A classy bit of Horror with a bit for everyone.
This is Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, a 1965 Film by Amicus Films.
Right off the bat, we have issues. The main one- there is no House. As the Poster (below) shows you, they are on a train. It may be Joe Biden's 2nd Home, but a Train is not a House!
On the plus side, we have many positives.
The Film was directed by Freddie Francis, a big-time name in Horror, mostly for his Hammer stuff. Next we have our Lead- Peter Cushing. Even when he is slumming it in Hammer's last Films (The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires and Shatter), he was still class.
Hell, he was still class in Biggles, the tale of a WWI Fighter Pilot that had to become 90% Back to the Future to be sold in the 1980s.
Oh, and Donald Sutherland is in it too.
The Plot involves a group of men on a train being told their fortune by the titular Doctor. Will they like what they hear? Will it help them?
The Film was designed to bring back the Horror Anthology Film and it sure as hell worked. Oddly, it was then overshadowed by other Films in the Sub-Genre like Creepshow. Oh well.
To find out more about this Cult Classic, read on...
A diverse group of men- including Lee and Sutherland- all sit in a Train Car.
A strange man- Dr. Terror- joins them and tells their fortunes, even as Lee scoffs at the whole thing.
The first story involves one of the men going back home to restore a Family Estate.
However, it has some secrets and people end up dead.
He won't like who turns out to be evil...
In the second story, the man returns home, only to discover a strange and aggressive plant.
As he works to be rid of it, it seems to work to be rid of him! They even kill the dog!
In the third tale, the Musician visits 'the Islands' and learns a Voodoo Ritual Song. He's told not to use it in any way.
Guess what he does. You got it.
So dumb of him...
In the fourth story, the skeptic- Lee- is given his fortune.
He will get into a feud with an Artist who he critiqued 'too harshly' (Michael Gough!).
Fate works its magic, and he ends up being pursued by the disembodied hand of the Artist!
Eh, still makes more sense than a Cartoonist being given a robotic hand in that Michael Caine Film.
In the final story, Sutherland (who was paid only the modern equivalent of $10,000) is a Doctor who brings home his new, French wife.
Unfortunately, a rash of Vampire attacks also occurs, and he's led to believe that she is the guilty party.
It... doesn't end well.
All of them are given the same final card- Death. Of course, Death is Tarot Readings actually doesn't mean that you're going to die, but Movie.
They are told that the only way to escape their fates- which is mostly death- is to die.
The train lets them off at an empty Station...
...and Doctor Terror turns out to be Death. They apparently died while they were in the car.
How a train derailment ONLY killed them is anyone's guess.
As a bonus, the final shot is apparently lost on actual Film, so enjoy the sudden onset VHS quality. Weird. The End.
A solid, well-deserved Cult Classic. The Film features a diverse set of stories, locations and themes. Some of these can feel very similar. In this case, they keep things fresh. One Film features a Vampire, while another features killer plants. They manage to give you a diverse bit of location work too, from a House to a Manor to the big City.
Every story feels different, but the shared Director keeps it uniform enough. Cushing does great at being menacing, while Lee plays a great sourpuss. Seeing them play so different from their Van Helsing/Dracula dynamic is neat to see. The pair's work outside of Dracula is a bit underrated.
The F/X work is nice, but nothing super-impressive. The disembodied hand work is nice though. If I had to pick a favorite, it is probably the Plant one. Weird pick- I know. It's a bit silly, but it spoke to me. More obvious choices would be the Hand one- due to Lee and Gough- or the final one with Sutherland. What can I say- I'm weird.
It is nice to see a Film like this preserved after over 50 years and to see how well it holds up. The worst part for me is maybe the somewhat-cliche and confusing ending, but that's not too bad either.
Seeing this Film has taught me a lot.
For instance, did you know that this is not the ONLY
Dr. Terror's House of Horrors? No joke- it was already made, albeit differently- in 1943! I guess I'll have do that one after
Dead of Night, won't I? (Which I finally did in 2023)
Next time, I cover a Film with a very, very similar Title. Is imitation the sincerest form of flattery? Stay tuned...
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