Le jardin des tortures

After seeing "The Torture Garden" I have now seen every Amicus anthology. The wrap around story is particularly interesting; especially since I am a big fan of circus sideshows/midway attractions. Anyways; Burgess Merideth plays the evil carnival barker; ushering in 5 un suspecting people; and telling them to look into the shears of a wax figure. In the shears each person see's a sin that will be committed in their future; giving them an opportunity to stop it.

The problem with Torture Garden is that it's like a bad sandwich; the meat is so awful; it makes you want to throw it away and eat the bread. The first story and the last story are very good; but the two in the middle are very stale and boring.

Overall; this is definetly worth buying; especially for a fan of classic horror and while the second and third stories are infact "Torture"; the first and last make up for it. The wrap around story is superb and the ending is quite surprising.

Rating: 7.7/10

Amicus always managed to get great casts for their anthological films especially, and the fact that one or two decent American actors/actresses are present here merely, emphasises the point.

Burgess Meredith plays Dr. Diablo with marvellous relish in the linking story about a fairground charlatan who presides over "the sheers of fate" (held by an actress who can't keep still!).

Predictably, the stories are of variable quality and, like Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, some of the execution is stagey, mainly because the sets are so cheap-looking.

Story 1 about a dead witch who possesses a cat and causes a inheritor to rue his greediness is satisfactorily macabre and entertaining; Story 2 is more mysterious than horrific but the story about androids is, at least, relatively original; Story 3 is a distinctly silly episode about a piano "with a mind of it's own", who kills it's player's lover; Story 4, however, is the "piece de resistance" about the resurrection of Edgar Allan Poe (wonderful idea by Robert Bloch!). The performances in this story are also worthy of mention - Jack Palance almost puts Peter Cushing in the shade with his eccentric hamminess as a Poe fanatic, but both of them really do bring the best out of the script.

Overall, this compendium has it's faults but some of it's excellent acting and inventive script-writing push it to my second favourite Amicus film (behind The House That Dripped Blood).

Dr. Diablo, a carnival horrors man, shows five people a "special" entertainment in a private showing. Each person looks carefully at the scissors held by a mannequin of one of the Greek fates and soon sees a fate that may or may not come to pass. These visions serve as the basis of the movie as we are entertained to four story adaptations of Robert Bloch stories. The first man sees a story about greed and a witch's familiar. The second story deals with android-like beings in Hollywood, the third story with a malicious piano. The last story is based on Bloch's story "The Man Who Collected Poe" and is about one man's obsession with the master of the macabre. All four stories are brought to screen with care and style, thanks in part to the workman-like direction of Francis. Burgess Meredith is exceptionally good as the devious Dr. Diablo in the frame story. The last story is the best and is highlighted by fine performances by both Peter Cushing and Jack Palance. Look for Michael Ripper in the frame story as well.

There is not very much to add here. Torture Garden is entertaining and has a good amount of atmosphere and some good performances but is also a rather uneven film, and there are stronger Amicus anthology films around (understandably as this was a reasonably early effort for them). Also agree with the general consensus that the first and last segments are the best and the second and third come up short.

The story linking the four segments is mostly very well done, it's suspenseful, it's fun, intriguingly written, ties the segments beautifully and succinctly and it has the bonus of having Burgess Meredith playing his tailor-made role with delicious relish. Some might find that the carnival setting's somewhat gaudy, but to me that was effective, it suited the atmosphere and carnivals are so in the first place anyway to an extent. It is a shame though that Diablo's real identity was a little too obvious and the ending can be smelt a mile off.

Of the four segments, The Man Who Collected Poe comes off the most successfully. It is very macabre, very intelligently written and has a good deal of suspense. It is also the best-looking segment of the four, with the Gothic atmosphere evoked wonderfully. Jack Palance is devilishly enjoyable here, he's over-the-top but also very menacing, vintage Palance really. Peter Cushing proves himself to be a great contrast, a more subtle performance but very dignified and urbane. Enoch has a very creepy ambiance and doesn't go through the motions at all with the scares. The cat didn't look too cute personally, and does bring the right amount of chills as the antagonist of the story.

