Out of the first five episodes of Hammer's short-running "Hammer House of Horror" series, this fifth episode with the wonderful title "The House that Bled to Death" is arguably the creepiest one. As a great fan of the Hammer Studios' Gothic Horror films for many years, I wonder what took me so long to finally start watching the series quite recently. So far, I've only seen the first five episodes, and I have a strong feeling that the best is yet to come, but even if the series stays as entertaining as the first five episodes are, I will be satisfied. Whereas the second and third episodes were great to watch for their morbid and ingeniously dark sense of humor, this fifth entry is definitely the one out of the first five that delivers the most genuine Horror. The episode begins when an elderly man murders his wife out of unknown motivations. Years later, William (Nicholas Ball) and Emma Peters (Rachel Davies) move in the house with their little daughter Sophie (Emma Ridley). Soon after moving in, however, the family have to find out that there is something terribly wrong with the house, which is seemingly haunted... The second episode directed by Francis Megahy is a lot better than his mediocre previous entry, "Growing Pains" (Episode 4), and the fairly unknown actors deliver good performances. The film is also well-made in terms of effects, cinematography and score. "The House that Bled to Death" is a solid episode that delivers the elements that my fellow Hammer-fans should like to see in a Short Horror tale. The film delivers a creepy atmosphere, genuine scare moments and intelligent twists, and is suspenseful and highly entertaining from the beginning to the end. Overall, this is highly recommendable to Hammer fans.
Hammer House of Horror (TV Series)
The House That Bled to Death (1980)
User Reviews
Review this title20 Reviews
One of the more memorable episodes.
Sleepin_Dragon14 June 2017
Emma and Peter move into a new home with their young daughter Sophie. What they aren't aware of is that the house holds a grizzly secret, the house was a scene of murder, a particularly brutal murder, but a party for Sophie is bound to make things better.
They'd never get away with making this now, but made it was, and forth years later it still contains plenty of scares. Hammer had some what of a renaissance in the Seventies, producing some cracking films, as well as this series, which admittedly was hit and miss.
This isn't perhaps my favourite episode, but I certainly think it's the most memorable, the party scene is definitely quite a chilling moment.
The parents are abominable, and get their just deserts. There are some good scares, the most terrifying thing you'll see though are the furnishings, what on Earth were they thinking?
Very Watchable.
7/10.
They'd never get away with making this now, but made it was, and forth years later it still contains plenty of scares. Hammer had some what of a renaissance in the Seventies, producing some cracking films, as well as this series, which admittedly was hit and miss.
This isn't perhaps my favourite episode, but I certainly think it's the most memorable, the party scene is definitely quite a chilling moment.
The parents are abominable, and get their just deserts. There are some good scares, the most terrifying thing you'll see though are the furnishings, what on Earth were they thinking?
Very Watchable.
7/10.
This Tale Has Not a Happy End
claudio_carvalho5 August 2006
Warning: Spoilers
William (Nicholas Ball) and Emma Peters (Rachel Davies) buy an old house where a brutal murder happened years ago in very bad condition with the intention of restoring it. They move with their daughter Sophie (Emma RidleY), and become friends of their neighbors Jean (Patricia Maynard) and George Evans (Brian Croucher). However, eerie events happen in the house, inclusive the death of Sophie's cat. In Sophie's birthday party, a pipe leaks blood and they leave the place, disclosing a secret later.
"The House That Bled to Death" is a scary and one of the best episodes of the series "Hammer House of Horror". The fantastic twist, disclosing a secret, and the tragic conclusion are really excellent. My vote is eight.
Title (Brazil): "A Casa Que Sangrou Até Morrer" ("The House That Bled to Death")
Note: On 03 Aug 2020, I saw this film again.
"The House That Bled to Death" is a scary and one of the best episodes of the series "Hammer House of Horror". The fantastic twist, disclosing a secret, and the tragic conclusion are really excellent. My vote is eight.
Title (Brazil): "A Casa Que Sangrou Até Morrer" ("The House That Bled to Death")
Note: On 03 Aug 2020, I saw this film again.
