jamesraeburn2003 Review of The Vault of Horror

The Vault of Horror (1973)

"An underrated horror omnibus from Amicus!"

[18 September 2003]

An underrated horror omnibus from Amicus, makers of such hits as Dr Terror's House Of Horrors (1965) and Tales From The Crypt (1972). All the stories (taken from the EC comics by William Gaines and Al Feldstein) are great fun. These feature Daniel Massey who murders real-life sister Anna Massey for her inheritance, only to walk into a restaraunt frequented by vampires-including his sister! Glynis Johns is driven over the edge by her nagging husband Terry Thomas, whom she kills and dismembers his body neatly putting the body parts into correctly labelled jars. Michael Craig and Edward Judd are fun as two unloyal friends who plan to fake the death of one of them, claim the insurance money and kill the other. However, the most accomplished story is left until last. It's a superb tale about the consequences of Voodoo featuring Tom Baker as an artist who is cheated into believing his work is worthless by three men. While working in Haiti he visits a witchdoctor who gives him power in that whatever he paints will come true. He uses this power to get back at the people who have been profiteering behind his back, but this ultimately results in horrifying circumstances! Often criticised for being a pedestrian production, director Roy Ward Baker's approach to the film is simple but very effective. The tales are played for laughs but at the same time they all have something to say underneath. The professional cast does it's stuff and the whole film is well staged.