Le club des monstres

In a misjudged attempt to move with the times, British studio Amicus punctuated the three short stories of their final film, The Monster Club, with musical numbers from a variety of new-wave/rock acts, including B.A. Robertson and The Pretty Things. These daft interludes, which see the bands singing their songs in their entirety (and which come complete with a ridiculous rubber-masked monster audience) spoil what is otherwise a very effective horror anthology.

The film starts with a wraparound story in which popular horror author R.Chetwynd-Hayes (John Carradine) is fed upon by thirsty vampire Eramus (Vincent Price), who thanks his victim by taking him to The Monster Club, a members-only establishment where monsters go to drink and be entertained. There, the writer hears three tales guaranteed to chill the blood...

Tale one: A pair of con-artists plan to steal a valuable collection of antiquities from a lonely weirdo who turns out to be a Shadmock, a strange creature with a deadly whistle. A touching tale with a tragic ending, helped by a strong performance from James Laurenson as the lovelorn Shadmock.

Tale two: The B-squad are a special branch of the police dedicated to hunting vampires. Unaware that his own father is one of the undead, awkward loner Lintom Busotsky (Warren Saire) unwittingly leads the chief of the B-squad (Donald Pleasence) to his home. A wonderfully tongue-in-cheek story with great performances from both Saire and Pleasence, this proves to be a lot of fun, a jaunty Transylvanian folk violin score adding tremendously to the enjoyment factor.

Tale three: horror director Sam (Stuart Whitman) scouts a location for his new movie, unaware that the rural village is home to flesh-eating ghouls. Director Roy Ward Baker definitely saves the best for last, this memorable final segment oozing atmosphere and dripping with tension. Whitman does a cracking job and the final 'twist' is a corker.

7/10 for the three stories, minus one point for the terrible scenes that take place within The Monster Club.

The Monster Club was the final installment in Amicus studios portmanteau series and concerns R.Chetwynd-Hayes(John Carradine)a noted Horror writer who runs into an elderly Vampire named Erasmus (Vincent Price) .Erasmus duly takes his fill of the authors blood and after recognizing him becomes all apologetic and invites him to The Monster Club where he hopes Chetwynd-Hayes might garner some new ideas for a new book.As the guest of Erasmus, Chetwynd-Hayes is regaled with three stories of the macabre.

Story 1:A young couple George and Angela are hard up for cash, so they answer an advertisement in a newspaper looking for someone to help catalogue antiques in an old manor.Angela goes and meets the owner who as it turns out is a Shadmock,kind of a Vampire/werewolf hybrid,Angerla is scared of at first but soon settles in to her job.Angela soon becomes friendly with the soft spoken and thoughtful employer but comes under increasing pressure form George to steal something from the house, and she decides to take advantage of an invitation to a masqued ball with the Shadmock's family at the manor to fulfill her objective.

Story 2:A Vampire stalks the London underground is being chased by the B-squad a team of vampire hunters lead by Pickering, (Donald Pleasance) . Pickering uses the vampires son who unknowingly leads the B-squad right to his father.

Story 3: Stuart Whitman plays Sam an American movie Director scouting the English countryside for the perfect location for his upcoming movie. He stumbles across a fog bound town full of Ghouls where he befriends a Humghoul (Human and ghoul hybrid) and struggles with her help to make his escape from his living nightmare.

Review The shadmock story I found to be quite unique, its nice to have a different monster and this one was a rather a nice chap and I felt for his pain at the end, but it was definitely a missed opportunity, the idea of a masqued monster ball I find intriguing, but Ward obviously only used this as a means perhaps to save money on Monster make-up.The second story is played for laughs which is a shame and is by far the least of the three stories.The Ghoul story I found to be the best,and full of atmosphere with a nice twist at the end.The in between segments with Price and Carradine are poor and full of very bad monster make-up and annoyingly bad music(No really bad), these two great horror legends were fine,considering the quality of script, but they deserved more. This is the kind of film I was raised on and for that reason and the people involved I really enjoyed it,sure its not the best from the esteemed Amicus studio or Baker,but for pure fun its hard to beat and I unreservedly give this a whopping 6/10 against my better judgement.

From the moment I started watching, I was enthralled by every set piece, costume and plot detail.

This film, to understate, is rare indeed. A low-budget "horror" movie with a moral, loveable monsters and superb acting. Each of the three stories is well thought-out and entertaining, and the scene in which we learn of monster genealogy is wonderful.

Price is on top form, as usual. He is, with the possible exception of Peter Cushing, the best horror actor of all time. His sincere manner coupled with his traditional English accent make him the most unusual vampire you will ever see.

The first story is slow to start, but soon quickens pace. It features the best acting of the three tales, and the three lead characters have deliciously different personalities. It encompasses a moral, and is touching at times, but still manages to retain at least a little horror. The premise is not very good, but I liked it all the same.

The comedy in this film is plentiful. The second story features horrormeister Donald Pleasence in his catch-the-evil-creature role he played six times in the Halloween series. But the way his character meets his demise and the wonderful plot twist will have you rolling on the floor with laughter.

