Amicus Collection Boxed Set
(Dr. Terror's House of Horror/The House that Dripped
Blood/...And Now the Screaming Starts/Asylum/The
Beast Must Die)
(Anchor Bay U.K. Region 2 PAL DVD)
review by Billion$Baby

This announcement may shock some folks around these
parts but I usually prefer Amicus over Hammer. Why? Well, I have never been especially fond of period set horror films (especially those made on shoe string budgets). I enjoyed British horrors which were set in the contemporary day a heck of a lot more, which is something that Amicus did rather well whereas Hammer either seemed not to bother or to badly struggle when they did attempt it. Of course, that rule appears to work the other way around too - the worst film in this boxset is clearly And Now The Screaming Starts, a period set horror.

Amicus was a rival to Hammer. This British company was actually formed by two Americans - Milton Subotsky and Max J.Rosenberg. Whilst Rosenberg would remain stateside to raise the necessary financing, Subotsky was based in England overseeing the productions. This boxset's commentaries feature the directors remarking that whilst Subotsky would never interfere or impose himself on the sets, he would quite often re-arrange the films in the editing process. Amicus would make particular use of the compendium story format, something which I've always enjoyed. The advantage of that format was that Amicus could then hire great ensemble casts (they'd be working for less time so it would be cheaper), along with their regular choice of leading man, Peter Cushing.

This coffin shaped box-set is limited to 5000 copies only. The packaging looks excellent (that's the good news). Sadly the bad news is that the effectiveness of the packaging is another matter entirely!! Having bought this boxset from a high street outlet and
then stopped off at the pub for a drink and a curious look-see, I was annoyed to discover that three of the set's five discs were loose inside. The plastic teeth that should hold the discs securely in place are hopeless and the dvds easily work loose.

Luckily for me, the discs were only slightly tarnished and do play fine. However it's been a very different story for all mail order customers who have recieved discs which are so badly scratched that quite often, they won't even play properly. Oops. The rubbish packaging of the year award goes to AB UK - congratulations. Anchor Bay UK have released a contact email and postal address for customers to replace suchdiscs (the details of this are in the Euro Shock section of this site's forum) so fair play...but dang,
what a bloody hassle.

As if that wasn't bizarre enough, the 8 page booklet contained within suffers from stupid printing errors. The text on the centre pages should actually be at the start of the booklet, and a couple of sentances are immediately repeated, one after the other. Note to AB UK - find new printing and packaging company- quickly. A proof reader might also be useful. This silly business is a shame since AB UK have clearly put some real effort into providing some great extras for this limited edition set and the *SHIT* packaging and silliness of the booklet lets it down badly.

Anyway, now that's been mentioned, I'll briefly run through each of the five films before going into a bit of detail on the extras.

Dr Terror's House Of Horror ('64):

Here's a useful tip for ya, if you meet an odd looking man called Shreck, never let him read your fortunes via tarot cards. Unless you're in a film.

This is the first Amicus compendium story and they liked the idea so much, they used it a lot! We have a werewolf tale, an intelligent killer plant (hugely silly but entertaining!), the consequences of stealing voodoo music for entertainment purposes, a "beast with five fingers" killer hand segment, and a comedy vampire sequence all looped together by the central concept of train passengers having their fortunes told via tarot deck.

The wonderful Peter Cushing plays the sinister Shreck, and he's joined by an ensemble cast of Neil McCallum, Alan "Fluff" Freeman (yes, the disc jockey!), Bernard Lee, the likeable Roy Castle, Christopher Lee (in one of his better than normal performances of the era) and Donald Sutherland. All actors perform very well...er, apart from Alan Freeman but I like seeing him anyway! This film is a great deal of fun and there's certainly never a dull moment.

The disc carries a 2,35:1 anamorphic print together with a choice of 2.0, 5.1 or DTS sound. Being honest, the DTS here (and on the other discs) isn't quite DTS as we would know it but it sure sounds a damn sight better than a standard 5.1 track and is certainly appreciated by me. The print does suffer from a few short scenes which are VERY grainy indeed but it's mostly just slightly grainy throughout with rich colours to be seen.

