The Vault of Horror (1973) User Reviews

A collection of 5 horrifying tales based on the original stories from E. C. Comic books of the fifties

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 2 December 2018]

Another melange based on William H Gaines tales fron E. C.. comic books , produced by Amicus: Max Rosenberg, Milton Subotsky. A classic terror movie formed by five segments well realized and magnificently played . Vintage horror film financed by Amicus with a Great British Cast and formed by several episodes full of creepy events , chills, thrills , gore and guts. It stars with five strangers at an eerie and sisister room .Later on , there they tell how each of the strangers will die . As they explain fantastic visions about their nightmares . It deals with 5 segments with five protagonists : Real-life brother and sister, Daniel Massey-Anne Massey, Curd Jurgens, Michael Craig, Terry Thomas, Tom Baker get in a lift that transports them to a non exit lounge in the basement of a skyscraper. There they confide their recurring nightmares. Each segment has at least 1 killing. It is formed by 5 stories :Midnight mess with Daniel Massey, Anne Massey. The neat job with Terry Thomas, Glynis Johns. Bargain in death with Michael Craig, Edward Judd. This trick will kill you, with Curd Jurgens, Dawn Addams, Jasmine Hilton . And Drawn and quartered with Tom Baker, Demholm Elliott .The rest of the cast is no less impressive, though delivering brief but enjoyable interpretations. And now ...who is next....

Amicus sixth portmanteau movie that simply slaps down its thrilling and terrifying tales, butressing with dreary slabs of plot and chatter, concluding into eerie results. As at a rare room join five strange people who star 5 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 . Well made terror antology film, and in some places was released as Tales of Crypt II, being compellingly filmed by the gore-minded lad Roy Ward Baker. The better episodes involve the suburban wife Glynis Johns driven to killing and her house-proud husband Terry Thomas constantly nagging about the housekeeping, resulting in an impeccably tidy disposal of a corpse. As well as the surprising story of a rope with a mind of its own starred by Curd Jurgens, Dawn Addams, including nice special effects. . Each story harbours an ingeniously creepy and ghoulish conceit and at the end each tale takes place a grand guignol climax. The great cast is pretty good, giving nice performances , though Edward Judd, Demholm Elliott, Anna Massey have a few lines.. Most stories previously appeared in American comic books as Tales of Crypt from EC comics as well as in The haunt of fear. Colorful , adequate cinematograhy , shot at Shepperton studios . It was compellingly accompanied by a thrilling and suspenseful musical score .

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. Here Baker emphasising the frightening, dramatic and suspenseful possibilities. Roy directed a great number of films. 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 vampires, 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.

Another worthy and entertaining horror anthology outing from those fine folks at Amicus

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 29 January 2008]

A quintet of men find themselves trapped in a deep, mysterious high-rise building basement where they relate their recurring nightmares to each other. 1st and most eerie tale, "Midnight Mess" - Ruthless criminal Rogers (a solid Daniel Massey) tracks down his sister Donna (a marvelously sinister Anna Massey) to a remote small town which turns out to be populated by vampires. 2nd and most darkly amusing story, "The Neat Job" - Overbearingly neat and tidy nit-picker Critchit (a perfectly irritating Terry-Thomas) drives his sweet, long-suffering wife Eleanor (the delightful Glynis Johns) murderously around the bend with his annoying fussiness. The sick punchline to this one is simply great. 3rd and most nifty yarn, "This Trick'll Kill You" - Arrogant magician Sebastian (well played to the cocky hilt by Curt Jurgens) and his wife Inez (lovely Dawn Addams) seal their gloomy fates when they steal an Indian rope trick. 4th and most ironic segment, "Bargain in Death" - Shrewd con artist Maitland (the excellent Michael Craig) concocts a seemingly foolproof insurance scam by faking his own death, but his plan goes horribly awry. Arthur Mullard contributes a winningly droll turn in this one as a clumsy oaf gravedigger. 5th and most nasty vignette, "Drawn and Quartered" - Struggling, destitute, bitterly vindictive painter Moore (a splendidly performance by Tom Baker, who's barely recognizable beneath a big, bushy beard) uses voodoo to get revenge on three greedy fellows who exploited him. Capably directed by Roy Ward Baker, with a tight script by Milton Subotsky, sharp cinematography by Denys N. Coop, a supremely spooky'n'shivery score by Douglas Gamley, a morbidly funny line in wickedly witty gallows humor, and tip-top acting from a bang-up all-star British cast, this film makes for a good'n'gruesome omnibus outing.