"Poor things. Obviously they don't know."
classicsoncall15 December 2021
Warning: Spoilers
The opening scene set in the past offers an elderly man withholding medication from his suffocating wife, and then a couple of curved blade scimitars finish the job. The unwieldy weapons make their appearance once again as new owners take possession of the house, and right off the bat, you know something's askew when a pet cat doesn't like the place. The cat doesn't last long, and if that weren't enough for it's young owner Sophie (Joanne White), she's terrorized once more when her birthday party is interrupted by a broken pipe spewing blood over all the guests. With enough scares to send you deep diving under the cover of your nearest blanket, I had to pinch myself near the ending when the story's reveal is made, because it takes the events of the picture and turns them all into a fabrication. Except for the lasting impact it had on good old Sophie, who's had three years to digest what her parents wound up doing to her psyche, and decides to put her birthday scimitar to good use.
P. S. Do you think Sophie's stuffed rabbit was recycled from the prior episode "Growing Pains"?
P. S. Do you think Sophie's stuffed rabbit was recycled from the prior episode "Growing Pains"?
If these walls could....BLEED!
Coventry30 November 2006
Perhaps not the absolute greatest entry in the Hammer House of Horror series, but it surely wins the award for most inventively titled episode! "The House that Bled to Death"
I could yell out this title all day without ever getting tired of it! And besides the wondrous title, this short movie also benefices from a solidly written screenplay and a handful of genuinely suspenseful moments. It might require an extra viewing before you fully understand the peculiar end-twist, but it's definitely an original idea for a horror short. The story opens with images of an elderly couple drinking tea in their middle-class house. The husband sadistically kills his wife and several years later the "cursed" house is still for sale. A young couple and their cherubic daughter move in and start to restore it, but mysterious events occur and affect especially the young Sophie. Her beloved cat is killed an even her birthday party gets ruined when one of the house's pipes suddenly sprays blood all over the guests (a particularly chilling sequence, this one!). Is the old house really haunted? Or maybe the seemly helpful neighbors cause all the horror? The answers to these questions are provided in the original and fairly unpredictable climax and there's even room for a real shock at the very end. The tension is masterfully built up and the titular house is filled with eerie scenery, like the pair of rusty machetes used by the husband to slay his wife. Little warning though, the sequence with the cat is hard to watch when you're an animal lover. In conclusion, another winner for Hammer's short-running TV series!
Harsh Pipe.
southdavid27 July 2020
I rather enjoyed this twisting turning edition of the Hammer series, with some recognisable faces and a plot twist at the end that, for once, I didn't see coming.
William Peters (Nicholas Ball) and his wife Emma (Rachel Davies) buy an aging house at a knockdown price, unaware that the previous owners were an elderly couple, the husband of which murdered and dismembered his wife at the property. On the day they move in, along with their daughter Sophie, (Emma Ridley & Joanne White) macabre things start to happen in the house, including the death of Sophie's pet cat. Then the old couple's possessions start reappearing.
This is the one episode so far that's made by its twist ending. Knowing what's really going on will make scenes and lines play differently during a rewatch and I think will explain a few of the plotholes, none more so than why the family stay at the house, once the incidents have started happening. (Though the very first moment of supernatural activity doesn't make sense, when you think about it in context). Both the leads, Ball and Davies, are recognisable from numerous TV appearances in the UK although neither ever really landing what you might consider a breakthrough role, but they're good here. Playing both the story and the "real" story well.
The episodes best scene is undoubtedly the bloodbath, which occurs at Sophie's birthday party. That bright red gore (along with the relatively tame but still present sex and nudity) make this unmistakably a Hammer show and for my money, the best one so far.
William Peters (Nicholas Ball) and his wife Emma (Rachel Davies) buy an aging house at a knockdown price, unaware that the previous owners were an elderly couple, the husband of which murdered and dismembered his wife at the property. On the day they move in, along with their daughter Sophie, (Emma Ridley & Joanne White) macabre things start to happen in the house, including the death of Sophie's pet cat. Then the old couple's possessions start reappearing.
This is the one episode so far that's made by its twist ending. Knowing what's really going on will make scenes and lines play differently during a rewatch and I think will explain a few of the plotholes, none more so than why the family stay at the house, once the incidents have started happening. (Though the very first moment of supernatural activity doesn't make sense, when you think about it in context). Both the leads, Ball and Davies, are recognisable from numerous TV appearances in the UK although neither ever really landing what you might consider a breakthrough role, but they're good here. Playing both the story and the "real" story well.
The episodes best scene is undoubtedly the bloodbath, which occurs at Sophie's birthday party. That bright red gore (along with the relatively tame but still present sex and nudity) make this unmistakably a Hammer show and for my money, the best one so far.
