Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

utgard14 Amicus horror anthology film (the last of seven) starring Peter Cushing as the owner of an antique shop who sells items to different rotten people. Each of the film's stories are tied to these people. The first story features David Warner and is about a mirror which houses a creepy man (or spirit or whatever) who forces Warner to do bad things. The second story is about a man who is seduced by the daughter of a street peddler. Good lineup in this one: Donald Pleasence, Ian Bannen, Diana Dors. But it's just not that interesting despite its oddness. The third story features Ian Carmichael as a man who turns to a crazy old lady (Margaret Leighton) to get rid of an Elemental spirit tormenting him. Leighton is the whole show here. Lots of fun to watch. My favorite story in the film. The final story is about a writer (Ian Ogilvy) who buys a door through which he can step into a room inhabited by a weirdo from the past. This segment also features Lesley-Anne Down. The linking pieces with Cushing have another little story involving a shady man hanging around the shop. Overall, it's an entertaining movie. All the stories are enjoyable to varying degrees, although the second story is clearly the weakest. It's still watchable though. Cushing is pure class as always. Not the best of the Amicus anthologies but good.

gridoon2018 This four-part horror anthology has a very good cast, but three out of its four stories are just OK, and I won't mention them much in this comment (except maybe to say that the first and the fourth are too similar). The one outstanding segment is the second one, with henpecked husband Ian Bannen finding some relief from his daily life in the company of street salesman Donald Pleasence and his enigmatic daughter (played by Donald's real-life daughter, Angela). This episode has the most character development, the best twist (it's nasty and clever - you think that the story is about one character, but it's really about someone else), and Angela Pleasence, who bears an extraordinary resemblance to her father, and can be creepy in one shot, beautiful in another. Those two make a superb horror team. **1/2 out of 4.

Foreverisacastironmess Great spooky little opening sequence, almost on-par with the one from 72's Tales From the Crypt. Okay, having four tales instead of five means that they're all long enough to be well developed and aren't over too soon, but in my opinion none of them are all that good. They're not intolerably awful, but I'm not blown away by any of them either. They all felt a little downbeat and dreary somewhere, and not as if it's the right word to use, 'innocent' as the stories of Tales From the Crypt. Also the essential elements of the classic dark irony and grisly twists seemed to be virtually absent, and that's where most of the fun comes from with anthologies for me. The idea and arc of the first story is interesting, with David Warner's character gradually being exchanged with the ghoulish Mr.Black Arts trapped within the mirror via the bloody sacrificial murders until the cycle eventually begins anew many years later when new owners finally move in who just happen to notice the dusty old mirror which has never been taken down, and "It's séance time!" Man oh man, how campy was that stupid line!? Especially when the second fella says it! The early scene is so chilling when the guy's drawn to the ghostly pier on the other side of the mirror and is approached by the mysterious stranger who looks like he's coming straight from the black mass of Jack the Ripper, and who opens his red-lined cloak to reveal the fearsome array of deadly instruments concealed within! And I've heard the term "The Ultimate" before in an old horror story that I read once. It might've been by R.Chetwynd Hayes, I can't remember. Slightly weak, but a good start. The second story attempts to take the movie to ~strange new places!~ Things were getting artsy fast, and I didn't like where they were going! I didn't enjoy at all the domestic hell situation of the irritating spineless man and his sour frump of a wife who constantly humiliated him in front of his own son! It was too harsh and bitter, I don't need to see that kind of nasty s**t when I'm watching what should be a fun anthology. David Pleasance put in a class act, although I thought he was wasted on such a sorry excuse of a story. And I just found the skulking brain-damaged character that his daughter played to be ridiculous and repulsive. Either her lines were weird or she was saying them weird, but it was like watching an alien! And at the end, when it turns out it was all for the boring kid's sake all along and she cuts the cake and there's a bit of blood, but it's not really gross or frightening because the tone of the story is too damned bizarre.. Gag, nasty fat ogre wife, ugly moon-faced girl, the story's too all over the place for me to take! I'm not too fussy about the third story either. Having it be about some kind of little demon that the audience can't see and therefore must use the imagination with is a novel concept, but it just seemed like a cheap lazy gag to me. I did like the old witchy-woman character a lot, the actress' performance was fun and entertaining, and she made it worth watching. Not good nor bad, just muddled.. Like the great Madame Orloff says "It's a bit of a ruddy mess!" The final story's my favourite as I find it the most atmospheric, and I think the idea of a terrifically ornate door being a gateway to the parlour of an ancient satanist was awesome. And I thought it was really clever how the key to destroying the "Ghost room" as the comically Captain Hook-like villain so apply described it, was by chopping up the door which caused the room to crumble in the impressively done climactic scene. I had a great time with that one, the idea was neat. It's actually the wraparound that I love the most though, such a beautifully mysterious and quaintly foreboding place, so many weird and wonderful things to see... There's a disturbing abundance of puppets and dolls. Brr.. For me the late-great Peter Cushing steals the show as the humble shop keep who's possibly more sly and sinister than he appears. I love seeing him in a rare role where he's using a northern British accent, which was very different from his own in real life, but he made it so natural and completely sincere. He's eerie without even trying to be, and I'm sure that he allows some of the people to cheat him on purpose just so they can be punished by the cursed antiques! He's never all that ominous or threatening at all, but there's still something more subtly going on there. It's an excellent performance, and for me he's the very glue that holds this decidedly uneven picture together which, though greater than the sum of its parts, is thoroughly charming and enjoyable. A very good day to you. "Nay, but I'm defenceless!"

neil-upto11 This is yet another cracking effort from British horror aces Amicus. It's the usual shtick: a collection of individual, creepy tales strung together with a common theme - in this case, the wonderful Peter Cushing and his infernal antiques shop.There's plenty of classic chills and the usual light dusting of comedy. Sure, the tales are ever-so-slightly formulaic but they are boosted successfully by some genuinely original features and a very strong cast.It doesn't make sense to pick holes in an Amicus production so forgive me as I cant resist asking: who on earth would choose Donald Pleasance's terrifying, fruitcake daughter over Diana Dors?! Only at Amicus...