When you sit down to watch Pete Walker’s House of the Long Shadows it’s important to know what you’re getting into. When I watched it the first time I really didn’t know what the movie was about. I knew it had a legendary cast and I knew it was directed by Pete Walker. I assumed I knew what type of movie it would be and when it turned out to be different than expected I was a bit disappointed. Watching it again however, and with a better understanding as to what it’s supposed to be and the intent behind it, makes it quite a bit more enjoyable. The problem with that is knowing too much can ruin things as well. Maybe it’s just a movie that has to be seen twice? Or maybe you just need to go in with no expectations? Whatever the case, I just know that after viewing it a second time, I liked it a whole lot more.

Desi Arnaz Jr plays Kenneth Magee an American author who has just arrived in England to meet with his publisher, Sam Allyson (Richard Todd). After Kenneth and Sam get into a discussion about what makes for a great novel the two make a bet – Kenneth has 24 hours to write a novel with $20,000 on the line. In order to give Kenneth the best possible opportunity to write, Sam gets him a secluded Welsh manor where he can be all alone. With everything in places Kenneth heads to the mansion to get to it.

Upon his arrival at the manor Kenneth gives it a good walk through. The manor is massive and looks like it has a lot of charm but certainly hasn’t been home to anyone in years. The place is pretty filthy as it’s covered in dust and spider webs. It’s also lacking modern conveniences such as electricity, forcing Kenneth to do everything by candle light. In short, it’s perfect for what Kenneth needs it for. He finds a nice room in the house, sets up his candle and typewriter and gets down to it. So far, so good.

Before too long however, Kenneth is interrupted by a couple of intruders. Then a third. Then a fourth. Then a fifth. Then a sixth. And then it’s finally rounded out with intruders seven and eight. Everyone spins a different story as to how exactly they arrived at this manor on this particular night. As it turns out most of them are lying as five of the eight visitors are actually the Grisbane family and they are hosting a family reunion of sorts. This family includes Lord Elijah Grisbane (John Carradine), Sebastian Grisbane (Peter Cushing) and Lionel Grisbane (Vincent Price). Allegedly this is the house they grew up in and they’re reuniting on this night because something terrible happened there 40 years prior. Corrigan (Christopher Lee) is the new owner of the house and as he was just passing by when he happened to see light coming from the manor so he stopped in to see who was trespassing.

Needless to say this is not what Kenneth had in mind but he tries to ignore them. He figures they can all do their thing as long as he’s able to stay in his room and write. Unfortunately that isn’t the case as people start to die one-by-one. Each surviving member is forced to band together to solve the mystery before it’s too late. It almost turns into a variation of Clue, but with less comedy and more horror. Saying anything beyond this would ruin the movie.

They mystery at the heart of House of the Long Shadows is a bit tricky to follow. You’re never quite sure where things are going. When you finally get to the destination things don’t exactly add up and then a twist comes in. This repeats until you get to a total of three twists and your eventually ending. A good twist ending is a difficult thing to actually pull off well, so you can only imagine how hard it must be to pull off three. Yet somehow it all works here. I think the key is that each twist leaves a few loose ends that don’t quite make sense until the next twist comes along to clean them. When you finally get to that third and final twist everything makes sense for the most part.

House of the Long Shadows came out in 1983 and it feels like it wants to be a Hammer horror film. It definitely has that mood and that ambiance. The setting is absolutely perfect for that vibe and of course they brought in the right cast of actors. The problem was that Hammer horror was kind of fading at that point and wasn’t really in. Walker knew that and handled things perfectly. The first wise decision Walker made was to incorporate some of the gore that was more prominent in his films than the Hammer films. Not that Hammer films didn’t have gore, but it wasn’t quite to the same degree of what was popular in horror movies at the time. You have to remember that this came out during the heart of the slasher era, and Walker’s movies were more reminiscent of those than anything Hammer had ever done. This was a great touch and some of the makeup effects in House of the Long Shadows are actually fantastic.

The next really wise decision Walker made was to include the three twists. Walker could have tried to make a more straight forward Hammer film and it very well could have been successful. But by making these two choices he created a more modern horror film better suited for the time that serves as a loving tribute to the Hammer horror films that came before it, rather than attempting to make a film that wishes to be a Hammer horror entry. The distinction between those two things might be a fine line, but it is an important distinction.

The film actually feels a little Wes Craven-ish. I wonder if he was a fan of this one. Something tells me he was.

It’s certainly a treat to see these four absolute icons of horror all together for the first and only time. Part of me wishes there would have been more movies with all four of them together, but I also think it’s really special that it’s just this one. It makes the film a treasure and a very important piece of horror history. It’s also a little bittersweet because for the most part all 4 had seen better days, with the exception of maybe Lee who would work another 30 plus years. Even at their older ages all of them looked to being having a ton of fun and were perfectly cast in their roles. There’s even a few little winks tossed in at the audience for good measure.

House of the Long Shadows isn’t the best movie Walker directed. It’s not the best movie for any of the four stars involved. But it may very well be the best tribute every made to the golden age of horror and that makes it something very, very special.

House of the Long Shadows is now out on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber and I highly recommend it. There’s an interview with Pete Walker included. He talks about the making of the film and working with these big names in horror. I could listen to Walker talk for hours. This film also features one of the best trailers of all time and I’ve included that below. Definitely worth checking it out.