Amicus Strikes Back

 

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AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS-1973-Catherine (Stephanie Beacham) & Charles (Ian Ogilvy) come to live in the ancestral Fengriffen. No sooner are they there when Catherine becomes mesmerized by a portrait of Charles’ grandfather Sir Henry and a bloody hand tries to grab her. After their wedding, a severed hand is seen crawling across the floor. Later, she sees a ghoulish, eyeless corpse, missing one hand. Then she's scared by Silas (Geoffrey Whitehead), a sinister looking woodsman with a red birth mark, who lives on the estate. After their lawyer (Guy Rolfe) is murdered, Catherine sees more apparitions and the family doctor, Whittle (Patrick Magee) informs the couple Catherine is pregnant. Then Charles and Dr. Whittle discuss telling Catherine some secret about the family. 

When the maid decides to help Catherine, she's killed. The severed hand seems to be controlling things. When her aunt Edith (Gillan Lind) decides Catherine should leave Fengriffen, she dies. When it seems like Catherine is really cracking up, Whittle calls in Dr. Pope (Peter Cushing). In a flashback, Charles reveals his granddad Sir Henry (Herbert Lom) turned Fengriffin into “a house of debauchery” and “filled it with the scum of the earth”. Then on Silas’ father's wedding night, Henry rapes his bride, while his goons hold down Silas. Henry chops off his hand and Silas puts a curse on him. Later, Catherine gives birth to a baby with no right hand and a reddish birth mark. 

Good cast and story but not a great ending. This Amicus production was directed by Roy Ward Baker who also made THE VAULT OF HORROR for the same company in'73. It's based a on a novel by American novelist David Case.

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Burroughs

 

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THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT-1974-A sailor finds a bottle with a message in it. Thus is related in 1916 a German U-boat torpedoes an English ship. 2 survivors Bowen Tyler (Doug McClure) and Lisa Clayton (Susan Penhaligon) are rescued by some of the crew who survived. The survivors take over the U-boat. Later the Germans retake the sub and going off course they wind up in the south pole, landing in the thought to be legend land of Capuria. They encounter a pterodactyl, sea monsters and a bunch of cavemen. Eventually the German crew revolt but are all killed when a volcano erupts. Only the two survive and Tyler writes his message in a bottle. 

This Amicus co-production was director Kevin Connor's second film and it's not bad with the exception of some cheap looking SFX. It's based on a novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs with the screenplay by fantasy artist James Cawthorn and fantasy writer Michael Moorcock. Connor made a sequel AT THE EARTH'S CORE two years later.

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Amicus Anthology

 

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ASYLUM-1972-A young Dr. Martin (Robert Powell) has a job interview in an insane asylum where the head doctor Rutherford has gone insane and is now a patient. Or so says his replacement (Patrick Magee). He says if Martin can identify the loony doc from the other patients, he gets a position.

The first story, “Frozen Fear” is related by Bonnie (Barbara Parkins) and how her lover Walter (Richard Todd) murdered his wife with an ax, chopped up her body and put it in a freezer. The pieces come back to life and kill hubby. Bonnie has to fight the pieces too and winds up insane and disfigured.

Then comes the tale “The Weird Tailor”. Bruno (Barry Morse), a tailor who can't pay his rent, is visited by a Mr. Smith (Peter Cushing) who wants the tailor to make a special suit for his son. He needs the suit to bring his son back to life. After he accidentally kills Smith, Bruno wants to burn the suit. His wife (Ann Firbank) wants to call the police. Fortunately, she puts the suit on Otto the dummy. An episode of Thriller is based on the same story.

In the third story “Lucy Comes to Stay”, a woman named Barbara (Charlotte Rampling) comes to live with her stuffy brother George (James Villiers) after a mental breakdown. She has an annoyingly cheerful nurse called Higgins (Megs Jenkins). After Barbara takes some pills, her mysterious friend Lucy (Britt Eklund) shows up and convinces her that George is trying to kill her. But Lucy is just an illusion.

