Tales from the Crypt

Tales from the Crypt

Directed by: Freddie Francis

UK/USA, 1972

Horror Anthology, 92min

I’m still watching a lot of anthology flicks, and before the Crypt Keeper was a rotted corpse puppet on HBO (as played by John Kassir), he was Ralph Richardson. Legendary, majestic Ralph Richardson, or God from Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits if you love that flick as much as I do.

Deep down underneath the gothic atmosphere of the British equivalent of Jean Rollin’s beloved Pere Lachaise, Highgate Cemetery (where amongst others Douglas Adams and Karl Marx rest) the Crypt Keeper hosts a series of gruesome fates told to his blissfully unaware visitors. Five short stories and the interweaving wraparound with Richardson and leading cast are shared with us and I’ll be damned if this isn’t amongst the finest ever of Amicus anthology films. British anthology horror at its finest, and nobody did it better than Amicus.

Just like the successful TV series fifteen years later, this Amicus production takes its inspiration and stories from a bunch of Tales from the Crypt and Vault of Horror short form horror comics.  Five stories kick this racket, five stories right out of the pages of the EC comics Tales from the Crypt and Vault of Horror and it shows. These stories are everything that made those comics so damned controversial and amazing to start with. You know exactly what you are going to get with this fare, short and to the point horror with creepy atmosphere and ironic twists!

After walking astray in the vaults of the cemetery a bunch of people on the guided tour end up in an underground lair where the Crypt Keeper welcomes them. He starts to show them visions; visions that we pretty soon understand are their untimely demises. This is where the chills start to run down your spine.

The first story out sees Joan Collins once again reminding the audience why she was the hotness of the hot at the time this movie was made telling the tale of violent death and the way fate settles the score. And All Through The House starts with a murder and Collins panicking as she tries to rid all the evidence so that her young daughter doesn’t see what has happened… only to hear over the radio that an escaped maniac [Oliver MacGreevy] dressed as Santa Claus has escaped from the mental institute. Moments later she hears her daughter scream and guess who’s rapping at the window! Tense, fast and ferocious, what a splendid opener!

The second story Reflections of Death sees a scenario not to unlike H.P. Lovecraft’s The Outsider when Ian Hendry tries to find his way home after a fiery car crash. Short and to the point this is effective storytelling and it delivers a great climax!

The third story and undoubtedly the finest moment of this collection, is Poetic Justice starring Robin Phillips, David Markham and the majestic Peter Cushing. This tells the tale of predjudice and how two fancypants snobs go to extreme measures to rid themselves of the neighbor they presume is a dirty smelly old man. Cushing is  Arthur  Edward Grimsdyke, who still talks to his passed wife, is friendly to the neighbourhood kids and has a few dogs to many. Hence the neighbors, the Elliots presuming that his house is filthy and stinking of dog shit. Wnating to rid themselves of him as to up the value of their own property they scheme a diabolical plan to push the old man over the edge. A series of nasty valentines day cards are sent and realixing that the messages inside are not ones of love, Grimsdyke takes his own life… But one year later to the day, he arises from his grave to take his revenge. This entry is stunning, Cushing is fantastic and this is the epitome of EC horror. A masterpiece in it’s own right and comes with some fantastic moments of shock and awe.

W.W. Jacobs old classic The Monkeys Paw serves as inspiration and is even referenced in the fourth tale of horror, Wish You Where Here as Ralph Jason [Richard Greene] finds himself with a roublesome economy. Taking something of a last look at their many trophies purchased overseas on their many journeys abroad his wife Enid [Barbara Murray] notices an inscripture on one of their many statues… remember the wise words Carefull what you wish for? Well never did they ring more true than here as the economical problems become the least of their worries and a very shocking climax that for many years was cut from the movie startled the audience, has finally found it’s way back into the film. Blood and guts galore!

