Amicus Studios was the biggest competitor to Hammer in the heyday of British horror during the 60s and 70s. While their movies never quite achieved the same cult status as Hammer's, Amicus cared themselves out a niche at producing excellent horror anthologies that are still some of the best ever produced. Unlike some of the later Amicus anthologies which were created by using the works of EC Comics, this movie was written by Robert Bloch, a well-known horror writer at the time who is best remembered for penning PSYCHO.
This movie stands out from many other anthologies for a few reasons. For one, I don't see a "weak link" segment. Most any anthology you can think of had a throwaway part or two mixed with some excellent work, but the stories are all of a good caliber in this movie. The other thing that really stands out is the cast, which is comprised of a slew of Brit Horror all-stars, including Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and the luscious Ingrid Pitt, along with Indiana Jones' best buddy and a former Dr. Who.
The drawback of the movie, in my opinion, is that it is often very "stage bound". There aren't many extravagant sets and locales here and nothing that approaches the lavish sets of Hammer's movies. You often get the feeling that you're watching a stage play, but the directing and acting are able to elevate the work beyond those confines.
Of course, you have a wraparound framework story here involving a Scotland Yard detective who's investigating a murder at the titular house. For the interlocking segments this amounts to nothing more than brief interludes, but the story provides the movie's last big shock. Amicus would provide better framework stories in some of their later anthologies.
"Method for Murder" is the first segment with Denholm Elliot as a horror writer with a case of writer's block, who rents the house for inspiration and gets more than he bargained for. It actually has quite a bit in common with the Johnny Depp movie SECRET WINDOW. It's held back due to a poor makeup job on the killer and a bad cliché twist with your standard back-stabbing wife.
"Waxworks" stars Cushing, who is excellent here as he is in every role given to him. Two old friends/ rivals find a small wax museum and become obsessed with a statue that reminds them of their lost love. Cushing saves the segment from becoming nothing more than a clone of HOUSE OF WAX.
"Sweets to the Sweet" is an evil child story starring Christopher Lee in a rare non-villainous role. It's probably my least favorite segment in the movie as it takes a while to get rolling and leads up to a fairly boring climax as well.
"The Cloak" is the best segment involving an aging horror actor (John Pertwee) who really takes on his role. It's more than a little campy and has a PG vampire tone, but it's fun and well worth it if for nothing more than Ingrid Pitt.
Amicus would produce better anthologies in the years to follow this, including their best work TALES FROM THE CRYPT, but this works very well as a Saturday Midnight movie.
This movie stands out from many other anthologies for a few reasons. For one, I don't see a "weak link" segment. Most any anthology you can think of had a throwaway part or two mixed with some excellent work, but the stories are all of a good caliber in this movie. The other thing that really stands out is the cast, which is comprised of a slew of Brit Horror all-stars, including Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and the luscious Ingrid Pitt, along with Indiana Jones' best buddy and a former Dr. Who.
The drawback of the movie, in my opinion, is that it is often very "stage bound". There aren't many extravagant sets and locales here and nothing that approaches the lavish sets of Hammer's movies. You often get the feeling that you're watching a stage play, but the directing and acting are able to elevate the work beyond those confines.
Of course, you have a wraparound framework story here involving a Scotland Yard detective who's investigating a murder at the titular house. For the interlocking segments this amounts to nothing more than brief interludes, but the story provides the movie's last big shock. Amicus would provide better framework stories in some of their later anthologies.
"Method for Murder" is the first segment with Denholm Elliot as a horror writer with a case of writer's block, who rents the house for inspiration and gets more than he bargained for. It actually has quite a bit in common with the Johnny Depp movie SECRET WINDOW. It's held back due to a poor makeup job on the killer and a bad cliché twist with your standard back-stabbing wife.
"Waxworks" stars Cushing, who is excellent here as he is in every role given to him. Two old friends/ rivals find a small wax museum and become obsessed with a statue that reminds them of their lost love. Cushing saves the segment from becoming nothing more than a clone of HOUSE OF WAX.
"Sweets to the Sweet" is an evil child story starring Christopher Lee in a rare non-villainous role. It's probably my least favorite segment in the movie as it takes a while to get rolling and leads up to a fairly boring climax as well.
"The Cloak" is the best segment involving an aging horror actor (John Pertwee) who really takes on his role. It's more than a little campy and has a PG vampire tone, but it's fun and well worth it if for nothing more than Ingrid Pitt.
Amicus would produce better anthologies in the years to follow this, including their best work TALES FROM THE CRYPT, but this works very well as a Saturday Midnight movie.