Last up is “Manikins of Horror”. Dr. Byron (Herbert Lom) makes little dolls that he says he can bring to life through thought control, which he does in the finale but there's a fatal twist ending for poor Dr. Martin. 

This is a cool horror anthology from Amicus with all the stories written by Robert Bloch who had performed a similar duty the year before on THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD. Director Roy Ward Baker's previous horror movie had been DR. JEYKLL AND SISTER HYDE (1971).

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Scream And Scream Again (but not for a sequel)

SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN-1970-A guy jogging during the credits collapses after the director's name is shown. In a hospital bed he seems very confused. He's even more shocked to discover one of his legs is missing. Then a spy named Konradz (Marshall Jones) kills his boss with what resembles the Vulcan nerve pinch. Another scene change and Bellaver (Alfred Marks), a snotty uptight police superintendent visits Dr. Browning (Vincent Price) about the murder of his female assistant. Back at the hospital (?), the jogger finds his other leg is now missing. At a disco, Keith (Michael Gothard) meets a young woman (Judy Huxtable,credited as guest star) who he winds up beating, then killing. Meanwhile in some military dictatorship Konradz kills his superior (Peter Cushing) after being reprimanded for torturing a girl.

Back to the jogger who is now missing both his arms. Then we are introduced to Fremont (Christopher Lee), head of some British intelligence department who seems to know what's going on. The police catch Keith sucking blood from a woman's wrist and he knocks them all around and escapes. The police follow and trap him on a mountain which he falls off of but isn't killed. They handcuff him to a car fender but he cuts off his own hand to escape. He goes to Dr. Browning's practice and jumps into a vat of acid. Upon examining the left behind severed hand the coroner Dr. Sorel (Christopher Matthews) comes to the conclusion that it's artificial. At night a nurse steals the hand. While this is going on Fremont seems to be trying to negotiate a plan to get back a captured spy plane pilot. Bellaver is killed by a phony police psychologist. When Sorel's girlfriend (Judy Bloom) is kidnapped, he investigates Browning's complex and finds his lab packed with lots of frozen severed limbs. Browning is making artificial humans (called “composites”). Sorel seems to accept it all until he sees his girlfriend on the operating table. Browning (who it's revealed is also a composite) and Konradz have a showdown. Somehow Browning escapes Konradz's death grip and throws him in the vat of acid. Fremont shows up and makes Browning take an acid bath too then speaks ominously “It's only the beginning”. Apparently Fremont knew everything that was going on and perhaps was setting up a sequel? Maybe not. 

SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN is so disjointed with lack of any coherent plot or even a central character it almost seems like two (or three) separate story lines spun together. Also this was touted as the first screen teaming of Price, Lee and Cushing when in fact except for a few minutes in the finale where Lee and Price finally meet none of them have any scenes together! This meeting was similar to they confrontation in THE OBLONG BOX which was made the year before by SASA's director, the German born Gordon Hessler, a kind of journeyman filmmaker going through a "making Hammer like horror films for AIP" phase, although SCREAM  was produced by Hammer's chief rival at the time Amicus. Hessler would make THE CRY OF THE BANSHEE (also with Price) and a remake of THE MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE. Later he would do a lot of American TV. The Amen Corner (with Andy Fairweather-Low) do a song. 

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Amicus Anthology

TORTURE GARDEN-1967-Five people visit Dr. Diablo's Torture Garden at a carnival. After Diablo (Burgess Meridith) shows them a recreation of an electric chair execution he introduces them to a statue of Atropus, the goddess of destiny. Then he invites each of them to stare at the statue and a tale featuring them is conveyed.

In “Enoch” a neer do well (Michael Bryant) kills his old uncle (Maurice Denham) to get his hidden money but instead he comes under the supernatural influence of a cat named Bathaza! It makes him kill people so it can it their brains! He winds up beheaded in a jail cell. Niall McManus (CURSE OF THE DEMON) plays his doctor.

