Tales That Witness Madness

TALES THAT WITNESS MADNESS opens with a doctor (Donald Pleasence) introducing his colleague to the patients in a mental institution. Since this is an anthology film, each patient has a story. They are as follows...

MR. TIGER: A boy has an imaginary friend called Mr. Tiger that is very hungry for meat and bones. Mum and dad aren't getting along, which makes Mr. Tiger quite cross.

PENNY FARTHING: A man inherits a load of antiques from his Aunt's estate. Among them is a strange picture of his Uncle that's seemingly alive and possesses mystical powers.

MEL: When a man drags home a bizarre, woman-shaped tree from the forest, his wife (Joan Collins) doesn't approve, leading to jealousy, obsession, and an inevitable showdown.

Luau: A woman (Kim Novak) plans a big surprise party for her friend. Unfortunately, ancient superstition turns the festivities into a hideous ritual of terror.

The wraparound story concludes with the traditional twist. While the last two segments are the strongest, the whole movie is good. This is a special treat for fans of Ms.'s Collins and Novak...

Dr. Nicholas (Jack Hawkins) arrives at the insane asylum run by the eminent Prof. Tremayne (Donald Pleasence) to hear his absolutely bizarre theories as to how four of his patients ended up there.

The first is young Paul (Russell Lewis), who lived with quarrelling parents Sam and Fay (Donald Houston, Georgia Brown), and who had concocted an imaginary friend dubbed Mr. Tiger. Or is he imaginary?

Next is Timothy (Peter McEnery), whose newly acquired penny farthing - it's a sort of bicycle - is able to transport him back in time, all while a leering portrait of his uncle Albert (Frank Forsyth) watches over him.

Then we meet Brian (Michael Jayston), who frustrates his wife Bella (Joan Collins) by bringing home - and falling in love with (I kid you not) - a tree. A creepy looking tree that seems to be named Mel.

Finally, in the tale that takes up most of the movies' running time, the story of Auriol (Kim Novak) is told. She's having to deal with a rebellious daughter, Ginny (Mary Tamm) while entertaining a writer named Kimo (Michael Petrovitch).

Only the fourth tale, "Luau", has any real kick to it. And it's an appreciably twisted tale indeed. But overall, the segments of "Tales That Witness Madness" are bland and lack style. A shame, given that director / cinematographer Freddie Francis *could* do solid work in this format. Things get a little too silly a little too often, especially in the sequence with Brian and Bella, and the endings are rather predictable. Certainly this excellent cast of familiar faces does some good work; Pleasence is a pleasure to watch as always. And the movies' final moments come complete with yet another twist before the end credits start rolling.

However, if you're looking for a good horror anthology from this period, check out "Asylum" or "Tales from the Crypt" instead.

Five out of 10.

British studios made a number of anthology horror flicks in the '60s and '70s, and "Tales That Witness Madness" is one of them. It depicts a futuristic asylum in which the owner (Donald Pleasence) tells his colleague (Jack Hawkins, who died right before the movie got released) about the patients and how they went insane.

I didn't like this one as much as movies like "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors" and "The House that Dripped Blood", but it's still entertaining. The tree segment is the neatest one. It just goes to show that horror flicks - even if they're not particularly scary - are best when they're not just scenes of people crawling around making scared faces. I will say that Kim Novak's character seems kind of flat, but the rest of the movie makes up for that. Also starring are Joan Collins and the recently deceased Mary Tamm.

So yes, does anyone love me?

This stylish horror anthology, made by the same guy who directed the equally effective TALES FROM THE CRYPT a year before, packs a real punch. Each of the four stories are ghoulish and chillingly memorable. The first, MR. TIGER, concerns a little boy who introduces his feuding parents to his "imaginary" tiger. The second, PENNY FARTHING, is about an old-fashioned bicycle which sends its new owner back in time to unveil a sinister crime. The third, MEL(My favorite), has the beautiful and sexy Joan Collins struggling to keep her husband's wandering eyes on her and her alone. The twist is her competition is a tree!!!!! The fourth and final segment, LUAU, is a grisly tale of murder and voodoo rites. Truthfully, the last segment, even though it's the goriest, is probably the weakest, and is notable mainly for the presence of the lovely and talented Kim Novak(VERTIGO) whose first film this was in four years. But each tale is worth viewing, and good fun!

Visited by colleague Dr. Nicholas (Jack Hawkins), Dr. Tremayne (Donald Pleasence) explains his amazing and controversial theories as to why each of his four patients went mad... cue four distinct tales each with a different set of characters!

I love anthologies and was therefore instantly interested in this one. My only disappointment was that there were four segments. At 90 minutes, there should probably only have been three. We just never have time to fully develop the stories... (Although, I have to say a decent job was done here.)

Hooray for director Freddie Francis, best known for his work with Hammer. And hooray for Kim Novak, perhaps best known for "Vertigo". The Encyclopedia of Horror says the film "avoids farce and develops a nicely deadpan style of humour which is ably sustained by the excellent cast in which only Novak appears unable to hit the right note." Not sure why they singled her out... I thought she did fine.

Interestingly, this was the last film of both Frank Forsyth and Jack Hawkins, and Kim Novak had been semi-retired when she replaced Rita Hayworth to take her role here.