影片描写一名美国商人奉公司之命来到满格兰海岸洽谈收购土地兴建石油工厂，当地的风土文物和居民的起居作息跟他这个城市人很不协调，让他觉得此行无聊透顶。不料公司总裁亲到小镇视察后改变主意，想在当开办一所天文学院。商人回到美国的寓所后，也忍不住回想起一望无际的满格兰海岸。

　　威利．罗素将他在英国演出大受欢迎的舞台剧《教育丽塔》亲自搬上银幕，由刘易斯．吉尔伯特导演，内容堪称八十年代片的《卖花女》。女主角丽塔是一个对日常生活感到厌烦的美发师，她决定要增加自己在文学上的知识。在命运的安排下，她成了弗兰克教授的学生。他是一个从幻想中清醒过来的酒鬼，与丽塔彼此从对方身上学到了生活的真谛。编导以轻松有趣的手法来处理男女主角之间别致的人际关系，迈克尔．凯恩与茱莉．沃尔特斯也演出精彩，双获英国影艺学院及金球奖的最佳男女主角奖。

　　大卫.尼文遗作，彼得.塞勒斯已逝，该续集以一个替代品主角去寻找失踪的前主角克鲁索穿针引线，导演致敬了过去的几部粉红豹电影(克鲁索博物馆、大卫尼文和卡普西尼)、倒唱的《月亮河》、《狂欢宴》的酒鬼等。最抢眼的是罗杰.摩尔客串被整容的克鲁索。电脑选人那段后来被港片《最佳拍档》借去。

　　A quick glimpse at the cast for this film would make any horror fan giddy with glee. The actual movie doesn't live up to those high expectations, but it's far from being all bad. Desi Arnaz Jr. (!) plays an author who makes a crazy $20,000 bet with his publisher that he could write a great novel in only 24 hours. To do so, the publisher gives him the keys to an old abandoned house where he won't be disturbed. Not true. Once he gets there he is interrupted by a multitude of guests including a family which consists of John Carradine, Sheila Keith, Peter Cushing and Vincent Price. They are gathered there in a twisted family reunion to release their brother from the room he's been imprisoned in for forty years. Even Christopher Lee drops by as Corrigan, the man who has just purchased the house. Soon, they realize that the caged brother is loose and out for revenge.
　　What a great plotline and what a dream cast! This movie should have been a hell of a lot better. It's hard to pinpoint the exact problems with the film, but I would venture to say that the lack of lighting was a major fault. Sure the house has no electricity but I think they took the title of the movie a little too literally. Scenes after scenes are barely visible and the actors' faces are undecipherable. Only the moments in the main dinning hall are well lit. Also, the great actors are given very little to do. Cushing gets a few chuckles as the scared brother but Price, Lee and especially Carradine are somewhat wasted here. Well, at least Price gets the best line of the film: `Please don't interrupt me while I am soliloquizing.' And on the plus side, the story has enough twists and turns throughout to keep one`s interest and the ending, while a bit of a cop-out, manages to surprise.

　　关于宗教的故事——失业的天主教徒唱着“每颗精子都是神圣的”，把一屋四五十个孩子送去做医学实验，因为再也负担不起他们，而对门的新教夫妇一面幸灾乐祸，一面感叹自己“只性交两次，有两个孩子”；关于性的故事——教授在课堂上向学生讲解“性”是什么，但是学生总不得要领，无奈之下，教授把自己太太拉过来当堂向学生示范；关于死亡的故事——死神来到一个农舍，声言要带走所有人，但这里聚集了许多美国朋友，不但毫不在意，还热情地邀请他喝酒聊天，让死神忍无可忍……人生七部曲，七个沉重的话题却放入足够荒诞的故事，嬉笑怒骂讽刺世间百态。