The third story is not really funny, or scary. It is the most serious of the bunch, and I suspect the filmmakers intended it to be awfully frightening. It just isn't. It show its age, and features poor acting. The set pieces are top-notch, though, and are definitely its saving grace. I can tell you now that the plot twist at the end is totally expected, and not very good.

The stories are interjected with entertaining dialogue between Price and Carradine, and new wave 1980s rock music. Some of you will recognise a youthful UB40 performing a song. There is also one about a stripper, and when you see the stripper's act, you will be suitably impressed. I won't say any more about that - watch it for yourself.

All in all, it was a good way to spend an hour and a half, and I was sad when the stories were over. Just one word of advice, though - don't be put off by the costumes of the monsters.

Another melange terror movie , being pretty good , and freely based on comic books , produced by Amicus : Max Rosenberg , Milton Subotsky . A classic terror movie formed by various segments well realized and magnificently played . Typical horror film financed by Amicus with a great British cast and formed by episodes full of creepy events , chills, thrills , gore and guts . A vampire (Vincent Price) invites his favorite horror author to a nightclub for monsters and shares three stories to inspire his next book : In first segment titled "Shadmock Story" , a con artist couple (Barbara Kellerman, Simon Ward) suffers the consequences when they try to take advantage of a suspicious recluse , who is sensitive about his monstrous pedigree . In second episode titled "Vampire Story" a rare stranger tricks a bullied kid into endangering his vampire father (Richard Johnson) and beloved mother (Britt Ekland) . In third segment titled "Humgoo Story" a film director (Stuart Whitman) looking for the perfect location to shoot a terror film stumbles upon a village populated by monsters led by a weird innkeeper (Patrick Magee). You'll meet some interesting people and hear some great songs at The Monster Club ¡ .

Great cast as Vincent Price and John Carradine star this ordinary antology picture in which a writer of horror stories nicely played by John Carradine is invited to a "monster club" by a mysterious old gentleman ironically performed by Vincent Price . Amicus last portmanteau movie that simply slaps down its thrilling and terrifying tales , butressing with dreary slabs of plot and chatter, concluding into eerie results . Formed by three segments , all of them are filled with mystery , suspense , terror , grisly killings , twisted events and horrible happenings . The British star-studded results to be pretty good with a plethora of notorious actors such as : Barbara Kellerman , Simon Ward , Geoffrey Bayldon, Donald Pleasence , Britt Ekland , Anthony Valentine , Neil McCarthy , Stuart Whitman , Lesley Dunlop , Patrick Magee , among others . There , at a discoteque in which music bands are performing songs take place the meeting between Vincent Price and John Carradine , subsequently three gruesome stories are told ; between each story some musicians play their songs . Featuring songs by Night B.A. Robertson , The Pretty Things and the Viewers . And soundtrack music by John Williams , UB 40 , and The Expressos . Each story harbours an ingeniously creepy and ghoulish conceit and at the end each tale takes place a grand guignol climax.

The motion picture was professionally directed by the British horrormeister Roy Ward Baker, though another terror specialist director, Freddie Francis, was the original choice to shot. However the movie never secured theatrical distribution in the US instead the movie was sold for regional television and in the UK , the picture attained a limited theatrical release . In ¨Monster Club¨ Roy Ward Baker emphasising the frightening , dramatic and suspenseful possibilities . Being final theatrical film of director Roy Ward Baker . Roy directed a great number of films . During World War II, he worked in the Army Kinematograph Unit under Eric Ambler, a writer and film producer, who, after the war, gave Baker his first opportunity to direct a film, The October Man (1947). He then went to Hollywood in 1952 and stayed for seven years, returning to Britain in 1958, when he directed one of his best films, A night to remember (1958) . During the 1960s and 1970s , Baker directed a number of horror films for Hammer and Amicus. He also directed in British television, especially during the latter part of his career . Deemed to be a terror expert, as proved in The monster club , Mask of death , And now the screaming starts, The legend of the 7 gold vampire s, Asylum , Dr Jekill and his sister Hyde , The scars of Dracula , The vampire lovers, The anniversary . Roy Baker also directed some Hollywood fims such as : Inferno, House in the square, A night to remember, Don't bother to knock, and Night with sleep . Rating : acceptable and passable. 6/10. Worthwhile watching.

The Monster Club (1981) is a movie I recently watched off Shudder after seeing it on Into the Darkness (it's also available for free on Tubi). The storyline focuses on a vampire who is a fan of an author's work. He introduces himself to the author, takes him back to a club filled with nothing but monsters and tells him a series of short stories that explains how monsters work. This movie is directed by Roy Ward Baker (Aylumn) and stars Vincent Price (Tingler), John Carradine (Stagecoach), Donald Pleasance (Halloween) and Simon Ward (The Three Musketeers). This movie is definitely a little bit cheesy in the interactions and songs between scenes, but is still fun in a nostalgic way. Vincent Price is awesome as you'd expect and there are some great sequences that will make you chuckle. Loved the end of the first story, Donald Pleasance's vampire story and ultimately how the movie ended and depicts humans. Overall, this is a must see for fans of the classics and I'd score it a 6.5/10.