| Review | Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965) | Director | Freddie Francis |
|---|---|
| Writer | Milton Subotsky |
| Cast | Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Neil McCallum, Alan Freeman, Roy Castle and Donald Sutherland |
“You are not afraid?” – Dr. Terror
Fortune teller Dr. Schreck (and Schrek translated from German is Terror) shares a cabin on a train with five travellers and tells them their fortune…and nothing good is coming.
This is the least enjoyable entry in the portmanteau’s I revisited. I remembered not being thrilled with it and a second viewing merely confirmed it. The wraparound segment is fine with Dr. Terror (Cushing) looking quite sinister and enticing each traveller to have their fortunes told. Two of the tales here are downright boring to watch; “Creeping Vine” starring Alan Freeman concerns plants that gain consciousness and become a menace and “Voodoo”, starring Roy Castle, as a jazz musician while on a gig in the West Indies plagiarizes a song used during a voodoo ritual and the natives are not happy with him. These two tales just fall completely flat. “Voodoo” seems to be played for some very cheap laughs and “Creeping Vine” doesn’t even have any kind of climax but just peters out and the primitive state of the special effects renders the plant attacks looking plain goofy.
A little better are “Werewolf” starring Neil McCallum as an architect who visits his childhood home on an isolated island and “Vampire” starring Donald Sutherland as a man who starts believing that his lovely young wife is indeed a creature of the night. “Werewolf” in particular has some nice and gothic like atmosphere and if it weren’t for the give-away title the viewer wouldn’t necessarily know where it’s headed. But it’s awfully light on suspense. “Vampire” is a short and punchy tale that goes for humor in the end and goes by pleasantly enough without ever being suspenseful.
The best tale is “Disembodied Hand” starring Christopher Lee as a vile art critic who, in a fit of rage, attempts to kill an artist (Michael Gough) who managed to ridicule him. The result is that the artist loses his hand…and said hand comes after the art critic. It’s fairly creepy, has good special effects and Lee is a joy to watch. Certainly the best of this bunch.
| Review | The House That Dripped Blood (1971) | Director | Peter Duffell |
|---|---|
| Writer | Robert Bloch |
| Cast | John Bryans, John Bennett, Denholm Elliott, Joanna Dunham, Peter Cushing, Joss Ackland, Christopher Lee, Nyree Dawn Porter, Chloe Franks, Jon Pertwee and Ingrid Pitt |
“It’s that house. There’s something about it” – Seargent Martin
A Scotland Yard investigator (Bennett) is looking into the disappearance of a horror film star. He meets with the real estate agent, A.J. Stoker (Bryans), who leased the house the actor was staying in when he disappeared. The investigator then finds out about the mysterious happenings of the three previous tenants.
This is my favourite of the Amicus portmanteau’s I revisited. Every tale here is well pulled off, suspenseful and balanced well with comedic scenes when applied. The wraparound story isn’t particularly noteworthy but blends well with the final story and makes for a good climax.
Denholm Elliott plays a horror writer in “Method for Murder” who starts believing that his newest creation, a psychopathic serial killer, is coming alive. Nicely atmospheric and with a good twist, this tale gets things up and running in good fashion.
Next up is “Waxworks” featuring Peter Cushing as a single man who sees a remarkable likeness with a waxwork figurine in a horror museum to a woman he once loved. Viewers don’t necessarily know where this is headed but this is, too, a nicely atmospheric tale further bolstered by Cushing’s elegant performance and great line delivery. Some space is also given to Joss Ackland as a friend who comes visiting and scenes between the two are good. A solid twist in the end – although spoiled by the film’s original poster – and a very solid tale.
Then it’s “Sweets to the Sweet” featuring Christopher Lee as a widower who moves in with his young daughter Jane (Franks). He hires Ann (Porter) to act as governess to Jane and soon she discovers that father and daughter have a strained relationship. Fairly good tale that subverts viewer expectations and delivers a nasty finale. Christopher Lee is exceptionally good here.