A Nice Sequel to the Original

[ClassixFan · 8/10 · 23 April 2004]

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.

"An underrated horror omnibus from Amicus!"

[jamesraeburn2003 · 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.

THE VAULT OF HORROR (Roy Ward Baker, 1973) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 20 October 2007]

Fairly good entry in the Amicus anthology cycle, even if none of the stories are particularly remarkable (or original). The premise is also quite simple: five men meet inside an elevator which takes them, irrespective of the floor to which they were destined, to the basement of the building where a table has been set up for them; they gather around and, to while away the time until they're rescued, each recounts a recurring dream.

The cast is fine, as usual: Daniel Massey goes in search of his missing sister (real-life sibling Anna), eventually locating her at a remote village – where, as it turns out, all the locals (including the woman) are vampires!; this may be the most popular episode but also, perhaps, the most disposable (despite the amusingly outrageous fate awaiting Massey at the end) – considering that Amicus had already dealt with the subject of vampires in at least two previous horror compendiums, DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS (1965) and THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD (1971). Terry-Thomas is an ageing wealthy man who decides it's high time for him to marry, but ends up literally driving commoner wife Glynis Johns crazy with his obsessive fastidiousness! Curt Jurgens is a magician on holiday in India with wife Dawn Addams: to show off, he exposes a local exponent plying his trade at the market square; humiliated, the latter plots an elaborate and terrible revenge – with the aid of his young daughter – by intriguing Jurgens with a new trick involving a magic rope.

In the fourth episode, Michael Craig plans to collect his own life insurance (with the help of pal Edward Judd) by faking his own death – the latter, however, has no intention of sticking to his part of the bargain (though he's ultimately not allowed to reap the rewards of his fraud and betrayal). Craig eventually wakes up from a deep sleep in his coffin – terrorizing a couple of intended body-snatchers into the bargain, but himself runs into the wrong end of the graveyard custodian's shovel! This is the shortest episode and, frankly, I was expecting its ironic punchline to be more grisly and drastic! The last segment is the longest and best, if still offering nothing we haven't seen before: a painter (Tom Baker) living a bohemian existence on a tropical island discovers that promoters of the business (including Denholm Elliott as an influential art dealer) had downplayed his talent in order to acquire his stuff cheaply, and then made a pot for themselves by selling it again at the proper value. He turns to a voodoo priest for revenge, who gives him the power to destroy the subject of his paintings – naturally, he draws portraits (from memory and apparently in no time at all!) of his three enemies and has his way with them; what he doesn't know is that, while he's away from the studio, something is about to happen to his self-portrait...

The final revelation is typical of Amicus; while the handling is somewhat pedestrian yet reasonably efficient and the general tone unassuming, this kind of fare has endured by always putting the accent on fun (with the added bonus of star gazing). Incidentally, like its predecessor TALES FROM THE CRYPT (1972), this drew inspiration from the popular EC Comics; as a matter of fact, the film itself was known in some quarters as TALES FROM THE CRYPT, PART II. Having mentioned the latter film, both of these have just been released as a 2-Disc Set DVD by Fox; unfortunately, the print used for THE VAULT OF HORROR (while presented in its OAR, unlike the DivX copy I watched) is reportedly the milder PG-rated edit. There are only a few shots missing but, apart from being awkwardly replaced by still-frames, they actually constitute a couple of delightful reveals and one instance of hardly-shocking gore! Considering the fact that I also own TALES FROM THE CRYPT on DivX and that the DVDs contain no significant extras, I'm content with these versions.

"How Would You Like Your Roast Clots?"

[ferbs54 · 7/10 · 1 December 2010]