An interesting take on the haunted house film from Hammer House of Horror
Red-Barracuda7 February 2015
Warning: Spoilers
The House that Bled to Death is episode five from the 'Hammer House of Horror' TV series. This is one of the more famous instalments as its name seemed familiar to me before even having seen it. It's set in a house where an elderly man gruesomely murdered his wife some time earlier, a young couple and their daughter move in and supernatural events immediately follow. As you can probably assume from this synopsis, this is the entry from the series that took influence from the then very recent blockbuster horror hit The Amityville Horror.
Like the others in this series it has on location photography, this was for budget-based reasons but it definitely adds something given the mundane nature of the house makes it more believable. But of course in keeping with others in the series, the events are far from normal. The old rusty machetes used in the historical murder mysteriously show up time after time, the family cat is violently killed and, most memorably of all, a children's birthday party is interrupted when a pipe breaks and sprays all the kids with gallons of blood. All of this is directed pretty well by Francis Megahy, who helmed the previous entry Growing Pains, which was a much inferior episode to this one. And to top things off it has a very effective twist ending which even has a twist of its own. Some people aren't so keen on this ending but I thought it was genuinely good and unexpected. Not only that it can be read as a comment on the real Lutz family whose spurious claims founded the Amityville book and movies. A good episode overall.
Like the others in this series it has on location photography, this was for budget-based reasons but it definitely adds something given the mundane nature of the house makes it more believable. But of course in keeping with others in the series, the events are far from normal. The old rusty machetes used in the historical murder mysteriously show up time after time, the family cat is violently killed and, most memorably of all, a children's birthday party is interrupted when a pipe breaks and sprays all the kids with gallons of blood. All of this is directed pretty well by Francis Megahy, who helmed the previous entry Growing Pains, which was a much inferior episode to this one. And to top things off it has a very effective twist ending which even has a twist of its own. Some people aren't so keen on this ending but I thought it was genuinely good and unexpected. Not only that it can be read as a comment on the real Lutz family whose spurious claims founded the Amityville book and movies. A good episode overall.
"She'll forget all about it"....
kidboots4 May 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Definitely one of the best of the "Hammer House of Horrors" series it starred the current (1980) heart throb Nicholas Ball who was just enjoying being the star of the top rating series "Hazell". He plays William who, along with Emma and little girl Sophia present themselves as a struggling young family with just enough for a deposit on a house with a murky past. They move in and start redecorating, friendly neighbours lend them a helping hand but all at once ghastly things start to happen. The pet cat dies in a horrific accident, a bloodied hand is found in the fridge and a huge knife turns up in odd places. The neighbours know the history - an old man went berserk and dismembered his wife, it's a house of horrors!!
I didn't see this when it was released but as an older lady, wow it scared the living daylights out of me the first time I saw it, a couple of years ago!! There is the awful birthday party where the house literally bleeds to death all over the children's table!!
Something is not quite right with the couple - for all their affection it seems they sleep in separate rooms and when they disappear - shock! horror! it seems they weren't actually married!! Then the truth is revealed - they are in league with the slimy real estate agent who has commissioned them to write their own version of "The Amityville Horror", where they clean up with a best seller and are able to live the good life in California!! But no-one thinks of the effect it all had on little Sophia - especially the death of her beloved cat Timmy!! You watch it, then you immediately want to watch it again to observe Sophia!!
I didn't see this when it was released but as an older lady, wow it scared the living daylights out of me the first time I saw it, a couple of years ago!! There is the awful birthday party where the house literally bleeds to death all over the children's table!!
Something is not quite right with the couple - for all their affection it seems they sleep in separate rooms and when they disappear - shock! horror! it seems they weren't actually married!! Then the truth is revealed - they are in league with the slimy real estate agent who has commissioned them to write their own version of "The Amityville Horror", where they clean up with a best seller and are able to live the good life in California!! But no-one thinks of the effect it all had on little Sophia - especially the death of her beloved cat Timmy!! You watch it, then you immediately want to watch it again to observe Sophia!!
