Le caveau de la terreur

A great anthology film in the Amicus tradition. Five men find themselves going down an elevator into a huge room(looking like a giant boardroom) where they seem to be expected. Each one has a fear that continually seems to plague him and they relate their fears to each other. The opening lacks the production values and Sir Ralph Richardson of its predecessor Tales From the Crypt as the crypt-keeper sorely, but the stories are all well-done with finesse from cast, crew, and the very able direction of an underappreciated Roy Ward Baker. The first story is about vampires in a small English town, and it is a very tasty vignette. The second story, starring Glynis Johns and Terry-Thomas(both funny beyond belief), is the comedic relief of the film about a man who is too neat who needs to have that point hammered into his head by his wife. For him it is definitely a jarring experience. The third story is about a magician and his wife that kill to acquire a magic trick. Curt Jurgens is very good as the evil magician. A good story. The fourth story is easily the weakest about a man buried alive for insurance. Lastly, the most literate of the stories concerns Dr. Who's Tom Baker seeking revenge on those that have profited on his artwork behind his back. He gets revenge through voodoo. All in all a great deal of fun. As previously stated, be sure to get the uncut version.

It's no surprise to horror fans that HBO's Tales From the Crypt was a huge success -- the UK's Amicus Productions was cranking out 4- and 5-story anthologies in the late 60's and early 70's. Utilizing veteran actors and cameramen who knew how to beautifully combine camp and horror, Vault of Horror was one of the best.

But you'd probably never know it, if you live in the US. Every version ever available on tape or on TV is cut, badly enough to almost totally destroy any payoff. A "Tale from the Crypt" is more dependent than most on a shocking ending; chop out the deliciously gory ending, or water it down, and you've got a big build-up to nothing. I first saw VOH in its hacked-up, PG version, and thought it pretty limp. It's so unfair: the last-minute hacks of a studio butcher (!) can render any carefully created piece of work into tepid mush, making the filmmakers appear incompetent.

Where can you find the uncut version in the US? Legally, nowhere. You'll need a friend in the UK who can lend you a copy, or possibly a Japanese import. This movie begs for release on DVD.

**UPDATE** The uncut version is finally available on DVD from Vipco (Britain). It won't play on most U.S. players, but may be played with some PC software such as WinDVD.

An uneven anthology of EC horror comics stories from Amicus, this time directed by Roy Ward Baker who had worked on 'The Avengers' and was responsible for some of the best Hammer movies ('Quatermass And The Pit', 'The Vampire Lovers', 'Dr Jekyll And Sister Hyde'). Baker had already made 'Asylum' for Amicus the previous year. It was a similar anthology, only based on stories by Robert Bloch. 'The Vault Of Horror' has an even better cast of actors than 'Asylum', but is slightly less enjoyable for me. Maybe it's because there's five stories instead of four, and is therefore a bit rushed in places, but a lot of it has to do with the uncertainty of the tone. Gruesome black comedy is easy to pull off in a comic book, but not so easy in a movie. Well, not in this movie anyway. It's starts off strangely, almost like a Bunuel film. Five strangers (Donald Massey, Terry-Thomas, Curt Jurgens, Michael Craig, Tom Baker) enter a lift which unexpectedly takes them down to a basement. They get out and see a table waiting for them, so they sit and begin to recount nightmares that haunt them. Massey's involves looking for his missing sister, Terry-Thomas plays a newly married neat freak, Jurgens a magician looking for new ideas in India, Craig a man with an ingenious insurance scam and Baker a painter who uses voodoo to punish his enemies. All the stories have their moments but the final one starring Tom Baker (just before he became Dr Who #4) is the most effective. The film is full of well known faces in supporting roles including Denholm Elliot, Glynis Johns, Edward Judd, and even a surprise appearance from Robin Nedwell and Geoffrey Davies from the "Doctor" TV shows, playing yes, medical students. I can't honestly say that 'The Vault Of Horror' is all that good, but I enjoyed it for the most part, and if you approach it not expecting all that much you should have some fun.

Since I first saw photos of it when I was a little kid, I wanted to see this early 1970s horror movie from the same British who brought us TALES OF THE CRYPT. When I was like 7 or 8 years old, I was a little chilled by the photo of the man hanging upside-down and a vampire has connected a tap-fawcet to the unfortunate bloke's neck! Sadly, this scene happens in VAULT OF HORROR (1973) exactly as it did in magazine oldies like FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND and THE MONSTER TIMES: It's a still shot! That's right, a single photo of the fanged villain and his victim! It's done this way for dramatic effect and seems to work, but I had already seen the exact same thing in printed form!

However, this is not to say I was disapointed. This series of stories is very interesting, with intriguing characters throughout. The ending is predictable to anybody who's already seen TALES OF THE CRYPT, but there's a nifty gore seen earlier in the film where a guy's hands get chopped off. As is often the case with British horror, the emphasis is more on drama than sheer terror-- but it's all pretty entertaining.

I adore the 1972 film; Tales From the Crypt and this 1973 follow-up is a solid effort. Granted, not all of the stories in this Amicus anthology are as strong as the '72 film, but this film is still a lot of fun. My favorite story in this anthology is the Terry-Thomas/Glynis Johns effort. It's definitely more comedy than horror, but even that packs a bit of a punch at the end. I've read that there was to be a third installment to this series of films, but a less than over-whelming feeling by the film-going public put an end to any further plans for a third film. The cast to this film is really strong and it's just a shame that the stories aren't as solid, still, an enjoyable effort and if you're looking for a fun way to spend an afternoon, a double-feature of Tales From the Crypt and Vault of Horror is definitely the way to go.