"Vault of Horror" (1973) is one of seven horror anthology pictures released by Hammer rival Amicus over an eight-year period. It had been preceded by "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors," "Torture Garden," "The House That Dripped Blood," "Asylum" and "Tales From the Crypt," and would soon be followed by "From Beyond the Grave." As in its immediate predecessor, the vignettes here were all inspired by tales that had appeared in the fondly remembered EC Comics of the 1950s. "Vault" wastes little time with its obligatory framing story, as five men, strangers to one another, are shanghaied via elevator to a luxuriously appointed subbasement chamber and, over drinks, discourse on their respective nightmares. In "Midnight Mess," a brother (Daniel Massey) kills his sister (real-life sister Anna Massey) over an inheritance but must later face the neighborhood's very unusual nighttime denizens. In "The Neat Job," a compulsive neatnik (Terry-Thomas) subjects his new wife (Glynis Johns, 50 here and still adorable in this, one of her last theatrical films) to more aggravation than Felix Unger ever dished out to Oscar...until poor Glynis can't take it anymore, that is. In "This Trick'll Kill You," a husband-and-wife team of magicians (Curt Jurgens and Dawn Addams) steals a magic rope in India, only to have things go terribly wrong afterwards. In "Bargain In Death," two men (Michael Craig and Edward Judd) attempt an insurance scam involving a faked death and premature burial, leading to quite a messy situation indeed. And in "Drawn and Quartered" (great title, that!), future Dr. Who portrayer Tom Baker plays an artist living in Haiti who uses voodoo to take vengeance on his enemies. All five of these stories are compact, occasionally humorous but nonetheless quite grisly affairs, more than competently directed by Amicus veteran Roy Ward Baker. The film's conclusion will surprise only the most naive viewers, but remains wholly satisfying. In all, a pleasing quintet of shudders. Oh...this is the only film of the seven mentioned above that does NOT feature the talents of the great Peter Cushing. But since he did appear in "The Creeping Flesh," "The Satanic Rites of Dracula," "And Now the Screaming Starts" AND "From Beyond the Grave" that same year, I suppose all can be forgiven! "All the things that make life worth leaving," the trailer for "Vault" proclaimed in '73. Indeed, indeed....

A great five story horror anthology from Amicus.

[poolandrews · 7/10 · 31 October 2004]

Another horror anthology from Amicus who were well known for films of this type, Dr terrors house of horrors, from beyond the grave, asylum, torture garden, the house that dripped blood and tales from the crypt being the others. The film starts with the camera gliding across the London skyline, including a long shot of the houses of parliament just so you know we're in London, finally resting on a large office building. In the building a man enters a lift, as the lift descends to the lower floors it stops a further four times, each time another man entering. However, the lift fails to stop at the lobby and carries on down to small room with a table in the middle surrounded by five chairs, one for each man. They decide to wait, as they do so they tell each other stories of their recurring nightmares.

First up its 'midnight mess' with Daniel Massey. He plays a man who hires someone to track his sister down, played by Anna Massey. She is found in a small town, he visits her so he can claim an inheritance all for himself. The residents of the town and his sister aren't quite what they first seem, however. A good segment, very enjoyable.

Then it's Terry Thomas and Glynis Johns in 'A neat job'. Thomas recounts the story of how he drives his newly wed wife to take out a gruesome revenge on him. Another good story, it build up very well, and I liked the very appropriate twist ending.

The third story, 'This trick'll kill you', sees Curt Jurgens and Dawn Adams as a magician and his wife who, while visiting India, try to steal a magic trick for their act. But things don't quite go as they had planned. In my opinion this is the weakest story, a bit dull and predictable and there's no real twist involved. Poor.

The fourth story entitled 'Bargain in death', has Micheal Craig as a broke writer, in a nice touch by the filmmakers at one point he says "there's no money in horror". Maybe the filmmakers are trying to tell us something! And in another nice touch in this segment, he settles down to read a book, as the camera zooms in the book happens to be the novelization of a previous Amicus horror anthology tales from the crypt! A great moment for fans. He sets his own death up to try and collect the insurance money, with the help of a friend, Edward Judd. Once again things end up far from what he had planned. This story relies on a lot of silly co-incidences and for you to forget about any sort of logic. It also lacks any real horror elements, being nothing more than a short tale of crime, mystery and double cross. Average.

The fifth and final story stars Tom Baker, Denholm Elliott, and Terence Alexander. Baker plays an artist who is lied to by art critics, and gallery owners about his paintings, and make huge profits by selling them. He uses voodoo to take a horrible revenge. Another great story, maybe the best. Good fun.

Directed by Roy Ward Baker this is a great little anthology film. A fine score by Douglas Gamley and pretty good performances by the all star cast help. There's not much violence in it, but whats there adds to the film and isn't just there to be gratuitous. Try and get hold of the uncut version, as the cuts listed in the 'alternate versions' section on the IMDb would really hurt the final twists of one or two of the segments. An enjoyable horror film, well worth a watch.

An Old Film With a Fun Streak

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 1 November 2006]

Five men are trapped in a basement, so to pass the time they each tell stories about visions they had of their own death. Directed by Roy Ward Baker for Amicus.