Probably The Best Episode Of The Show
Theo Robertson9 September 2013
Warning: Spoilers
From memory this was the stand out episode from HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR . If there's any flaws to it then it's a very conscious reworking of THE AMITYVILLE HORROR and suffers from obvious and obvious exposition where characters relate things to one another that they'd already know as in " We've been here in California for three years now and ... " but from what I've seen via my recent rewatching of the show this looks like remaining the best of a relatively invariable mediocre set of stand alone horror stories
You can perhaps work out what the twist is going to be at the end and to its credit the internal logic of the story states that there's no such thing as the supernatural which is a blatant and undisguised attack on the credibility of THE AMITYVILLE HORROR writer Jay Anson and the Lutz family . There is an element of contrivance in that someone must do something such as faint in order for the plot to progress and someone has to be in the right place at the right time but the credibility just about works , probably down to the fact William Peters works as a hospital porter which gives you a large clue as to how someone can have access to blood and severed hands
One amusing back stage story was from Brian Croucher who mentioned that the cast kept corpsing every time they saw the stuffed prop for Timmy the cat , something that's not reflected on screen since the death of Timmy is fairly shocking . It is very noticeable that just before the climatic scene at the children's birthday party the young cast are enjoying the fact that they know what's going to happen next and are enjoying themselves a little bit too much , this sums up the episode which is very enjoyable
You can perhaps work out what the twist is going to be at the end and to its credit the internal logic of the story states that there's no such thing as the supernatural which is a blatant and undisguised attack on the credibility of THE AMITYVILLE HORROR writer Jay Anson and the Lutz family . There is an element of contrivance in that someone must do something such as faint in order for the plot to progress and someone has to be in the right place at the right time but the credibility just about works , probably down to the fact William Peters works as a hospital porter which gives you a large clue as to how someone can have access to blood and severed hands
One amusing back stage story was from Brian Croucher who mentioned that the cast kept corpsing every time they saw the stuffed prop for Timmy the cat , something that's not reflected on screen since the death of Timmy is fairly shocking . It is very noticeable that just before the climatic scene at the children's birthday party the young cast are enjoying the fact that they know what's going to happen next and are enjoying themselves a little bit too much , this sums up the episode which is very enjoyable
"She loved that bloody cat." Let down by a terrible twist ending.
poolandrews17 March 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Hammer House of Horror: The House That Bled to Death starts as young married couple William (Nicholas Ball) & Emma Peters (Rachel Davis) & their young daughter Sophie (Emma Ridley) move into a house where a brutal murder took place several years prior. At first they feel it's their dream home but soon the dream turn into a living nightmare as horrendous events begin to happen, the cat dies, blood is seen leaking from holes in the wall, Sophie finds severed hands in the fridge & two rusty old machetes keep turning up. Is the house haunted? If so is it trying to kill the Peters & what can be done about it...
The House That Bled to Death was episode 5 from the one & only season of this short lived British horror anthology series made for TV by Hammer studios, originally airing here in the UK during October 1980 & directed by Francis Megahy one has to say that The House That Bled to Death was excellent for it's first forty five minutes but then everything is ruined in the last five with a truly awful twist ending which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The script by David Lloyd starts off really well as a great fast paced & genuinely spooky haunted house horror with plenty of incident but then that twist ending ruins everything. It makes no sense to me, what was the purpose of William's actions again? To write a book? To make a film? For the publicity? It's never explained to any satisfactory degree & where did Sophie get that machete from? Who was that estate agent guy & what did he have to do with it all? What was that book Sophie was reading? It wasn't a factual account of what happened because William admits to staging all the supernatural events, why? No matter how much I think about it I just can't square the circle, it just doesn't make any sense & if you work out one aspect of it then something else doesn't make sense which buggers your theory up. Nothing makes any logical sense & it's incredibly disappointing & frustrating after such an excellent first three quarters of an hour. The House That Bled to Death could have been the finest episode of Hammer House of Horror, as it is it's one of the worst.
Director Megahy does a good job here, the early 80's contemporary British setting is nice & makes the events fairly real, there are some great sequences as the horrible events inside the house continue to escalate including the infamous scene where the guests at Sophie's birthday party are showered in blood & there's a graphic shot of a dead cat with it's throat cut as well if & if your an animal lover you should probably look away during that moment. There's a really oppressive & gloomy atmosphere, it's actually pretty creepy & unsettling at times like the pre-credits sequence at the start when the old man kills his wife & then reach for one of the huge machetes on the wall & then we fade into the opening credits. Shot on 35mm film rather than videotape as was the norm for most British TV this looks very theatrical & you could imagine it on the big screen. The acting is good except during the twist ending when the whole programme sadly falls to pieces really.
The House That Bled to Death could have been one of the greatest Hammer House of Horror episodes if not for a disastrous & incomprehensible twist ending that ruins everything that has gone before.
