Siflutter
It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
Jonah Abbott
There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.
hwg1957-102-265704
An Amicus Productions portmanteau film written by Milton Subotsky with five segments. Neil McCallum encounters a werewolf in the Hebrides, Roy Castle has trouble with voodoo music, Alan 'Fluff' Freeman finds a strange plant in his garden, Christopher Lee flees from a disembodied hand and Donald Sutherland discovers he is married to a vampire. Not particularly rich in terror or horror or that original but it moves along at a good pace and never bores. Cinematographer Alan Hume films well in widescreen and colour and Elisabeth Lutyens provides an apt music score.Peter Cushing in untidy goatee beard holds it all together as the eponymous Dr. Terror. It always amazed me that such a nice person in real life as Mr. Cushing was could suggest all kinds of fearful and unpleasant depths as he did. But then that is acting for you. The versatile British cast support admirably. Kenny Lynch, that under rated singer, pleasantly performs two self composed numbers.A good film for the late evenings with a glass of wine. Red of course.
dobbiesautographs
yet another excellent British horror movie from the 1960's . I was pleasantly surprised with the special effects from such an old movie , each segment had it's own brand of humour and horror , perfectly combined . and if it wasn't for the fact they all died , that would have made for a fantastic train ride , with so much talent in one place . I recently watched this movie again , on horror channel , & in my opinion it has not lost any of it's charm , and is still very watchable today - a true testament to the actors , writer , and director . it is very skilfully filmed , written , and acted . a true must have for all collectors of horror classics .
Scott LeBrun
Five strangers board a train in England, and share a compartment. Joining them is a weird "doctor" named Schreck (Peter Cushing), who is in the business of telling fortunes. With him is a deck of cards, and he encourages his travelling companions to participate.This was the first of the horror anthology films to be made by Amicus, the studio best known for being a rival to fellow horror icon Hammer during this period. It's not necessarily their best, for the stories aren't that great (the favourite for this viewer is still "Tales from the Crypt"), but it's still solidly entertaining for any horror fan. It's certainly a very nice looking production, which comes from being directed by renowned cinematographer Freddie Francis ("The Innocents"), and photographed by Alan Hume ("Return of the Jedi").Neil McCallum plays Jim Dawson in "Werewolf". Jim is hired to oversee some renovations for a family home that he'd been forced to sell, and he discovers a long hidden crypt belonging to a vengeance crazed former owner.Alan Freeman is Bill Rogers in "Creeping Vine", the tale of a vine that seems to have developed a true intelligence as well as a sense of malevolence. This tale is cool, as there aren't really enough killer plant horror stories in this viewers' humble opinion.In "Voodoo", Roy Castle plays Biff Bailey, leader of a jazz band hired for a gig in the West Indies. He becomes enamoured of the music used by local voodoo practitioners, but learns that trying to incorporate the music into his bands' own performances is a very bad idea."Disembodied Hand" is good fun. Sir Christopher Lee has the role of pompous art critic Franklyn Marsh, who's humiliated by a painter named Eric Landor (Michael Gough). He ultimately strikes back, in a violent way, but who will really get the last laugh?Finally, a very young Donald Sutherland is featured in "Vampire" as a doctor, Bob Carroll, who's just married the beautiful Nicolle (Jennifer Jayne). He must confront an unfortunate reality regarding Nicolle.Screenwriter Milton Subotsky visits the old horror movie theme of just desserts in two of these stories, and his script is enjoyable if sometimes a little weak and predictable. He was inspired, appropriately enough, by the legendary and well-regarded "Dead of Night".The actors are all superb. In addition to those fine thespians already mentioned, Max Adrian, Bernard Lee, Peter Madden, Jeremy Kemp, Ursula Howells, Katy Wild, Edward Underdown, Isla Blair, and Judy Cornwell turn up. It's a treat as it always is to see Lee and Cushing spar with each other, as Dr. Schreck does his shtick and the grumpy, dismissive Marsh automatically writes him off as a phony.This is well worth viewing for any completist and fan of the entire horror omnibus format.Seven out of 10.
ShadeGrenade
Clearly inspired by the classic Ealing picture 'Dead Of Night' ( 1945 ), 'Dr.Terror's House Of Horrors' launched Amicus - a British-based film company run by Americans Max J.Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky - as a major rival to Hammer Films. Written by Subotsky, it has five men of varying backgrounds - snobbish art critic 'Franklyn Marsh' ( Christopher Lee ), jazz musician 'Biff Bailey' ( Roy Castle ), 'Jim Dawson' ( Neil MacCarthy ), 'Bill Rogers ' ( Alan Freeman ), and 'Dr.Bob Carroll' ( Donald Sutherland ) - boarding a train somewhere in England. Another man gets into their compartment - the creepy 'Dr.Shreck' ( Peter Cushing ). 'Shreck', incidentally, is the German word for 'terror'. The old man has brought along a pack of Tarot cards and, to while away the journey, offers to tell the others their fortunes. Dawson has a run-in with a werewolf ( which we never see ), Rogers and his family are menaced in their home by a deadly creeping vine, Bailey incurs the wrath of a witch doctor when he plagiarises an old voodoo tune for his nightclub act, a disembodied hand stalks Marsh after an artist he murdered seeks revenge, and Carroll's new bride - 'Nicolle' ( Jennifer Jayne ) - turns out to be a vampire. There is a final 'twist' at the end which became obligatory for movies of this type - none of the stories will occur because the characters are all dead anyway.The stories vary in quality - I liked the second, fourth and fifth ones the best. Indeed the last one has become a little classic in its own right, with a great closing line delivered by Max Adrian. The casting of entertainers Castle, Kenny Lynch, and disc jockey Freeman looks strange now - possibly an attempt to give the film appeal to young audiences. Seasoned performers such as Michael Gough, Bernard Lee, and Ursula Howells fill out the rest of the cast. Castle appeared in another Amicus picture - 'Dr.Who & The Daleks' ( 1965 ). The studio made other movies in similar vein ( sorry about that! ) in 'Horrors', such as 'Torture Garden' ( 1967 ) and ''The House That Dripped Blood' ( 1970 ).Don't expect any terror. Like a lot of vintage British horror pictures, it is too well-mannered and genteel to be actually frightening. It is very entertaining though.Steve Coogan tried to spoof the genre in 2001 with his B.B.C. series 'Dr.Terrible's House Of Horrible', but it did not work as the films were tongue-in-cheek to start with.