The first man (Daniel Massey) tells a story about a town of vampires, which was mildly entertaining and there was a good special effect with the mirrors. The vampires had some really goofy looking teeth, but this story was okay to start the film off.

The second tale was the best in my opinion, about an anal retentive guy (Terry-Thomas) who must have everything a certain way -- he even labels and counts his groceries and where they should be placed.

Next we have a magician (Curd Jürgens) in India, looking to buy some Indian magic. He finds a girl with a rope trick and tries to get it from her, but she will not sell.

The strangest story is the fourth, with a man (Michael Craig) buried alive... in one of the most unbelievable insurance scam attempts ever. I really enjoyed the fact the characters worked as comic book writers for "Vault of Horror", and this tale is probably the funniest.

Last, an artist (Tom Baker) who learns voodoo in Haiti and can command things to happen by painting them. The longest of the five and fairly decent, with some parallels that can be drawn to Dorian Grey.

I liked this film. It was not outstanding, but it was fun and original. The format is much the same as "Tales From the Crypt" or "Creepshow", only this is 1973! If you are a fan of those horror staples, you will like this one, too.

Great 'little' movie

[dubnut · 10/10 · 30 June 2000]

What more could you ask for? This movie shines with a brilliant line-up of actors playing up the script for all it's worth. Directed by Roy Ward Baker, VoH oozes with direction and style (see his filmography). Fans of classic not-too-low-budget horror will appreciate this film, as will anyone with a lust for british films. And Hammer films.

To date, this is the ONLY multiple-story film I can watch more than once. Maybe it's the era bleeding through the screen into my brain, bringing me back to a time when cgi didn't exist and movies held their own magic without having super budgets spewed into them. Maybe it's because Tom Baker, my all-time favourite Doctor, plays a rather scruffy-looking artist with a serious dark side. Maybe it's the memorable soundtrack, oddly orchestral amid the tumult of intrusive moog soundtracks of the period.

As mentioned in another review, get the UNCUT version if you can. If there are kiddies about and you want to frighten them without the (very mild) gore found in most films of today, the edited version will do. It is near-impossible to find a commercial copy of this film in the states, but maybe Cinemax will run it again late at night? Please?

If you see it on a shelf, get it.

How do you like your clots, Sir?

[Prichards12345 · 7/10 · 13 October 2008]

Vault of Horror is a pleasing (though not on the eye!) low budget anthology from Amicus. Which is somewhat strange, as like its forebear Tales From The Crypt it is based on the American E.C. comic and is set squarely in British culture - It even has Terry-Thomas playing a pompous Englishman! There are five short horror stories here, and it's the whole rather than the sum of the parts that is so likable. The film is meant to entertain and provide a shudder and a giggle or two, and this it certainly does. There's also a nice bunch of character actors, Daniel and Anna Massey, The Gap-Toothed One, Kurt Jurgens a future 007 nemesis, Denholm Elliot, Tom Baker, that bloke from Randall and Hopkirk Deceased (the live one - Mike Pratt) and Arthur Mullard to name but a few! Oh, yeah, and those two dorks from Doctor At Large...

Of the five tales only 3 work well - Baker's story, Drawn And Quartered, is by far the best, and he brings a powerful intensity to the role of a wronged artist seeking revenge through voodoo. Of the others Midnight Mess is quirky fun, about a restaurant full of vampires, The Neat Job is an agreeable vignette and This Trick Will Kill You and Bargin In Death hardly worth the time. Still, the whole thing is never less than watchable.

The central revelation that the characters are all dead and are reliving their sins will hardly come as a surprise to those familiar with other Amicus compendiums (they all end the same!), although all Terry-Thomas does is complain about his new wife's bad housekeeping, which makes his fate seem a little harsh! Good fun, and lovers of interior design can well enjoy the truly terrible wall-paper and fashion sense on display here. Poor Glynnis Johns - where did she get that outfit???

Bless those Amicus guys.

[hitchcockthelegend · 5/10 · 29 October 2008]

I think the first thing one has to ask is if these type of compendiums actually set out to scare people? It's always been a moot point with me as to if we the viewers should also have our tongues firmly in our cheek as well! Here we get five stories with varying degrees of entertainment value, Midnight Mess, The Neat Job, The Trick'll Kill You, Bargain In Death and Drawn & Quartered. Five men meet in a lift and are taken down to a basement room where all the comforts of home are evident, here they tell their reoccurring nightmares, which in turn leads us to the final shocking denouement.