The House That Bled to Death was episode 5 from the one & only season of this short lived British horror anthology series made for TV by Hammer studios, originally airing here in the UK during October 1980 & directed by Francis Megahy one has to say that The House That Bled to Death was excellent for it's first forty five minutes but then everything is ruined in the last five with a truly awful twist ending which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The script by David Lloyd starts off really well as a great fast paced & genuinely spooky haunted house horror with plenty of incident but then that twist ending ruins everything. It makes no sense to me, what was the purpose of William's actions again? To write a book? To make a film? For the publicity? It's never explained to any satisfactory degree & where did Sophie get that machete from? Who was that estate agent guy & what did he have to do with it all? What was that book Sophie was reading? It wasn't a factual account of what happened because William admits to staging all the supernatural events, why? No matter how much I think about it I just can't square the circle, it just doesn't make any sense & if you work out one aspect of it then something else doesn't make sense which buggers your theory up. Nothing makes any logical sense & it's incredibly disappointing & frustrating after such an excellent first three quarters of an hour. The House That Bled to Death could have been the finest episode of Hammer House of Horror, as it is it's one of the worst.
Director Megahy does a good job here, the early 80's contemporary British setting is nice & makes the events fairly real, there are some great sequences as the horrible events inside the house continue to escalate including the infamous scene where the guests at Sophie's birthday party are showered in blood & there's a graphic shot of a dead cat with it's throat cut as well if & if your an animal lover you should probably look away during that moment. There's a really oppressive & gloomy atmosphere, it's actually pretty creepy & unsettling at times like the pre-credits sequence at the start when the old man kills his wife & then reach for one of the huge machetes on the wall & then we fade into the opening credits. Shot on 35mm film rather than videotape as was the norm for most British TV this looks very theatrical & you could imagine it on the big screen. The acting is good except during the twist ending when the whole programme sadly falls to pieces really.
The House That Bled to Death could have been one of the greatest Hammer House of Horror episodes if not for a disastrous & incomprehensible twist ending that ruins everything that has gone before.
Super Scary!
dolly_the_ye-ye_bird26 December 2011
This episode scared me to death as a kid. I had nightmares for weeks!! In fact, it's the episode that I always remembered having nightmares about, which led me to research the whole series and watch it. Not to mention, it made me a mad fan of Hammer in general. As I got older, I couldn't remember if it was a movie or TV show and it was years before I finally tracked it down online. And it was just as good as I remembered!! The birthday party scene is truly terrifying. There is enough blood and gore to keep the slasher fan placated. But not so much that those of us who prefer atmosphere cannot enjoy every minute. In all, it's very creepy and has a well thought out plot. This is the best episode of one of the best horror series ever! Too bad it only lasted a season!
Well made and entertaining episode in the Hammer series
Leofwine_draca30 July 2016
Warning: Spoilers
The fifth episode in Hammer's short-lived series of TV horror movies is one of the best. It's a fairly typical haunted house offering, made with strong production values and sure-hand direction from none other than Tom Clegg, the man best known as the director of the long-running SHARPE series. Probably the worst thing about this episode is the familiarity of the events. The old 'family move into house haunted by a murder of the past' thing has been done to death, and little that happens – the death of the cat, for instance – has the power or freshness to surprise.
Saying that, the titular sequence – taking place at a children's birthday party – turns out to be well-staged and colourful, and there are a few brief, bloody shock scenes courtesy of SFX man Ian Scoones. Most surprising of all is the twist ending, which was a then-topical exploration of the whole AMITYVILLE HORROR furore done in a distinctly British way. The cast is interesting: TV actor Nicholas Ball (most recently appearing as a mob boss in EASTENDERS) is the unlikable husband, Rachel Davies (BOON) his sexy wife. None other than Brian Croucher, another TV staple, shows up as a Peeping Tom neighbour. It's not a fantastic TV movie, but it's well made and entertaining, and has that 'Hammer' feel – mostly down to the film's score, by composer James Bernard, which recalls his work on the Dracula films.