The final grim tale is all about the new boss in town. Nigel Patrick is Major William Rogers, a vile bastard with a sadistic streak and a passion for sicking his Alsatian dog on the inhabitants of the all male, blind ward he’s just become head of. Although George Carter [Patrick Magee] won’t have it, and after rallying his fellow inmates, the insane, or rather the blind, take over the asylum and Major Rogers get’s to taste his own medicine. If you have a phobia for razorblades, they you’ll probably faint when you see the razorblade infested walls of the tight corridors the callous Major is forced to walk.

With an all star cast, yes I think we can call it an all star cast as it houses many great British actors and actresses, Tales from the Crypt is something of a who’s who of UK low budget horror fare. Upon it’s release, Tales from the Crypt became one of the most successful films of the year in the US. Hence leading Amicus to continu with the great string of anthology anthology horrors that beaome something of a signature style of Amicus.  Another few years later a remake was planned by George A. Romero and Stephen King. Luckily they decided against it and instead came up with Creepshow another example of anthology movies that pay homage to both Amicus and the EC horror comic universe. 

And Now The Screaming Starts!

And Now The Screaming Starts!
Directed by: Roy Ward Baker
England, 1973
Horror, 91min
Distributed by: Dark Sky Films

There are three reasons that I love this little piece of English Gothic Horror Tackiness:

1. I really enjoy simple little movies made by Hammer and Amicus

2. I’ve interviewed David Case who wrote the book it’s based on.

3. I spent a night at Oakley Court where all exteriors are shot.

I’ve been nursing a profound desire to see this film again since I my mate Steve and I interviewed author David Case at the World Horror Convention 2010 in Brighton, England just a few months back. Case is a fascinating author who has written more than 300 books in just as many genres. Westerns, Porn, Sci-Fi, Horror you name it, Case wrote in it. At a grand age of 73, Case is still very much alive and kicking and a true grand old man of the genre. Not only does he get up at six in the morning and write all day at his typewriter stood on the mantelpiece – just like Hemmingway – he actually still writes some amazing stuff and recently released the splendid Pelican Cay and other Disquieting Tales, an anthology of his later works. Case has been around for so long that he refers to Zombies as Ghouls, not the pop cultural shuffler we know as the Zombie, but Ghouls - the real undead stalker. That’s what you get when you started writing books some four decades ago and can boast authoring more than three hundred stories. And it’s among that massive output that the novel Fengriffen can be found.

The Great and Entertaining David Case!

Roger Marshall, who also wrote Roy Boulting’s Twisted Nerve 1968 with that smashing whistling theme Georgie, composed by Bernard Herrman and used by Tarantino in Kill Bill: Vol.1 2003, based his screenplay on the Case novel, and that’s what then became Roy Ward Baker’s second feature for Amicus Productions; And Now The Screaming Starts!

Set in the 1795 (unlike many other Amicus films, as they where commonly set in modern time) the newlywed couple Catherine [Stephanie Beacham] and Charles Fengriffen [Ian Ogilvy] move into the Fengriffen castle. But happiness is short when Catherine starts to feel a strange presence, stemming from that large painting of Henry Fengriffen [Herbert Lom]. After a series of pretty neat on-set effects and a few eerie moments, including a very suggestive ghost rape sequence, Catherine more or less looses it completely and Charles questionings her sanity. After a dizzy spell climaxing with screams of insanity to many the couple are told by Dr. Whittle [Patrick Magee] that she is with child…

Learning that Catherine is preggers the household staff start acting up, and Catherine pretty soon understands that they are all hiding something form her and Charles, worried sick for his wife whom he thinks is going insane, begs Dr. Whittle for help. Realising that there’s nothing more he can do for Catherine, he suggests asking his friend Dr. Pope [Peter Cushing] to come up from London and see what he can do for the unfortunate woman. Cushing arrives just past midpoint and gives his usual brilliant “all in Cushing” performance. Cushing more or less forces Charles to tell the truth of the Fengriffen background, and he starts telling the story of his decadent grandfather Henry Fengriffen (finally seeing Herbert Lom make an entry into the narrative, this time in the flesh and not just on canvas.)

