MICHAEL ARMSTRONG'S disappointment at the cuts in the final cut of The House Of The Long Shadows
was matched by the reaction of the stars of the film. Vincent Price, in
particular, was so upset that his role had been reduced by the cuts-
especially in the music room scene- that he denounced the film openly
and refused to aid in it's promotion or have anything more to do with
the film.
Michael Armstrong recalls: ' I got a call from Cannon just before the
film was due to open in the UK, telling me about Vinnie's reaction and
asking me if I could try and change his mind. Apparently, he had refused
to speak to anyone at the Cannon offices. He was staying in London at
the time, because his wife Coral Brown was at that time receiving
specialist treatment for cancer here. I called him and tried to persuade
him to talk to Cannon, but he was adamant. He was so angry and so very
upset because he'd loved doing the film and thought it was some of his
best comedy work and then to see so much of his performance cut...but
what could I say?'
Armstrong, continued 'I was totally in agreement with him and, as I pointed
out- the cuts to his dialogue were equally the cuts to my dialogue. We
were on the phone over an hour and a half. By the end, we were
commiserating with each other. He never did speak to anyone at Cannon,
although he and I continued to stay in touch right up to his death.'
ABOVE: PETER CUSHING PROMOTES THE HOUSE OF THE LONG SHADOWS ON THE UK BBC BREAKFAST TIME PROGRAMME 1983. CLIP QUALITY FLUCTUATES BUT IT'S WORTH IT!
HOUSE OF THE LONG SHADOWS opened in London in 1983 at the
Carlton Cinema in the Haymarket to mixed reviews and a disastrous box
office. Cannon's decision to sell the film as a straightforward horror
film had only resulted in confusing both the critics and the audiences
who, without having the benefit of knowing beforehand that it was meant
to be a tongue-in-cheek lampoon of Gothic melodrama, mistook all the wit
and pastiche jokes as an attempt at the real thing. Those critics,
however, who did realise the films intent, raved- in particular over the
screenplay and the stars. Similarly the film went on to win prizes for
best film, best screenplay and best actors (jointly for the four stars)
at Avoriaz, Sitges, Paris and other genre festivals around the world.
DISMAYED AT THE London box office results, Armstrong persuaded Cannon to let him experiment with a different approach for the regions in the UK and sell the film as the comedy it was, rather than the horror film that it wasn't. To test this the East Anglia release was launched with a specially organised gala night audience in Stowmarket being issued with souvenir programmes quoting those reviews recognising the film as a comedy. The result was a packed house loving the film, laughing and applauding throughout. As Armstrong points out, 'It was exactly the same audience reaction we'd seen at Avoriaz and in Paris where it had won the audience prize for Best Film at the Paris Film Festival'.
THE BRITISH QUAD CINEMA POSTER FOR 'HOUSE
OF THE LONG SHADOWS' WAS SCALED DOWN FOR THE
CANNON VIDEO RELEASE
DESPITE THIS EVIDENCE of the audience reaction, it was too late to
change anything. Cannon's original marketing plan remained and the film
continued to fail at the UK box office. With a far more tongue-in-cheek
marketing campaign the film fared better upon it's American and
international release, once more mainly garnering good reviews. Its
excellent entry into the video market, however, was cut short by the
collapse of Cannon. as part of the company's product sell off, the film
was included in a package required by MGM and along with so much of the
Cannon product was lost in the archives.
ARMSTRONG SAW THE PROBLEM, 'The problem with parody is that unless you know what is being parodied,
you miss the joke and I think that's where certain people missed out on
the film. It's a pity because The House Of The Long Shadows is
so full of jokes for the movie buff- almost every single line of the
dialogue has a reference point to some movie or another - I defy anyone
to get them all in a single screening. Apart from the movie references,
though, The House Of The Long Shadows exits on several levels,
which is why it really needs more than one viewing to appreciate it
fully. It was also made with a great love for the film it so
affectionately lampoons and as a swan song to the horror careers of the
four. Just take a look at their dialogue to see what I mean. I firmly
believe when it does finally emerge on DVD, it will finally be
recognised, not only as one of Pete Walker's best and most complex
films, but as a fitting tribute and elegy to a bygone era'
BUT IT DIDN'T STOP THERE . . 'The House Of The Long Shadows' until 2013 was still in limbo, regarding a legitimate release. Maybe Peter Cushing Centenary was an opportunity too good to miss? Whatever it was, the powers that be, finally gave us what we had been waiting for. 'The House of the Long Shadows' arrived in not only ONE blu ray package, but quite a few! The region FREE blu ray was followed by a German blu ray, then Spanish...and many more there after. The news is good, seems someone turned on the lights at the home of the Grisbanes, and now, the once foggy, under-lit scenes are presented, just as they should have been, when we spent our hard earned cash for groggy dvd copies. The picture quality is great, audio too! The Horror Channel has screened the movie several times over the past five years too! Seems, just like Roderick in the story, if WAIT long enough...you'll get what you want!
HOW WE REPORTED ON THE US REGION BLU RAY RELEASE