Saying that, the titular sequence – taking place at a children's birthday party – turns out to be well-staged and colourful, and there are a few brief, bloody shock scenes courtesy of SFX man Ian Scoones. Most surprising of all is the twist ending, which was a then-topical exploration of the whole AMITYVILLE HORROR furore done in a distinctly British way. The cast is interesting: TV actor Nicholas Ball (most recently appearing as a mob boss in EASTENDERS) is the unlikable husband, Rachel Davies (BOON) his sexy wife. None other than Brian Croucher, another TV staple, shows up as a Peeping Tom neighbour. It's not a fantastic TV movie, but it's well made and entertaining, and has that 'Hammer' feel – mostly down to the film's score, by composer James Bernard, which recalls his work on the Dracula films.
not one of the best
trashgang20 April 2010
Those good old days of Hammer, aah what a time that was. I remember that my dad used to watch it on air on ITV and sometimes if i had the nerve I watched with him. It must have been my first confrontation with the genre I love now. The season they made in 1980 is available for some time but I was a bit afraid to watch it again, not for the scary parts but when you take a trip down memorylane sometimes it's a big letdown. I had that before by watching Magnum and Dukes of Hazard, my god, so slow. Tales of The Unexpected couldn't deliver what it did when it was broadcasted so after 20 years I tried Hammer again. I will watch them in no particular order because it all stands on his own. Know for not being one of the best parts in the 13 episodes it's what I guessed a bit slow but still it delivers. Children are involved and they will confront a blood bath, a real one. Even dismemberment and a sliced cat passes the episode. If you place it in the time it was aired it was a bit gory for the time being. It isn't a Friday the 13th or like those slashers but is nice to watch. It clocks in at 50 minutes and that's really enough. The plot is what I guessed but with almost no effects it works. Hammer not on his best, but still it's Hammer.
Home under the Hammer...
canndyman3 October 2020
This is definitely one of the classic episodes of this much-loved TV series - one which everyone remembers from that fateful Saturday night back in the autumn of 1980.
William (played by 'Hazell' actor Nicholas Ball), Emma (the very lovely Rachel Davis), and their daughter Sophie (played by 80s 'wild child' Emma Ridley) move into a rather ordinary (but dilapidated) semi in the suburbs, hoping to make a happy home and a new start. But, this particular house has a grisly and bloody history that seems to be reliving itself - and the family soon fall foul to a series of unfortunate events that make their dream home more of a house of horrors...
This episode plays out nicely, with the viewer never quite sure what's really going on and why until very near the end. The ordinariness of the prosaic 1930s semi makes for an uneasy setting for the horrors to slowly unfold - as if this could be anyone's house. Young Emma Ridley should get some credit too as Sophie, who seems to always be the victim of the gruesome and disturbing horrors the house unleashes, and whose feelings her parents seem to overlook.
A clever and unexpected ending too, which ties things up nicely - but did leave me a bit confused (as a child) back in 1980 I have to admit!
This is one of the definitive episodes of this short-lived series that is a favorite with fans, and very hard to forget - just beware the next time you check your fridge!
William (played by 'Hazell' actor Nicholas Ball), Emma (the very lovely Rachel Davis), and their daughter Sophie (played by 80s 'wild child' Emma Ridley) move into a rather ordinary (but dilapidated) semi in the suburbs, hoping to make a happy home and a new start. But, this particular house has a grisly and bloody history that seems to be reliving itself - and the family soon fall foul to a series of unfortunate events that make their dream home more of a house of horrors...
This episode plays out nicely, with the viewer never quite sure what's really going on and why until very near the end. The ordinariness of the prosaic 1930s semi makes for an uneasy setting for the horrors to slowly unfold - as if this could be anyone's house. Young Emma Ridley should get some credit too as Sophie, who seems to always be the victim of the gruesome and disturbing horrors the house unleashes, and whose feelings her parents seem to overlook.
A clever and unexpected ending too, which ties things up nicely - but did leave me a bit confused (as a child) back in 1980 I have to admit!
This is one of the definitive episodes of this short-lived series that is a favorite with fans, and very hard to forget - just beware the next time you check your fridge!
Bloody Awful
kapelusznik183 April 2016
Warning: Spoilers
***SPOILERS*** What was obviously inspired by the 1979 movie "The Amityville Horror" the Hammer series episode "The House that Bled" to its credit goes a step farther in explaining what happened in a well placed surprise or twist ending that ties up all the loose as well as bloody ends in the movie together. There's the usual unsuspecting family the Peters who buy their dream house in the country that turns out to be haunted by the previous owners of the place. That's when the husband murdered his wife and chopped her up with a pair of Kurki knives and ended up sentenced to life in an institution for the criminally insane. It's when William Peters, Nicholas Bail, and his wife Emma, Rachel Davis, and their 8 year old daughter Sophia, Emma Ridley, moved in strange things started to happen that ended up driving the family up the wall and out of the house.
