Rating: 2.5/5
Cult Movie Challenge 2016 | 46/52 | Amicus
Film star Paul Henderson (John Pertwee) rents an old country house. After he mysteriously disappears, Inspector Holloway learns the dark history of the house.
H. P. Lovecraft’s protégé, Robert Bloch, wrote the stories in the film. He wrote each of them for a publication like Weird Tales.
This film is another solid Amicus anthology — nothing exciting, nothing awful.
Method for Murder **.5 Charles (Denholm Elliott) and Alice Hillyer move into the house. Charles works on a novel about a psychopathic killer named Dominic. Soon, Dominic materializes and stalks Charles, but no one believes him.
This story has a classic “Weird Tales” structure (although I guess this one was in Fury) — either something supernatural is happening or the most convoluted plot against a person you can imagine.
Waxworks **.5 Phillip Grayson (Peter Cushing) moves into the house. As a retired stockbroker, he looks for hobbies but finds himself bored. This takes him to a wax museum, where he finds a wax figure that eerily resembles a woman he once loved but is now dead.
When his friend and former romantic rival, Neville, comes into town, Neville also sees the wax figure of the woman and becomes obsessed.
Another classic structure. Either the wax figure is possessed or the wax figures are dead bodies made to look like wax. Either way, people die.
Sweets to the Sweet ***.5 John Reid (Christopher Lee) and his daughter, Jane, move into the house. John hires a private teacher, Ann, to tutor Jane. As Ann and Jane grow closer, Ann suspects John is abusive. He keeps the child from others and doesn’t let her play with toys.
Ann tries to help Jane, but John fights her every step of the way.
This one is pretty fun! I like how it develops — I won’t say any revealing details.
I will say that Chloe Franks, who plays Jane, is pretty ideal for this role. For a child actor, her acting isn’t perfect, but she has the right energy for the story.
The Cloak *** We return to Paul Henderson from the framing narrative. Paul is starring in a vampire film and wants it to feel more authentic, so he purchases a cloak at an antique store. But the cloak may bring more authenticity than Paul can handle.
Jon Pertwee claimed the movie was supposed to be a comedy. If any story suggests it, it’s this one. Pertwee plays it silly and gets a couple of laughs out of me.