Rating: 2.5/5
Hooptober 9.0 | 27/34 | Christopher Lee films 2/2 | Decades 8/8 | 1960s
Six strangers board a train. One, named Dr Schreck, unveils a Tarot deck, revealing each of the passenger’s destinies. Spoiler alert: all paths lead to death.
Werewolf *** Jim Dawson returns to his Scottish childhood home to make renovations for its current owner, Mrs. Biddulph.
Down in the cellar, Jim discovers a newly added false wall. Behind it, he finds the coffin of Cosmo Valdemar, who claimed original ownership of the house. Legend is that he was a werewolf and would one day reclaim his rightful home.
The story spends most of its runtime explaining its complicated lore, but the set pieces are fun.
Creeping Vine ** A couple returns home to find a vine growing outside their home. As they walk away, the vine turns and follows. They try to cut it, but the vine resists. Then, they find their dog strangled to death by the vine.
It’s too silly.
Voodoo ** A jazz band travels to the West Indies. The trumpeter notices that all the women wear voodoo jewelry. He tracks down a voodoo ritual and looks for a way to turn the music commercial. Though warned, he makes a mockery of the god and the music.
He watches the ritual in one scene. Every time it cuts back to him, another guy is in the shot, giving him a death stare. They keep doing it, so five men surround him before he notices. I don’t know if it’s supposed to be funny, but it is.
Disembodied Hand ***
An art critic bashes every work in Eric Landor’s gallery showcase. The gallery unveils a painting by a new artist. He loves the work, but the artist is a chimp, embarrassing him.
In retaliation, the critic runs over Landor with a car. The injury causes Landor to lose his painting hand. Landor kills himself. The hand Landor lost pursues the art critic.
This was a well-known late-night gimmick, bringing on an art critic to look at works by animals, letting them praise it before “embarrassing” them with the artist’s revelation. Often, an art critic would say, “Good art is good art, regardless of its origin.”
The hand effects are effective!
Vampire ***
A doctor brings his new French wife to his American estate. When he cuts his finger, she licks the blood off his finger.
A boy comes to the doctor with two nicks on his neck. His associate jokes it looks like a vampire bite. The doctor suspects his wife.
The Amicus anthology that started it all. Peter Cushing is perfect as the creepy Dr. Shreck. Christopher Lee is amusing as the insecure art critic.
The actor’s commitment, rather than the stories, drives most successes in Amicus collections. Though this tried to copy the success of Dead of Night, it didn’t hit the mark.
Still, any horror anthology watcher knows that a middle-of-the-road collection is a high watermark.