . during a trip into town he come across a wax museum of horror and decides to venture in . while there and he discover a wax model of a beautiful woman that seem all too familiar to him . cushing character ( philip ) be then join by his friend neville ( joss ackland ) who also wish to visit the museum and much to the dismay of philip . in this segment the viewer be give no more than very subtle clue a to the mystery of the wax woman but in general the viewer be leave in the dark . there be far less tension to this particular story yet the segment still succeed in maintain it air of mystery through a particularly harrowing dream sequence and the general ambiguity of the story . duffell direction be once again exceptional and while this be quite possibly the weak of the four story and there be no denying that through some creative direction and credible acting waxworks be still a delightful entry into the film . waxworks be follow by what be and in my opinion and the great of the four segment sweets to the sweet . christopher lee star a john reid and the father to a young girl who to begin with have an inexplicable fear of fire which be soon remedied by care nanny ann norton ( nyree dawn porter ) . however and john appear to be harbour a dark secret about the family . sweets to the sweet be easily the most sober and intricate of the four story and that be why the segment be undeniably compel to the viewer . throughout the segment small and subtle clue be release about the truth behind the family and but it be not until the immensely horrific final scene that everything slot neatly into place . this be the best example of how duffell use dramatic tension and suspense to create the foreboding atmosphere that make the entire film great . accompany by a wonderfully arrange soundtrack and sweets to the sweet be an exercise in sustained fear that grab the viewer by the throat and refuse to let go until the agonise scream that end this piece finally cease . personally and i believe that this short segment would have make an entertaining and haunting feature length movie and i would give this segment a rare positive . the film be end with the story surround the miss performer that the investigator be originally interested in . jon pertwee and ingrid pitt star a two performer who be currently work on a horror movie . pertwee character be disgust with the amateurish production and prop of the film and so he purchase his own vampire cloak from a strange shop of mystery . however and strange thing begin to happen when he wear the cloak and soon he begin to fear the bad . this segment and which place the inspector amongst the event and be a nice way to wrap up a wonderful anthology . although there be an irrefutable air of camp to the segment this be and in a way and what make the story so enjoyable . unfortunately and there be little in this segment that could be class a frightening in any sense and the predictable end could have be execute well but nonetheless the segment have it redeeming feature . horror buff should definitely look out for pertwee brief comment on bela lugosi and christopher lee portrayal of dracula . this slightly comical and light hearted approach to the final segment be in essence an adequate and almost natural way of end the picture even if it let down the film when compare to the early example of suspense drive horror . to sum up and the house that drip blood be one of the great horror anthology that feature an incredible cast and great story and above par direction . there be certainly bad way to spend one hundred minute of your life and while blood and gut fan will be highly disappointed and fan of more tense horror effort should enjoy this film immensely . my rating for the house that drip blood positive .