A first the family cat Timmy was found hacked to death and into pieces as well as someone's severed and bloody hand was found in the fridge. Things reach a crescendo when at a birthday party for Sophia a pipe broke open and flooded the place with blood that drove everyone at the party totally batty. With the news of the house's strange activities making headline it ended up getting the attention of a number of major movie studios to get the rights from the Peter family to make a movie about it who ended up millionaires.
***SPOILERS**** Set for life with a new house with a swimming pool and tennis court and no financial problems the Peter's were in for a big surprise at the very end of the movie. It was their daughter Sophia depressed since her pet cat Timmy was found hacked to pieces who found a book, that her parents had hidden, about the house and the family who previously lived in it! Its then that Sophia realized what was really behind all the horrors that happened there: The achievement by her parents of using the house for both Fame & Fortune. And with that she took matters as well as a deadly Kukri knife into her own hand and meted out justice!
A first the family cat Timmy was found hacked to death and into pieces as well as someone's severed and bloody hand was found in the fridge. Things reach a crescendo when at a birthday party for Sophia a pipe broke open and flooded the place with blood that drove everyone at the party totally batty. With the news of the house's strange activities making headline it ended up getting the attention of a number of major movie studios to get the rights from the Peter family to make a movie about it who ended up millionaires.
***SPOILERS**** Set for life with a new house with a swimming pool and tennis court and no financial problems the Peter's were in for a big surprise at the very end of the movie. It was their daughter Sophia depressed since her pet cat Timmy was found hacked to pieces who found a book, that her parents had hidden, about the house and the family who previously lived in it! Its then that Sophia realized what was really behind all the horrors that happened there: The achievement by her parents of using the house for both Fame & Fortune. And with that she took matters as well as a deadly Kukri knife into her own hand and meted out justice!
An on the money episode
Woodyanders24 January 2017
Warning: Spoilers
William (a solid performance by Nicholas Ball), his wife Emma (well played by the fetching Rachel Davies), and their daughter Sophia (the adorable Emma Ridley) move into an old rundown house where a brutal murder occurred years ago. Strange and upsetting things start to happen immediately thereafter.
Director Tom Clegg keeps the absorbing story moving along at a steady pace, adroitly crafts a creepy atmosphere, makes nice use of the titular crumbling abode, grounds the premise in a believable everyday reality, and tosses in a few nice bits of gore that include a hideously mangled cat and a pipe that sprays blood on a bunch of folks celebrating Sophie's birthday party. David Lloyd's crafty script pulls off a doozy of a surprise twist and concludes on a shockingly nasty note. The sound acting by the capable cast keeps this episode on track: Patricia Maynard as friendly neighbor Jean, Brian Coucher as Jean's helpful husband George, and Milton Johns as smarmy real estate agent A.J. Powers. Norman Warwick's crisp cinematography and James Bernard's robust ooga-booga score further enhance the sturdy quality of this nifty show.
Director Tom Clegg keeps the absorbing story moving along at a steady pace, adroitly crafts a creepy atmosphere, makes nice use of the titular crumbling abode, grounds the premise in a believable everyday reality, and tosses in a few nice bits of gore that include a hideously mangled cat and a pipe that sprays blood on a bunch of folks celebrating Sophie's birthday party. David Lloyd's crafty script pulls off a doozy of a surprise twist and concludes on a shockingly nasty note. The sound acting by the capable cast keeps this episode on track: Patricia Maynard as friendly neighbor Jean, Brian Coucher as Jean's helpful husband George, and Milton Johns as smarmy real estate agent A.J. Powers. Norman Warwick's crisp cinematography and James Bernard's robust ooga-booga score further enhance the sturdy quality of this nifty show.
If walls have ears for listening then logically they can bleed - here's the proof!
one9eighty28 September 2015
Warning: Spoilers
If you are familiar with the Hammer TV series you'll most probably know this one or have heard about it at least. "The House that bled to Death" is probably the creepiest of all the TV episode's that Hammer released. If you are watching the DVD box-set of the TV series this one marks the 5th title for your viewing pleasure and is undoubtedly the most out and out horror shorts of the box-set.
