Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors

The Skeletal Spotlight shines this time on:
"Dr. Terror's House of Horrors" poster
(Click all images for larger versions.)

Had the title been more accurate it would have been "Dr. Terror's
Train of Horrors" but it would have lacked the alliterative punch.

Here it is, folks... the first in the long line of Amicus horror anthologies. Released in 1965 and directed by veteran horror film director Freddie Francis, written by Milton Subotsky and starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, it set the tone for nearly a decade's worth of awesome Amicus anthologies.

Inspired by the 1945 film "Dead of Night," Milton Subotsky patterned "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors" on that portmanteau format. When his film was a big hit, he stuck to that format for the rest of the series: "Torture Garden" in 1967, "The House That Dripped Blood" in 1970, my personal favorite "Asylum" in 1972, "Tales from the Crypt" in 1972, "The Vault of Horror" in1973, "From Beyond the Grave" in 1973 and "Tales That Witness Madness" in 1974.

Dr. Terror has the last laugh on his doomed traveling companions. But, at least he kept them entertained, long train trips can be murder.

After Amicus founders Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg went their separate ways, Subotsky was still active in the early 80s, producing yet another anthology "The Monster Club," directed by Roy Ward Baker, veteran of several Amicus efforts. So I really consider that film to be a part of the group of films.

If you'd ever heard that Kenny Rogers song you'd know it was time to run.

Synopsis: Five strangers board a train and are joined by a mysterious fortune teller who offers to read their Tarot cards. Five separate stories unfold: An architect returns to his ancestoral home to find a werewolf out for revenge; a doctor discovers his new wife is a vampire; a huge plant takes over a house; a musician gets involved with voodoo; an art critic is pursued by a disembodied hand.

Since this blog is mainly devoted to the image of the scary skull as used in horror movie posters, etc., I won't try to review it... also for the simple reason that I have not yet seen it, although I'm familiar with the stories from various sources. I look forward to the DVD release and viewing it for the first time. I am enjoying the US releases of the Amicus films as they come out, for I am finally getting a chance to see and enjoy these films I have read about since I was a kid.

To stop his wife from maxing out the credit card, Donald was forced to take drastic measures.

Here are some poster variations to feast your worm-eaten eyes upon!

"Frenzied Fright! Screaming Nightmare! Freezing Terror!" And Horrifying Hyperbole!

"I actually do have a house of horrors... but it wasn't in the cards that you should see it."

"Not only do the cards predict your future, but they can
help you clean your teeth when you don't have time to floss."

Newspaper insert that tried to look like an actual article.

Cover to the paperback novelization of the film.

SEE! Really crappy artwork ! The poster for the 1943 spook show that claimed the title first.

The title had been used before for a traveling roadshow (not a movie, as I had thought before knowledgeable blogger Karswell corrected me) making the rounds in 1943, in which a live host known only as Doctor Terror recounts seven stories from his casebook of personal encounters with evil and the supernatural. The blurb reads "For the first time on any screen!" However, the stories which he introduces and then shows on the screen, are only segments of reused footage from such films as Carl Dreyer's Vampyr, White Zombie, The Scotland Yard Mystery, Le Golem, and the serial The Return of Chandu. Talk about a ripoff. A crummy clip show.

From Beyond The Grave

The Skeletal Spotlight shines this time on:
"From Beyond The Grave"

The skull-centric poster for 1971's "From Beyond the Grave" shows once again the superior artwork that Amicus used on their anthology films. They never failed to make you want to see the movie. This was another one that I missed out on in the 70's in the theaters, and never once saw it on TV in the years since, so when it finally came out on DVD I was excited to view it for the first time.The Amicus anthologies are some of the most enjoyable movies to come out in that time period, and you got a lot for your money. If you didn't really like the last segment, all you had to do was wait: another one was coming. There were usually three or four good ones, and one not-so-good ones in each film, so the ratio of good to bad was rather high. You seldom got bored with one of these!

Following are some variations on the poster for it's various releases around the world, for your enjoyment.

"I called it 'Buy & Die" when I first opened it, but it didn't seem to have the right ring to it."

Peter Cushing plays a shopkeeper who you'd better not try to cheat. And I pities th' po fool who tries to rob him!

I'm guessing we're not supposed to take this literally.

"The Giant Hand From Beyond The Grave" version was not one of the better posters to be done for an Amicus movie. And the one below for the 1975 re-release of the film is so far from anything in the film that one wonders if it was an unused poster for another movie. It really feels like an attempt by some distributor to get viewers into the movie under the assumption it was a different film entirely. Clever: re-name it "The Creatures," repackage it with unrelated artwork, and no-one would know the difference unless they read the credits closely. I can see some people going into the movie and saying, "Wait, I've already seen this, where's the movie I paid to see this time?" It actually looks like one I'd like to see... if I hadn't already.

Too bad this movie was never made, it looks cool. You gots to be really bad to be evicted from hell!

!

The only thing missing is Godzilla.

Spiffy cover for the DVD release.