Henry Fengriffen obviously turns out to be a right bastard and his sardonic acts towards Silas the yardman [Geoffrey Whitehead] in the past still have consequences now. Catherine gives birth to a fine son with the aid of Dr. Pope, but there’s still one sinister shock in waiting as Charles looks upon his newborn son. Thunder and lightning set an brooding atmosphere as Charles rushes into the movies climax, determined to set things straight once and for all, as the Fengriffen curse must be broken.

And Now The Screaming Starts! is one of the better Amicus films – not to say that the others are bad - it’s just that this one stands out from the others. Possibly because it’s one of the few with a full feature narrative and that it’s set in modern time - not to be confused with the sci-fi output they produced, like the Gordon Flemying directed Dr. Who movies [1965-1966] starring Peter Cushing as the Doctor. And Now The Screaming Starts! has got some really impressive on-set effects like hands pushing through paintings only to be whole after the camera returns, neat little effects like the motorized decapitated hand that drags its way back and forth, and great sets. There’s something about getting outside and using those great locations that Oakley Court offers that bring a real value to production.

Amicus Productions where set up by two yanks, Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg in the early sixties. Both of them had pasts as screenwriters and producers; Rosenberg even produced Terrence Fisher's groundbreaking Hammer classic The Curse of Frankenstein in 1952. They started up Amicus as a counterpart to the legendary Hammer Films, but instead of making movies in the same vain as Hammer, they commonly set their movies in modern time, and also frequently had several shorter stories to each film. Classic horror anthologies in other words, just like their “greatest hits” fares, Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors 1962, Tales From the Crypt 1972 and The Vault of Horror 1973. Even though many of them did star Hammer actors like Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee and where directed by people like Roy Ward Baker, Seth Holt and mainly Freddie Francis – all Hammer directors too. Although they never released anything near the amount of films that Hammer did, they did release a bunch of really atmospherically stuff that makes up for great late night entertainment. Just like those great Hammer movies.

Built in 1859 the majestic Oakley Court with its gothic setting saw it’s fair share of glam and celebratory guests during it's first hundred years of existence. During the Second World War it was used as the headquarters for the French Resistance and even Charles De Gaulle supposedly stayed there as the plans for the next moves of the resistance where made. After the war the building was kind of neglected and started deteriorating. During the late sixties, until the end of the seventies, Oakley Court was a gutted mess, an abandoned building with out interior or even a roof any longer, and was therefore a perfect setting for movies shot at the nearby Bray Studios.

Many great Hammer flicks where shot there, Terence Fisher’s Dracula 1958, and The Curse of Frankenstein 1957 and John Gilling’s Plague of the Zombies 1966 to name a few, as well as several other independent films, like And Now The Screaming Starts!, Richard O’Brien/Jim Sharman's cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show 1975, and even José Ramón Larraz Vampyres 1974. So however you look at it, a trip to Oakley Court should be one destination that anyone with a love of horror cinema should take at least once during their lifetime.

Make no mistake about it, And Now The Screaming Starts! is a great little movie, a splendid piece that’s actually quite effective is pretty eerie at moments and holds a great atmosphere. It’s a good old English Gothic horror like the ones they did so well during this time period. There’s a wonderful cast of brilliant actors, Ogilvy, Magee and Beacham who’s bosoms in no way could have been pushed up and out any more than here, not forgetting Lom and Cushing who bring their thing to the ballpark. Lom is wonderfully sleazy and Cushing is painstakingly Cushing, but you wouldn’t want it in any other way now would you.

Image:
Widescreen 1.85:1

Audio:
Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono. English Dialogue, English subtitles are optional

Extras:
Theatrical trailers for And Now The Screaming Starts, The Beast Must Die and Asylum. A photo gallery, cast and director biographies, and there’s also two separate commentary tracks. One featuring lead actress Stephanie Beacham and director Roy Ward Baker and one with leading man Ian Ogilvy.