La casa de las mil muñecas

i think vincent price was one of the greatest actors to ever live, but i have to admit that i don't understand why he degraded himself by starring in this boring, dull, and ultimately pointless bore. the only reason i can think of that they made it at all is that the idea of a whorehouse or female slaves must have been hot stuff on the screen in 1967. was it supposed to be scandalous or something? because otherwise this one is about as exciting and involving as reading a periodical on the cause of varicose veins. it doesn't even work as a goofy camp movie, because it's too solemn and dull. as always price gives an above average performance, but it does nothing for this clunker because the movie as a whole is so fundamentally bad and uninteresting. even if you're a price completist like myself, don't bother watching it, just buy it to fill the whole in your collection.

What an incredible lackluster movie!

You're constantly waiting for the movie to finally start off. When is the suspense and mystery going to kick in? The movie feels like one big constant introduction to events that just never occur.

This movie would had had absolutely no watch-ability value if Vincent Price wasn't in this. He played in lots of movies like this and he often didn't even played the lead role. In some cases he was on the screen for no more than 10 minutes but still was always being presented as THE evil main villain of the movie. This movie is one of those examples. But as always his presence uplifts the movie and gives it more class and sense of professionalism. It's always amazing to see how he absolutely has no difficulties delivering the most awful lines in an almost Shakespearean way. But still, a movie like this makes you wonder what Vincent Price is doing in it. The only reason I could think of was that this movie was based on an Edgar Allen Poe story but this wasn't even the case.

I wish I could call the movie sleazy. In that case the movie would still had some camp value but the movie just never goes in that direction.

The story is very silly and simple. At times it seems it's heading in the horror direction, at times it seems it's heading in the thriller direction, but it's just never fully heading anywhere in any direction in the end. I also wouldn't know under which genre to qualify this movie.

There is a good reason this movie gets very rarely shown anywhere.

3/10

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House of a Thousand Dolls (1967)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Stephen Armstrong (George Nader) and his wife are on vacation in Tangiers when he runs into a friend who is searching for his wife who went missing. Before long the friend is dead and Stephen is caught up in what happened to him, which leads to a magician (Vincent Price) and his wife (Martha Hyer) as well as a house with a bunch of beautiful ladies.

HOUSE OF A THOUSAND DOLLS (its on screen title) is a film that I pretty much avoided for a couple decades because I had heard so many bad things about it. I guess if you go into it expecting some sort of horror movie then you'll be disappointed because it's certainly not that. The film is basically a mystery with some James Bond like action thrown in as the Stephen Armstrong character must outwit several bad guys that he encounters as he tries to solve the mystery.

For the most part the story itself is a rather interesting one and it's certainly entertaining enough to keep you entertained throughout the running time. The locations were a major plus and I thought the film had some nice cinematography. The film benefits from some nice direction that at least keeps the moving going at a nice pace. The weakest aspect of the film is the fact that you can tell it was rather cheaply made and there are times where I think a bit more sexuality would have helped things. There are girls running around in skimpy clothes at times but I think a tad bit more would have improved the film.

Price gets top-billing but he actually just plays a supporting player here. I thought he was fine in the part as he plays it pretty much straight and doesn't try to add any humor or camp. Nader is the real star and for the most part he is strong enough and has no problem carrying the picture. Hyer and Ann Smyrner are both good as well and you've got a nice comic performance by Herbert Fux. Maria Rohm as well as some other familiar Euro faces appear throughout.

HOUSE OF A THOUSAND DOLLS certainly isn't a masterpiece or even a good film. It doesn't even really work as a Price film since he just plays a supporting part. With that said, I thought it was entertaining enough even with its flaws.

Here in UK among the swelling amount of potty TV stations , there is one labeled Horror. It is very good at showing missing films from the 60s that are not as yet on DVD. This is not a horror film, waste of great title, just an action crime mystery.18 cert is odd too. A very bored looking Vincent Price along with equally bored all purpose actress Martha Hyer plays a famous magician who calls up pretty girls from the audience on stage to have them disappear completely, as they end up in the White Slave trade in Morocco run by a mystery mastermind.

The best thing by far in this, is lead George Nader, gay beefcake pin up of the 50s. Looking very smart in good suits as the investigator,this actor had moved to West Germany in the 60s.Here he found stardom again in a series of thrillers as Jerry Cotton. He would return to USA,to find he had been left a large money legacy from old friend Rock Hudson.He turned to being a successful author, dying at 80. No I didn't guess the mastermind, but it was so improbable like the rest of this movie. Low brow fun.

If you like Price, this is an offbeat roll for him as this is not straight classic horror, but a mystery thriller with some sexed up 60's kittens and a brothel.. The film takes place in Tangiers and it is basically a clever and tame way to present a plot involving the white slavery trade. The films promo makes one think this is a very prevalent and serious issue, and perhaps it ws then? who knows? Price is a magician of sorts who gets beautiful women to get into his live stage act and then they disappear to the house of 1000 dolls. No one close to them ever sees them again, until a couple gets curious about this phenomena. The ending is a twist that you would not expect.. Perhaps the most memorable thing about this film is the theme song which gets cut off in the VHS version but exemplifies 60's groove with some cheesy pop rifts.. I mean when my ex husband an I saw this in like 1990, we laughed and sang this song for years! Then we recently turned on a few friends to it who were equally amused! don't take it so seriously, get a Pizza on a rainy weekend night and cuddle up for some excitement and intrigue with House Of 1000 DollS!