Finally it’s “The Cloak” which finds horror actor Paul (Pertwee) moving in the house while filming a low-budget horror flick. He purchases an antique cloak that gives him a vampire’s powers. This is a fairly comedic tale that works wonderfully thanks to Pertwee’s spot on performance and it has a neat twist in the end. It’s not spooky per se…but a bit towards the end. Polish actress Ingrid Pitt is also on hand and looks absolutely stunning.
| Review | Asylum (1972) | Director | Roy Ward Baker |
|---|---|
| Writer | Robert Bloch |
| Cast | Robert Powell, Barbara Parkins, Richard Todd, Syliva Syms, Peter Cushing, Barry Morse, Britt Ekland, Charlotte Rampling, Herbert Lom, Patrick Magee and Geoffrey Bayldon |
“I’m afraid your guess was wrong” – Dr. Starr
Dr. Martin (Powell) arrives at a psychiatric institution to meet Dr. Rutherford (Magee) and discuss a possible appointment to the establishment. There he is informed that the head of the institution, Dr. Starr, has gone insane. Dr. Rutherford invites Dr. Martin to meet the four patients in house and if he can deduce who’s actually Dr. Starr he will be offered the position.
A good portmanteau that’s only second to “The House that Dripped Blood” by a smell stretch. The wraparound story here is the best and concludes beautifully the fourth story and delivers a knockout climax. Robert Powell also delivers a very good performance as the investigating doctor.
First up is a tale told by Bonnie (Parkins) in “Frozen Fear” which details a lousy husband (Todd) who dismembers his wife Ruth (Syms), wraps up the body parts and stuffs them in the fridge. But the parts won’t stay put! A nasty and delightfully macabre opening tale that’s punchy, well acted, grisly, funny and has rather nice effects.
Next up is a tale told by Bruno (Morse) in “The Weird Tailor”. Bruno is a struggling tailor who’s desperate for money to pay the rent when a mysterious gentleman (Cushing) asks him to make a suit out of unorthodox material and Bruno must only work on it at night. Very well acted by Morse and Cushing, heavy on atmosphere and some good old fashioned suspense and overall this tale gets more than a passing grade. The conclusion is rather neat and fairly creepy.
Then it’s a tale told by Barbara (Rampling) in “Lucy Comes to Stay”. Barbara has just been released from a hospital and put in her brother’s care. Soon her mischievous friend Lucy (Ekland) pops up and convinces Barbara that her brother is conspiring against her. This is the only dud in the group. It’s painfully predictable and frankly, rather dull. It’s well performed by Rampling and Ekland though and has an agreeably creepy final shot.
Finally Dr. Martin meets with Dr. Byron (Lom). He has been busy with building miniature robots that he insists he can transfer his psyche into. Dr. Martin doesn’t have to listen long to discard Dr. Byron’s crazy theories and heads down for a sit down with Dr. Rutherford. There they continue their discussions and Dr. Martin shares his guess on who Dr. Starr is. And then a little thing happens…
“Asylum” wraps up in a most satisfying way. Dr. Byron’s tale is woven into the finale and it’s wonderfully played out. This one exits with bang.
| Review | From Beyond the Grave (1974) | Director | Kevin Connor |
|---|---|
| Writers | Robin Clarke & Raymond Christodoulou – Based on stories by R. Chetwynd-Hayes |
| Cast | Peter Cushing, David Warner, Marcel Steiner, Ian Bannen, Donald Pleasence, Angela Pleasence, Diana Dors, Margaret Leighton, Ian Carmichael, Nyree Dawn Porter, Lesley-Anne Down and Ian Ogilvy |
“Can I tempt you with anything?” – The Proprietor
The novelty shop Temptations Ltd. is run by a mysterious proprietor (Cushing) who has a large collection of antiques and all he wants is a fair deal for his merchandise. The next few visitors come into the shop looking for good deals.
First up is a visit from Edward Charlton (Warner) in a tale called “The Gate Crasher”. He manoeuvres the proprietor into selling him an antique mirror for a small amount. Turns out that inside the mirror lives an evil presence that compels Edward to kill for him in order for the being to grow stronger and enter our world. This is a rather nasty and violent tale that’s very well acted by Warner and is also fairly suspenseful. No humor here as Edward’s world plunges into hell and the ending is downbeat to say the least. Terrific opener to this portmanteau.