This is the best that the film has ever looked away from the cinemas, that's for sure. Great to finally see it in it's far superior full widescreen ration too. Bit of contraversy here I'm afraid as the final 15+ seconds of the film is missing! Presumably the print used just didn't contain it. The film's twist ending or final development is still revealed so weren't not talking "who tore the last page out?" territory but the film's last shot would usually go on for significantly longer.

Dr Terror comes complete with a commentary track by the director Freddie Francis and Jonathon Sothcott (who is an excellent interviewer!), and a further commentary from Allan Bryce. Together with an animated menu, film notes, a photo gallery and biographies.

The House That Dripped Blood ('70):

That's one ironic title considering that the film doesn't actually contain any blood in it. Still, I bet it sure helped Rosenberg sell the film. The looping story here is of a dangerous house where unpleasant things happen to it's leasing occupants.

Scripted by Robert Bloch of Psycho fame, there's four stories on offer here starring Denholm Elliot, Peter Cushing, Joss Ackland, Christopher Lee, Ingrid Pitt, Jon Pertwee and others. We have a horror author being haunted by his own lunatic strangler creation, two friends becoming obsessed with the waxwork image of a woman they once loved and lost, an extremely stern father (surprise, surprise, it's Christopher Lee!) being punished by his witch-like daughter, and a hilarious vampire and horror film spoof in which Pertwee's comedy talents come to the forefront with his performance as an established horror actor.

Surprisingly the Cushing and Ackland segment is probably the weakest despite impressive performances from both fine actors. The other three tales are excellent but Jon Pertwee and his dialogue steals the film for sure!!

The film is presented in anamorphic 1,85:1 which does suffer from some minor damage (small white speckles are seen throughout) and is once again available in 2.0, 5.1 or DTS. We have a commentary track with the director Peter Duffell and interviewer Jonathon Rigby, an excellent 17 min making of featurette, filmnotes, quotes from reviews, a photo gallery and biographies.

Asylum ('72):

Asylum and Tales From The Crypt are probably my favourite Amicus films!

Asylum is once more scripted by Robert Bloch and it features Robert Powell, Patrick Magee, Peter Cushing, Charlotte Rampling, Britt Ekland, Herbert Lom and more impressive acting contributions. It has an excellent score as well. The connecting premise of this omnibus is that Robert Powell has to listen to the first hand stories of the inmates of...an asylum (natch) in order to try to deduce which one of them was originally a doctor in charge of the facility. It's a test to see if he's suitable for the current job vacancy.

What happens when you chop up your witchcraft following wife? Why does Peter Cushing want a tailor to manufacture a specially designed suit for his son but only between the hours of midnight and five in the morning? Is Barbara mad or was it really her friend Lucy who committed murder? And can Herbert Lom's "Dr" Byron character really force his personality and will-power into those strange little dolls he's been building in his cell?

As you might have guessed from those descriptions, the Herbert Lom episode is the most comedic entry in this horror omnibus. Although it has to be said thatthis film does keep a very healthy dark sense of humour throughout. The Barbara/Lucy story is easily the most serious and darkest of them all though. This is a brilliant Amicus production where the Bloch script and Baker direction stand well above par. In fact, it's easily good enough to be released and bought on it's own merits outside of a boxset.

Pleasingly the 1,85:1 anamorphic picture quality (still just a little bit grainy) for this film is the best in the entire set and it also boasts the usual 2.0, 5.1 or DTS options. I don't know if AB realised that Asylum was the best film in this package but they've certainly put their most impressive featurette on here. This 21 min documentary discusses Amicus with Freddie Francis and Roy Ward Baker and it also talks to Rosenberg himself. Along with animated menus, a photo gallery, film notes and biographies, we get a very appreciated (by me!) commentary with director Roy Ward Baker, a moderator and the film's camera operator.

And Now The Screaming Starts ('73):

Boy, they sure got that title spot on - except you'll be screaming in frustration only. This film had "20 or 25 min segment only" written all over it and it's hardly a fitting inclusion to this boxset. It seems a bit rich for the cast and director to complain about the crass title, I pity the original cinema audience that wasted both their time and money.