“Terror Over Hollywood” takes place in Tinseltown where actress Clara Hayes (Beverly Adams) becomes involved with a former matinee idol Bruce Benton (Robert Hutton) who is literally an 'immortal” star thanks to a weird surgeon who in the end makes Clara a “living doll”.

In “Mr. Steinway” a woman (Ursula Howells) falls in love with a brilliant but lonely pianist named Leo (John Standing) who's piano seems to be possessed by his dead mother. When the two become lovers the piano pushes her out a window!

In “The Man Who Collected Poe”, an American book collector Ronald Wyatt (Jack Palance) wants a rare Edgar Allan Poe book owned by English Poe collector Kanning (Peter Cushing). Kanning has quite a collection. In fact the real Poe is alive in his basement after making a deal with the devil! This has a weird “huh?” ending.

The framing sequence also has a nice twist ending involving a another patron (Michael Ripper) where after Diablo reveals his real identity (can ya guess?) to the viewing audience.

TORTURE GARDEN was the first of a series of anthology films Robert Bloch wrote for Amicus, the main rival to Hammer in the 1960's (he'd already done THE PSYCHOPATH and THE DEADLY BEES for them). The stories themselves aren't that great but they are weird enough (a cat that eats brains, a killer piano, Poe still alive). Director Freddie Francis (who worked on several other Amicus anthologies written by Bloch) keeps things moving but the acting makes up for any plot faults.

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AAA: Another Amicus Anthology

 

 

THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD-An obnoxious police detective (John Bennett) investigates the disappearance of film star Paul Henderson. A real estate agent (John Bryans) tells him strange things go on in the house where a woman has also vanished. He gives the detective the reports on the last few tenants for him to read. They comprise the stories.

In the first “A Method For Murder”, a horror writer (Denholm Elliot) creates a sinister character called Dominic (Tom Adams). It seems the character comes to life and the writer wonders if he's going insane. The twist ending makes no sense.

In the second “Waxworks”, Peter Cushing plays Phillip, a loner who listens to classical music and mourns the death of his lover. He and his friend Neville (Joss Ackland) become obsessed with a wax figure that resembles the dead woman. The museum's mad owner figures into the climax.

 

In the third “Sweets To The Sweet” (related by the real estate agent), Christopher Lee plays a stuck up businessman who treats his seemingly cute and innocent daughter in an overly strict manner. It turns out she's not exactly what she appears to be. Nyree Dawn Porter plays a teacher who tries to help.

In the final story “The Cloak”, Jon Pertwee plays pompous horror star Paul Henderson. When speaking of a film with Dracula in it he says “The one with Bela Lugosi. Not that new fella”. (This was an Amicus production) Henderson buys a mysterious cloak for his latest vampire role and it seems to turn him into a blood sucker. His co-star/lover Korla (Ingrid Pitt) turns out to be the real thing!

In the ridiculous finale Henderson and Korla attack the detective when he goes to investigate.

This is an ok anthology from Hammer Studios' chief English competition at the time and the script by writer Robert Bloch is clever in spots but I thought the stories could have been better. I wasn't really satisfied with the conclusion to most of them and the direction by Peter Duffell seems rushed in parts but it's always good to see a nice old fashioned anthology like this especially with a great cast.

Around this time Bloch was a busy writer doing more stuff for Amicus like ASYLUM and THE TORTURE GARDEN plus TV movies like THE CAT CREATURE and TV show episodes. It's also said that Vincent Price was first offered the role of Paul Henderson but his contract with AIP prevented him from accepting it.

