Le train des épouvantes

First of the spate of British portmanteau horror films which sprung up in the 1960's/early 70's (there had of course been 'Dead of Night' much earlier).

Five men in a train carriage have their tarot cards read by the mysterious Dr Schreck, all concluding in the same manner - their death. Ranks above many of the similar films which followed by having classic horror themes in the stories - werewolves, voodoo, severed hand, killer plant and vampires. Film also has well above average cast and a tone which remains sombre right up to the bleak ending. That said we do have the one comic relief story, which as usual is by far the weakest - here we have Roy Castle as a jazz musician getting caught up in voodoo.

It is the framing story in these horror anthologies which often make or break the entire film, and in 'Dr Terror's ....' it is excellent with Cushing having a real tone of menace as the quietly spoken, sinister Dr Schreck, as the action switches back to the increasingly claustrophobic train carriage.

At a time when Hammer's standards were beginning to slip, Amicus provided an important rival which ensured the British horror output remained interesting and inventive for quite some time.

"Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors" of 1965 is a cheesy but highly entertaining horror anthology. This film is particularly interesting as it is the the first in a row of Horror anthologies from the Amicus company, which continued to produce Anthologies such as "The House That Dripped Blood" of 1971. What also makes this highly recommendable is the cast, as it features Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, and young Donald Sutherland in an early role. Peter Cushing stars as the mysterious Dr. Schreck, a fortune teller, who offers the five other men in his train cabin to tell their future from his tarot cards. Each man's future is one part of the anthology, which, among other things, features voodoo, a vampire and a werewolf. The stories are, of course, quite brief, with five stories in only 95 minutes there is simply no place for a lot of depth. Even the stories are brief, and partly very cheesy, however, every single story entertains highly. Peter Cushing is excellent and eerie as usual as Dr. Schreck, and fellow horror icon Christopher Lee is equally great as one of the passengers in the train, an arrogant art-critic. It is also a lot of fun to watch Donald Sutherland in this early role. Sutherland sure is a great actor, and he already was back then. Although "Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors" is cheesy, and certainly no masterpiece, this is highly recommended to all the fans of traditional and British Horror out there! Definitely no shocker, but spooky fun that Classic Horror lovers should enjoy immensely. 7/10

Five passengers are in a cabin of the train to Bradley, when a sixth one asks whether he may join them in their cabin. He introduces himself as the tarot cards reader Dr. Schreck, a.k.a. Dr. Terror (Peter Cushing), who can tell the future of those who tap his cards deck three times. The first passenger to tap is the architect Jim Dawson (Neil McCallum), who is traveling to an island to renovate the house that belonged to his family that Mrs. Deirdre Biddulph (Ursula Howells) bought from him. He will learn that there is a werewolf in the house. Bill Rogers (Alan Freeman), who is traveling on vacation to meet his wife and daughter, taps the deck and learns that an intelligent creeper vine will threat their lives at his summer house. Then the musician Biff Bailey (Roy Castle) taps the deck and learns that he will bring a voodoo song from his tour in Caribe with creepy consequences. Then the snobbish and arrogant art critic Franklyn Marsh (Christopher Lee) learns that the artist Eric Landor (Michael Gough) will expose his arrogance and Franklyn will revenge with tragic consequences. Last, Dr. Bob Carroll (Donald Sutherland) taps the deck and learns that he will discover a secret about his fiancée Nicolle Carroll (Jennifer Jayne), who has just moved to a small town in New England to live with him, and his colleague Dr. Blake (Max Adrian). Further, they find their fate and who the mysterious fortune teller Dr. Terror is.

"Dr. Terror's House of Horrors" is a great anthology from Amicus Productions with five short stories. "Werewolf", "Creeping Vine", "Voodoo", "Disembodied Hand" and "Vampire" are great segments. Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Donald Sutherland are part of the cast and synonym of a great entertainment for fans of British horror films from the 60's. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "As Profecias do Dr. Terror" ("The Prophecies of Dr. Terror")

Note: On 27 September 2022, I saw this film again.