Let's try asking the former Amicus partner Max J. Rosenberg what he thought of this film - "'Fengriffen, which was the name of the novel, was a dull, tedious novel, it had one good idea and we made a dull, tedious movie." Well said Sir, I tip my hat off to you because I can honestly state that this is by far, the most uninteresting and dull Amicus movie that I have ever seen! If it was an animal, it would be a limping tortoise.

This features Cushing, Patrick Magee, Herbert Lom, Ian Ogilvy and Stephanie Beachham. And the same fake hand that we previously saw in Dr Terror's House Of Horrors. There's one good scare with a hand (I stress ONE good scare!) seen in the first 4 minutes only
and not even a brilliant last third Sherlock Holmesian psychiatrist appearance from Cushing can save this painfully drawn out snoozefest of a film. Horrible, I wouldn't expect this sort of thing from either Amicus or Hammer. Not a classic.

BTW Nice wig Peter.

The anamorphic 1.85:1 print is depressingly good - bar minor graininess and print damage. And lucky ol' us, we finally get to hear Beachham scream in DTS sound. Great, thanx. There's two commentary tracks (er...why?); one from director Roy Ward Baker and Stephanie "Screamer" Beachham, and another from Ian Ogilvy and Darren Gross. Also, there's trailers, film notes, a photo gallery and biographies.

*eject*

The Beast Must Die ('74):

A very guilty pleasure for sure. Shaft In Lycanthrope Land and one of only two non-vignette features in this boxset. Not sure why I love it (I really shouldn't) but I do. I think that this film must have become something of a British institution by now considering the amount of times that it's been shown on late Friday or Saturday night UK television sets!

Calvin Lockheart plays a rich self-made multi-millionaire that was born and raised in the ghetto. He's hunted and killed every dangerous animal there is - except one, a werewolf! Calvin invites a list of several suspects to his Scottish retreat - Charles Gray, Peter Cushing and Sir Michael Gambon being the instantly recognisable folks. This film is an unusual mix of the blaxploitation genre, Agatha Christie and werewolves. Kind of an odd mix don'tcha think? I think it's safe to say that we'll never see a film like this again. The score is pure funky stuff as are Lockheart's cool wardrobe outfits.

Subotsky's editing upset the director when he inserted a William Castle style "werewolf break" where the action cuts to a ticking clock performing a 30 second countdown and the screen shows us a recap of the characters. Can you guess who the werewolf is? asks
a narrator. lol I actually love the werewolf break (even if the director hates it) and I know that I'm not alone. This is one of the most bizarre (yet enjoyable) werewolf films ever made and very different to
what we had previously come to expect from Amicus. Apparently Subotsky disliked this film as much as Paul Annett hated the werewolf break. But I always liked this odd curiousity.

This is surprisingly presented in the full-screen ratio that the film was originally shot in (as it was matted later, I'm not too bothered by that). Of course if you really feel that strongly about it, pretend it's a non-anamorphic 1,85:1 dvd and increase the picture size on your widescreen tv! Not spot on but pretty close (I know, I'm a barbarian). The picture quality is poorer than the other discs in this set and there is some annoying print damage that crops up from time to time - but hey, that won't stop my enjoyment of this madness.

The usual 2.0, 5.1 or DTS options are here together with a 13 min featurette, film notes, a photo gallery, biographies and an enjoyable commentary with the director Paul Annett and the excellent Jonathon Sothcott interviewer. I couldn't help but notice that Annett does get a bit pissed off with Sothcott towards the end but I really loved the guy's attitude myself. Nice one Sothcott.

I must confess that I was surprised that Tales From The Crypt wasn't included in this set (a film rights issue perhaps?). A DVD release soon please AB UK. If I'd had my way, And Now The Screaming Starts would definetly have been omitted to make way for that or many other possibilties. Still, it could have been worse - AB might have replaced it with that Amicus f ilm about the killer bees. I do think that this limited edition set is a great release at a very generous retail price - bar the terrible packaging gaff of course.

I think it's great to hear commentaries or see interviews with the likes of Freddie Francis, Roy Ward Baker and Max J.Rosenberg whilst they're still around to share their thoughts on these movies so definite kudos to AB. It's a real shame that such packaging silliness should so badly let down a boxset that's clearly a certain buy for many fans of British horror and certainly one of AB UK's very best efforts to date.

If I was AB UK, I'd sue somebody!