Conversely, Terror over Hollywood and particularly Mr. Steinway don't fare anywhere near as strongly. Terror over Hollywood at least had a very intriguing subject, but it descend into weird silliness often and while striking Beverly Adams is rather too pretty and lightweight for the over-ambitious diva, when she does try to bring some menace or hard edge it feels very forced. Mr. Steinway is very dull from the get go and goes so overkill in the absurdity factor that it is really difficult to take seriously or be scared by it, only the piano's unsettling final attack prevents it from completely falling apart. John Standing is also rather bland here.

Visually, Torture Garden's not one of the better-looking Amicus anthology productions and it's less than beautiful-looking, but it doesn't look too cheap at all either. In fact, it's very competently made and gives off a very nice atmosphere. Some of the sets are a touch tacky, with the exception of The Man Who Collected Poe and the appropriate carnival setting and the editing occasionally may lack slickness, but it's very stylishly shot, that takes maximum Gothic effect to imaginative heights, and the lighting's not too garish, in fact the use of colour is very like watching a Mario Bava film. James Bernard's score is rousing, haunting and thrillingly booming, Robert Bloch's script is skillful and combines many horror elements with wit and creepy atmosphere without feeling too over-stuffed and Freddie Francis directs engagingly at least for the first and last segments and the linking story. And while the acting in Torture Garden is very varied, Palance, Cushing and Meredith are incredibly strong and are more than enough to make one stick with the film.

Overall, entertaining and above-decent but uneven, with one outstanding segment, one great segment and two misfires, along with a compelling story linking them together. Worth seeing also for the strong performances from Palance, Cushing and Meredith. 6.5/10 Bethany Cox

"Torture Garden" is, overall, a fun if unexceptional horror anthology from Amicus, a company that specialized in that sort of thing for a number of years. With a screenplay written by Robert Bloch of "Psycho" fame, and efficient direction by Freddie Francis, it's unfortunately a little uneven. It's divided into four segments, and segments two and three aren't quite as punchy, and more amusing than anything; segment one, which is rather leisurely paced, would have been better off as the third in the movie.

The ever wonderful Burgess Meredith is a sort of host for the proceedings, playing a sideshow personality named Dr. Diabolo, who takes various customers into his "torture garden" and places them in front of an exhibit that can foretell their futures, and see the darkness buried within each of them.

"Enoch" stars Michael Bryant as Colin, a man in need of money who thinks he'll get it from his dying uncle (Maurice Denham). After accidentally causing the old man's death, he discovers what kinds of secrets his uncle had been keeping, and they revolve around a spooky "cat" that will develop a powerful hold on him. This is interesting and atmospheric stuff, with a great denouement and enjoyable shock moments.

In "Terror Over Hollywood", cunning and ambitious young actress Carla (Beverly Adams) manages to make the acquaintance of some power players in the business, including veteran star & producer Bruce Benton (Robert Hutton). She soon finds out that there's a reason why Benton and company are able to maintain a facade of youth. This leads to a real hoot of a revelation, which gives this episode its element of "horror".

"Mr. Steinway" is definitely something different: the only story this viewer has seen that can claim to be a love triangle between a journalist, Dorothy (Barbara Ewing), a star pianist, Leo (John Standing), and Leo's piano. Yup, a musical instrument. This is rather cheesy stuff, and entertaining, but hardly scary.

Peter Cushing and Jack Palance star in "The Man Who Collected Poe", about two men obsessed with the legendary author. Ronald Wyatt (Palance) is determined to find out everything that he can about just what kinds of things Lancelot Canning (Cushing) is hoarding. As it turns out, Lancelot truly has the treasure to beat them all. At least we can say that this movie ends with the best story of the bunch.

Taken as a whole, the movie is enjoyable for horror fans, although it is somewhat plodding and has its ups and downs. The top notch cast makes it a worthy viewing; John Phillips, Michael Ripper, Bernard Kay, David Bauer, Niall MacGinnis, Hedger Wallace, Clytie Jessop, and Timothy Bateson also appear. It's also noteworthy for having American stars (Palance and Meredith) be top billed. It's not the best of the Amicus anthologies, but it's not bad at all either.

Seven out of 10.