If you can find a copy of "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors", try to ignore its dark, fuzzy appearance (I've seen it once on videocassette and twice on television, and it looked the same way each time; the movie has not yet been made available on DVD). This is a first-rate British horror film in the old style, and if you liked "The House That Dripped Blood" and "Tales From the Crypt", you'll enjoy "...House of Horrors", too. The standout tales are 'Voodoo', which features Roy Castle as a jazz horn player who nicks a piece of sacred African music while spying on a voodoo ceremony and comes to regret it, and 'Disembodied Hand', an unpleasant story of wounded pride, foul play, and revenge that stars Christopher Lee and Michael Gough. Peter Cushing is appropriately sinister as Dr. Schreck, the German metaphysicist who predicts the futures of five unsuspecting men with his "house of horrors", a deck of Tarot cards. The soundtrack deserves a mention, too--it's subtly creepy, and the Dave Brubeck-style jazz (performed by the Tubby Hayes Quintet) in the 'Voodoo' segment is really nice as well. Hopefully someone will acquire the rights to this entertaining film, restore the print, and release it on DVD soon.

DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS

Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (Techniscope)

Sound format: Mono

Five travellers on an overnight train are told their fortunes by a mysterious old man (Peter Cushing) who turns out to be... well, you'll see.

Formed in the early 1960's by American producers Milton Subotsky and Max J. Rosenberg as a response to various tax concessions which encouraged an upsurge in British movie-making, independent studio Amicus hit the ground running with this breezy horror anthology, directed by famed cinematographer Freddie Francis, in which several heavyweight thesps (including Christopher Lee and a very young Donald Sutherland, the latter a sop to US audiences) and a couple of notable UK media celebrities (entertainer Roy Castle, DJ Alan Freeman) meet grisly fates at the hands of various supernatural entities (werewolf, creeping vine, voodoo, disembodied hand and vampire, respectively).

Lavishly photographed by Alan Hume in widescreen Techniscope - Francis had, of course, learned a thing or two about widescreen composition during his work on SONS AND LOVERS (1960) and THE INNOCENTS (1961), amongst others! - this low budget thriller utilizes the same audience-friendly Gothic elements which launched Hammer to worldwide fame and fortune, but locates them within the recognizable boundaries of contemporary British society, an aspect which immediately distinguishes it from the Victorian milieu favored by rival studios. Francis clearly relishes the creative opportunities afforded by the material, and while the stories themselves - all originals, penned by Subotsky - are fairly bland and obvious, they're all energized by Francis' stylish visuals and helter-skelter pacing. Each story has its merits, but director and scriptwriter keep the best two for last: Lee's pompous art critic is haunted by the living severed hand of an artist (Michael Gough) he drove to suicide, and Sutherland discovers his new bride's (Jennifer Jayne) bloodthirsty secret, leading to a twist in the tale...

Lee gives the showiest performance, as a haughty member of the critical Establishment whose ego leads him on the path to self-destruction, but his fellow cast members all rise to the occasion, and Francis even manages to indulge Castle's famed jazz trumpeting abilities without holding up the plot! Cushing takes center stage, playing a character much older than his years, though he's rather let down by a fake German accent which sounds more comical than ominous; his timing, however, is impeccable, as always. Brisk, stylish and more than a little camp in places (watch out for that crawling hand!), the movie is a triumph for Francis and his technical team. Subotsky and Rosenberg were also responsible for John Llewellyn Moxey's moody witchcraft thriller THE CITY OF THE DEAD, produced in 1960 under the 'Vulcan' banner, but it was the creation of Amicus which firmly established their fortunes within the UK film industry (cf. TORTURE GARDEN, THE VAULT OF HORROR, etc.). Sadly, Francis became increasingly disillusioned by his status as a 'horror' director, and many of his later efforts suffered as a consequence of his apathy (THEY CAME FROM BEYOND SPACE, TROG, CRAZE, etc.).