Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

PlatinumRead Just so...so bad

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

mraculeated The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

tavm This is another one of those obscure horror films I just discovered. Six passengers inhabit the same train car of which one of them is a Dr. Schreck (Peter Cushing) who has Tarot cards which can tell each passenger's future after each one taps on them three times. First passenger to do that is told of his coming back to his family home which he sold to a woman. There's a werewolf involved. Second tale has another passenger coming back to his family with some unusual plants waiting for him. Third tale has a jazz musician going to Haiti where he discovers some new music he wants to use for his own performances. Fourth tale concerns an art critic who gets humiliated by an artist he doesn't like. And the fifth one has a doctor dealing with what his wife really is. In many of these films, when Peter Cushing's around, Christopher Lee isn't far behind and here he's the art critic in the scariest and funniest of the five short tales in the movie. Michael Gough is also in that one as the artist. The tale with the unusual plant has the first M in the James Bond flicks-Bernard Lee-playing one of the investigators. And Donald Sutherland is in the last tale as one of two doctors. I thought the first two stories were pretty good, the third one had great musical performances, the fourth was the best one, and the fifth had an amusing ending. The reveal of the passengers' fate at the end was perhaps not too surprising but if you like these genre tales, you probably didn't mind... So that's a recommendation for Dr. Terror's House of Horrors.

FlashCallahan Five men enter a train carriage in London bound for Bradley, and are joined by a sixth, the mysterious Doctor Schreck whose name, he mentions, is German for "terror". During the journey, the doctor opens his pack of Tarot cards, which he calls his "House of Horrors", and proceeds to reveal the destinies of each of the travellers........Anthology films are always a mixed bag of nuts, but it doesn't matter if there is a poor segment of the anthology (there usually is), the fundamental part of the film, in order for it to work, is the wrap around story.Surprisingly, the wrap around story, involving the six in a train carriage, is the most sinister and haunting part of the film, and this is because of the wonderfully restrained performance from the titular doctor himself, Peter Cushing.Any other horror film made around this time would have the main 'villain' mugging and playing up to the camera, but the thing that makes Cushing's portrayal so eerie, is that he appears to be just as normal as the other five passengers.The stories, as I've already said, are something of a mixed bag, we have one about a werewolf and an old house with a curse, a wonderfully over the top story about Roy Castle stealing some Voodoo song, a woeful story about a killer plant, and another featuring Donald Sutherland who is tricked into killing his wife, whom is a vampire.But the stand out has to be the Christopher Lee story, about a dismembered hand following him, looking for revenge. It sounds silly, but the punchline is pretty grim, considering its a PG rated film.All the stories have something whimsical about them, one breaks the fourth wall, one features Kenny Lynch, and they all have that 'it was so much safer back then' feel to it.It's not for everybody, but for fans of Amicus and Hammer, this will really fit the bill.

Wizard-8 Despite how I summed up this movie in the summary line above, I feel I need to point out that I didn't hate this movie. I have a fondness for spooky tales with a twist at the end, from EC comics to horror anthology movies. All the same, I thought this was a lesser example of the genre. It may be because I have seen so many examples of this genre that what were once fresh twists have become both overused, familiar, and predictable. In this particular horror anthology movie, I was able to predict the outcome of two of the stories, the "Disembodied Hand" story as well as the wraparound part of the movie linking all of the stories. The other stories aren't as predictable, but a big problem with two of them ("Creeping Vine" and "Voodoo") is that they feel unfinished, leaving the viewer hanging in the air. As for the remaining two stories ("Werewolf" and "Vampire"), the former has a so-so twist at the end, while the latter is the only story of the six that has a genuinely surprising ending. While that story is the only one that really works, the movie does have some pleasures sprinkled throughout. It is, of course, a treat to see Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, and while the movie is predictable for the most part, director Freddie Francis keeps things moving swiftly so there are no dull spots. As I said, this isn't a terrible movie, but I would suggest you wait to see it until you are in a forgiving mood.

AaronCapenBanner Freddie Francis directed this five-part horror anthology framed by five strangers in a train car being read their futures by a mysterious fortune teller(played by Peter Cushing) via Tarot cards. Stories are: 'Werewolf' - Architect discovers a werewolf curse on a job. 'Creeping Vine' - Plants seem to have come to life with murder in mind. 'Voodoo' - A musician steals forbidden music to his regret. 'Disembodied Hand' - An art critic is pursued by the artist he killed. 'Vampire' - A young doctor discovers his new wife is a vampire. Costars Christopher Lee, Roy Castle, Donald Sutherland, Michael Gough, among others. Framing device of the train car is more effective than the five tales themselves. Marginal film does have an effective ending.