A fun horror anthology film from Amicus. I love these types of movies and this one is especially good, thanks in large part to the terrific cast. It begins with a wraparound story about a Scotland Yard inspector investigating the disappearance of a movie star renting an old country house. The inspector hears stories about the house's history from a real estate agent and those stories are the different segments of the film.
"Method for Murder" is the first one. It's about a horror novelist (Denholm Elliott) who overcomes writer's block while staying at the house. He creates a strangler character that will be the focus of his next book. Things get crazy when it appears the strangler has come to life and is trying to torment the author. A good story to start with. It has a fine performance by Elliott, some nice atmosphere, and a creepy makeup job on the strangler. The ending is great. In the second story, "Waxworks," Peter Cushing and Joss Ackland play friends who become obsessed with a figure in a wax museum that resembles the woman they both loved years before. This is the weakest segment in the movie, despite nice performances from Cushing and Ackland. The story builds to a disappointing ending.
The third story, "Sweets to the Sweet," has Christopher Lee hiring a private teacher for his young daughter. The teacher (Nyree Dawn Porter) disapproves of the harsh way Lee treats the girl. But soon she comes to realize there's more to this little girl than it appears. This is a good segment. Lee's always enjoyable to watch and Chloe Franks does a great job as the daughter. "The Cloak" is the final and best story. It ties back into the wraparound directly, telling the story of the missing horror movie actor (Jon Pertwee) that the inspector is searching for. The actor buys a black cloak from a strange shop to wear in his next movie, where he plays a vampire. Turns out the cloak has a dark power over its wearer. Jon Pertwee is terrific and sexy Ingrid Pitt is easy on the eyes. This story is lots of fun with a nice amount of humor throughout.
On the whole, it's a good movie. The music score is especially nice. It's not the best horror anthology movie Amicus put out but it's entertaining enough. If you enjoy these types of movie I'm pretty sure you will like this one.
"Method for Murder" is the first one. It's about a horror novelist (Denholm Elliott) who overcomes writer's block while staying at the house. He creates a strangler character that will be the focus of his next book. Things get crazy when it appears the strangler has come to life and is trying to torment the author. A good story to start with. It has a fine performance by Elliott, some nice atmosphere, and a creepy makeup job on the strangler. The ending is great. In the second story, "Waxworks," Peter Cushing and Joss Ackland play friends who become obsessed with a figure in a wax museum that resembles the woman they both loved years before. This is the weakest segment in the movie, despite nice performances from Cushing and Ackland. The story builds to a disappointing ending.
The third story, "Sweets to the Sweet," has Christopher Lee hiring a private teacher for his young daughter. The teacher (Nyree Dawn Porter) disapproves of the harsh way Lee treats the girl. But soon she comes to realize there's more to this little girl than it appears. This is a good segment. Lee's always enjoyable to watch and Chloe Franks does a great job as the daughter. "The Cloak" is the final and best story. It ties back into the wraparound directly, telling the story of the missing horror movie actor (Jon Pertwee) that the inspector is searching for. The actor buys a black cloak from a strange shop to wear in his next movie, where he plays a vampire. Turns out the cloak has a dark power over its wearer. Jon Pertwee is terrific and sexy Ingrid Pitt is easy on the eyes. This story is lots of fun with a nice amount of humor throughout.
On the whole, it's a good movie. The music score is especially nice. It's not the best horror anthology movie Amicus put out but it's entertaining enough. If you enjoy these types of movie I'm pretty sure you will like this one.