 

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Amicus

THE PSYCHOPATH-1966-In this Amicus production (written by American Robert Bloch) a lawyer is crushed to death by a car and a doll resembling the victim his found with him. An inspector's (Patrick Wymark, in THE SKULL by the same director the year before)) investi-gation leads him to suspect American Donald Loftis (Canadian actor Don Borisenko) and his English girlfriend Louise (Judy Huxtable). Her father is played by Alexander Knox. Murders by poison, strangulation and acetylene torch follow. It all has to do with a doll obsessed wheel chair bound woman (Margaret Johnson) and her "Norman Bates" like son (John Standing) and her husband's suicide. Despite being almost blown up the inspector finds the real culprits. It's well directed by Oscar winning cinematographer Freddie Francis but there's a lot of talk and you know immediately who's the killer once the character is introduced. A weird freak out ending saves the whole thing!

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The Terrornauts

THE TERRORNAUTS-1967-For several years a trio of scientists have been working on a government funded project to communicate with life in outer space. Their project director Dr. Shore (Max Adrian) wants to shut them down. They finally hear an unusual transmission but the group head Dr. Burke (Simon Oates) heard them before when he was a child and believes them to be an SOS. They try to make contact with the aliens and their whole building is whisked away with Burke, his two assistants Sandy (Zena Marshall) and Ben (Stanley Meadows) and comical characters Mrs. Jones (Patricia Hayes), a coffee vendor and Mr. Yellowtees, an accountant (Charles Hawtrey from CARRY ON movies) in tow. They wind up on a spaceship which is actually a space fortress build by long dead aliens to protect Earth from enemies to are heading to Earth. A robot meets them and they figure out through strange cubes and a headset that looks like a bathing cap with wires on it how to stop the invaders. At one point Burke and Sandy are transported to a planet of green people where Sandy is almost made into a sacrifice! The beginning is pretty talky but once the story gets on the spaceship it gets funnier. There's lots of cheap effects including "PLAN 9" like UFOs  but that makes it all the more enjoyable. 

This Amicus production is based on an novel by American Sci-Fi writer Murray Leinster and the screenplay is by English S.F. writer John Brunner.  Irish born director Montgomery Tully later made BATTLE BENEATH THE EARTH.



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Hammer Rival

THE BEAST MUST DIE-1974-In this Amicus production (at the the time Amicus was the chief rival to Hammer) an eccentric millionaire Tom Newcliffe (top billed Calvin Lockhart) gathers eight people to his estate (which is wired with cameras and overseen by Anton Diffring). He claims that one of them is a werewolf and plans to hunt it when one of the guests transforms during an anticipated full moon. His lover Caroline is played by Marlene Clark (who co-starred in GANJA AND HESS the year before). Peter Cushing is featured as one of the eight, a werewolf expert with a German accent. Charles Gray, Michael Gambon and Ciaran Madden are also featured. 

There's a lot of debating over who is the werewolf while Newcliffe waits for the chance to hunt down his prey. The werewolf this time however is an animal not the usual man in make-up wolf. Near the end a clock appears on the screen to give viewers the chance to decide who is the wolf. It's based on a novel by James Blish. 

Director Paul Arnett did mostly BBC TV before and after this.   

Cushing was in no less than 7 films in 1974 including MADHOUSE (with Vincent Price) and LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES. 

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Moon Men

THEY CAME FROM BEYOND SPACE-1967-A group of scientists investigate a mysterious meteor shower and have their minds taken over by some alien invaders (from the Moon). The leader of the group (Robert Hutton) can't be controlled because he has a metal plate in his head. He tries to discover the secret of the invasion while being thwarted by alien possessed humans. After the aliens release a "scarlet plague" he goes on a one man mission to infiltrate the base. Eventually he meets The Master of The Moon (Michael Gough) and his pals who wear very colorful robes and finds out their true purpose. Jennifer Jayne co-stars.

This low budget Amicus production is based on a novel by American author Joseph Millard called "The Gods Hate Kansas". Director/cinematographer Freddie Francis made TORTURE GARDEN the same year.

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