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

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.

There's a lot of fun to be had reading the reviews for movies, especially a favourite movie. It takes a certain kind of person to have a passion for a film but to see it for no more than it is. And it takes another who finds it necessary to look for too much in something...to take it too seriously. And that's fine I suppose - each to his own and all that. But hokum is still hokum. I like hokum...and it's nice to see that some other reviewers (such as "Roderick" and "Wayne Malin" get 'Dr Terror's House of Horrors' for what it is these days....Hokum...FUN. It's not horrific. It's hard to find much these days which can be classed as truly horrific or terrifying - real life supplies too much of that for our own good. But what have here is purely and simply fun.

Personally, I find this movie is best enjoyed late at night ( a rainy night is ideal if one presents itself) with something nice to drink...and with the lights turned down low. The first time I saw 'Dr Terror' was very late one wintery friday night on BBC 1 many years ago and the time of night seems to suit so well that I wouldn't dream of changing it. As I said previously, it's not horrific but really, I could watch the likes of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee sitting in an open field reading aloud from the Edinburgh and Lothians phone book, so to see them in a creepy train carriage sparring over the merits of fortune tellers and "the entire lunatic fringe" is just a joy. As for the support - Neil McCallum, Roy Castle, Donald Sutherland, Peter Madden and Alan (and that's going to happen to me..?) Freeman - they all do well with the material provided. It's a touch spooky in a "The Avengers"/"The Ghost Train" type way. The direction by Freddie Francis is spot-on. The musical numbers are foot-tappin' groovy. I liked the score but I agree with the reviewer who picked up on the music not quite fitting a scene or fading (or indeed stopping dead) in the strangest places. This may have something to do with Elisabeth Lutyens being brought in as a late replacement for Tubby Hayes who was originally assigned to score the picture. No matter..as they say, it all adds to the charm.

Good late night fun...there's that word again. It should get repeat fees on this page. And incidentally, for those who are used to the late night TV screenings or the washed out VHS, you might like to know that a DVD is available. It's Region 2 PAL and imported from Italy under the title "Le Cinque Chiavi del Terrore". It's a bit light on the extras save for a scratchy but rather cool Italian trailer. But its an ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN TRANSFER and a rather nice one at that...I don't think I'm allowed to say where it can be bought on this page but it shouldn't be too hard for you to find on the net...just think of somewhere Diabolik-al...ahem. But that's all by the by - full screen, widescreen... Whichever version is available to you, and at whatever time...watch 'Dr Terrors House of Horrors'...you'll have fun...a lot of fun...so go on, tap the cards three times...

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. It has the wonderful atmosphere, photography and pacing that is sorely missed in today's films.

It is also nice to see a horror film where the cast look and act like adults, instead of a bunch of high school kids.

My favorite segments are Werewolf and Voodoo, though I did enjoy seeing Jennifer Jayne (Trollenberg Terror) in Vampire.

For those who do not understand the title, the reason the film is called Dr. Terror's House of Horrors is because, in the film, Dr. Shreck refers to his tarot card deck as his "house of horrors".