A young couple and their daughter (William, Emma and Sophie Peters played by Nicholas Ball, Rachel Davies and Emma Ridley) move into a new house at 42 Coleman road in which the previous owner has killed his wife for no explained reason. After moving in and settling down creepy things start to happen, first for young Sophie but soon enough William and Emma experience spooky events too. The straw which broke the ratings for me is the end - I won't spoil it but after a great build up the last few minutes is a bit of a weird twist and ultimately a let down - especially after the amazing birthday party which had been thrown for Sophie. If this wasn't branded and packaged as a Hammer production I'd have some serious concerns about messages of child abuse from watching this as everything that Sophie is dear to gets destroyed or killed off by the end - you'll see!
Directed by Tom Clegg and written by David Lloyd this short featured a fairly unknown cast but all manage to deliver excellently. There is a creepy atmosphere throughout the feature, genuinely scary moments with clever twists and turns as well as the occasional moment of dark humour.
I'll happily give this 5 out of 10, not the best Hammer production, not the worst, but certainly creative one and manages to bring a flood of crimson to the screen like only Hammer can.
A young couple and their daughter (William, Emma and Sophie Peters played by Nicholas Ball, Rachel Davies and Emma Ridley) move into a new house at 42 Coleman road in which the previous owner has killed his wife for no explained reason. After moving in and settling down creepy things start to happen, first for young Sophie but soon enough William and Emma experience spooky events too. The straw which broke the ratings for me is the end - I won't spoil it but after a great build up the last few minutes is a bit of a weird twist and ultimately a let down - especially after the amazing birthday party which had been thrown for Sophie. If this wasn't branded and packaged as a Hammer production I'd have some serious concerns about messages of child abuse from watching this as everything that Sophie is dear to gets destroyed or killed off by the end - you'll see!
Directed by Tom Clegg and written by David Lloyd this short featured a fairly unknown cast but all manage to deliver excellently. There is a creepy atmosphere throughout the feature, genuinely scary moments with clever twists and turns as well as the occasional moment of dark humour.
I'll happily give this 5 out of 10, not the best Hammer production, not the worst, but certainly creative one and manages to bring a flood of crimson to the screen like only Hammer can.
Anatomy of child abuse
martin-intercultural13 June 2015
We all love a good haunted house story. Sadly, this episode seems to relish in the gory details of childhood trauma more than anything else. Sophie the child protagonist has everything that she has grown attached to or been gifted eventually brutalized and destroyed right in front of her. It is truly one emotional trauma after another, replete with blood, murdered pets, dolls' broken limbs, stuffed white rabbits and other - by today's standards - clichés. It gets sickening and predictable and very hard to enjoy for some presumed suspense alone. The ending, too, takes a back seat to the disturbing theme of "good girl gone bad" as little Sophie starts to take an obvious interest and a degree of pleasure in the relentless violence that surrounds her.
Trash
begob2 April 2016
A struggling young family moves in to a fixer-upper house, unaware of the brutal murder committed there by the previous owner. And of course the plot thickens as the blood flows ...
I read a good review of the series, which said this was the best episode - so I gave it a lash. O.M.G. An appalling piece of trash. Very poorly written, with a story nicked from Amityville that finishes in a ludicrous rush, plus the most ham-fisted dialogue and characterisation. They even get the maths wrong in the end. The direction is barely present, with no sense of the house as a character, and the photography is dull dull dull.
The actors are OK, but they had zero to work with. And the camera lingering on the children seemed a bit creepy to me. The only thing I can praise is the music - only because it's not as bad as the rest.
Overall - just don't.
I read a good review of the series, which said this was the best episode - so I gave it a lash. O.M.G. An appalling piece of trash. Very poorly written, with a story nicked from Amityville that finishes in a ludicrous rush, plus the most ham-fisted dialogue and characterisation. They even get the maths wrong in the end. The direction is barely present, with no sense of the house as a character, and the photography is dull dull dull.
The actors are OK, but they had zero to work with. And the camera lingering on the children seemed a bit creepy to me. The only thing I can praise is the music - only because it's not as bad as the rest.
Overall - just don't.
A pity that the Hammer name is associated with this dreadfully dull series
stfivpa5 November 2020
This was the fifth episode of Hammer House Of Horrors that we watched, and it was the last. All five episodes have been sorely lacking in horror, or even mild scares. The writing in this episode was so scattered, and it left us shaking our heads in dismay. After having read reviews of how good it was, I found it extremely sad to see the Hammer name associated with something as worthless as this. I'm not going to waste any more time on this, as I already wasted far too much time on this dreadfully dull series.
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