Christopher Lowe (Bannen) is not a man most would envy in the tale “An Act of Kindness”. The epitome of average and to boot he has a disgruntled wife (Dors) who constantly belittles him and a son who doesn’t exactly look up to his father. One day he meets and strikes up a friendship with a panhandler named Jim (Donald Pleasence), a former decorated soldier, who’s selling shoelaces and matches on a street corner. Wishing to impress Jim; Christopher heads to Temptations Ltd. and ends up stealing a medal of valour to show him he was also decorated. Jim persuades Christopher to meet his daughter Emily (Angela Pleasence) and then things get weird. For the longest time the viewer doesn’t know where this is headed. It’s leisurely paced but never less then interesting and entertaining. Bannen, Dors and both Pleasence’s are marvellous in their roles and the finale is really something else. Not what I expected and deliciously macabre.
Then we have a visit from Reginald Warren (Carmichael) in a tale called “The Elemental”. He visits Temptations Ltd. and swaps the price on a snuff box he deems too expensive and purchases a 40 pound box for a meagre 5 pounds. Then on a train ride home he’s informed by a Madame Orloff (Leighton), a psychic, that he has a nasty, and lethal, elemental demon attached to his shoulder that will suck his energy and life out of him. In the end Reginald employs Madame Orloff to exorcise the demon. This is the jokey tale here but it works extremely well. Leighton has a field day with her role; completely over the top and Carmichael is good as well. There’s something disturbing about the idea of an invisible elemental that’s attached itself to someone but, like I said, it’s played for laughs but wouldn’t you know it; it manages to exit on a creepy note.
Finally there’s a visit from William Seaton (Ogilvy) in “The Door”. The proprietor and William actually agree on a price for an antique door that’s installed at the home of William and Rosemary (Down). The door, it turns out, is a portal to a mysterious blue room and who’s inhabitant needs a new replacement. This is an OK tale. Well performed and with some nice decorating schemes and lighting when the blue room is revealed but it’s easily the least effective tale in this portmanteau. However the ending here crystalises the message that you must always be fair and honest when dealing with proprietors of a shop…particularly if it’s Temptations Ltd.
“From Beyond the Grave” was the last portmanteau made by Amicus. The others not reviewed by me are the aforementioned “Tales From the Crypt” and “Vault of Horror” and also “Torture Garden” (1967). In my opinion “From Beyond the Grave”, “Asylum” and “The House that Dripped Blood” are all excellent examples of Anthology films done right. Although I’m not particularly fond of “Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors” it is mostly well regarded and generally receives good reviews.
Physical Copy
My copy of “Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors” is the region free Blu-ray issued by Odeon in 2015. I got the limited edition steelbook packaging and it’s a thing of beauty. It boasts great A/V quality and has some good special features; best of all a 30 plus minute featurette where noted scholars discuss the film’s origins. Plus an enjoyable booklet.
Physical Copy
My copy of “The House That Dripped Blood” is the region B limited edition Blu-ray issued by Second Sight in 2019. Gret A/V quality here and quality special features; two commentaries, one newly filmed interview and a vintage featurette along with trailers, radio spots and a stills gallery. And the packaging is superb with great new artwork, a lengthy booklet and a poster.
Physical Copy
My copy of “Asylum” is the region B limited edition Blu-ray issued by Second Sight in 2019. It, too, has very good A/V quality and a decent assortment of special features. A commentary, a BBC on-set report from 1972, a vintage featurette, two newly filmed interviews and the theatrical trailer. This also has great, and very similar, packaging with new artwork, a lengthy booklet and a poster.
Physical Copy
My copy of “From Beyond the Grave” is the region free Blu-ray issued by the Warner Archive Collection in 2019. It’s completely featureless but at least sports fantastic image quality and decent sound.
Why physical copy?
I always encourage the acquisition of physical copies as I dread the day when films will only exist as files on computers and through streaming services. The companies that put the effort into making the discs, create new artwork or reproduce the originals, issue booklets and much more deserve all the financial support they can. Therefore I will always mention the Blu-rays or DVD’s (and yes; also if I review something streamed through Netflix or the like) even though I gain nothing from it personally.