Very much dated and looking seriously of its time, there is still much to enjoy here, from Terry-Thomas's neat obsessive segment to Tom Baker's crowning last feature, it's wickedly sick without overtly trying to sicken you. Which brings me back to my opening question, are they meant to scare you are are we merely privy to comedy with a cheeky horror theme? You decide 5/10.

From The Crypt To The Vault

[ShadeGrenade · 9/10 · 13 September 2008]

Five men enter an elevator in a London building. Instead of taking them to the ground floor, it whisks them to a basement, where they become hopelessly trapped. While they wait to be rescued, they pass the time by telling each other their most recent ( and strange ) dreams.

Rogers ( Daniel Massey ) tracks down his missing sister to a strange town and kills her. She had recently inherited the family fortune, which he wants for himself. But he did not know that she had become a vampire...

Critchit ( Terry-Thomas ), a man of fastidious habits and with an obsession for neatness, marries the lovely Eleanor ( Glynis Johns ). His constant complaining about her untidiness drives her mad, and he winds up inside his collection of storage jars...

Sebastian ( Curt Jurgens ) is a professional stage magician. After seeing the Indian Rope Trick for himself, he is impressed sufficiently to want it for his own act and resorts to murder. He now has enough rope to hang himself...

Maitland ( Michael Craig ) comes up with the perfect insurance scam. He takes a drug designed to simulate a heart attack, and then arranges for a friend ( Edward Judd ) to collect the money, then go the cemetery where he is buried and dig him up. But the unexpected intervention of a pair of medical students causes him to lose his head...

Moore ( Tom Baker ) is an artist who acquires voodoo powers in Haiti. From now on, anything he paints comes magically to life. Returning to London, he uses this ability to avenge himself on the three art dealers/critics who swindled him out of a fortune...

One year after the financially successful 'Tales From The Crypt', Amicus were back with more weird tales from the E.C. Comics' back catalogue, all vividly brought to life by a fine British ( apart from Curt Jurgens ) cast. With the likes of Arthur Mullard ( as a gravedigger ), Tommy Godfrey, Robin Nedwell, Geoffrey Davies, and Terry-Thomas around, it is fair to say that this is hardly 'The Exorcist' ( which also opened that year ) though.

What it is is an entertaining horror picture boasting good stories and nice black comedy touches. The casting of Nedwell and Davies as medical students was in itself a joke, as they were known for their roles as 'Dr.Duncan Waring' and 'Dr.Dick Stuart-Clark' in I.T.V.'s 'Doctor' series. For copyright reasons, they had to be renamed 'Tom' and 'Jerry'! ( why didn't Hanna Barbera kick up a stink about that? ). When Steve Coogan did a spoof of this movie for his 'Dr.Terrible's House Of Horrible' show a few years back, it fell flat because the original was funny to start with.

Logic occasionally goes out of the window. Why does Maitland so implicitly trust his friend to dig him up out of the grave? Why does Rogers have a meal in a restaurant only a few yards from the spot where he just killed his sister? Why does the air in Moore's safe take so long to run out? Answers on a headstone please.

The cast are, as one would expect, marvellous. Tom Baker is suitably menacing in one of his last roles before putting on his scarf and hat to become the fourth 'Dr.Who'. Terry-Thomas is hilarious as the ever-so neat and tidy Critchit, a sort of English 'Felix Ungar' from 'The Odd Couple'. Distinguished thesps Denholm Elliott and Terence Alexander are also around. The late Daniel Massey appears opposite his real-life sister Anna, a neat bit of novelty casting Amicus pulled off again in 1975 when 'From Beyond The Grave' teamed Donald Pleasence with daughter Angela. Getting top-draw actors to commit themselves to a few days' filming worked a treat and was preferable ( in my eyes, at least ) to watching talentless teenagers pretending to be scared by a loony in a fright mask.

'Vault' has for a long time played on television in a cut version, without the scene where Rogers is hung upside down by vampires who then drink his blood through a tap they installed in his neck. That was in the most recent version I saw ( on Film 4 ), although the climax where the trapped men turn into walking corpses still is missing. The ending is never in any real doubt of course. Anyone who saw even one of Amicus' earlier multi-storey horror pictures will be able to predict it well in advance. But if you like your horror slightly refined, and not just consisting of non-stop blood and gore, you should seriously consider opening this particular vault.

A fine effort from the golden age of anthology horror films.

[Wilbur-10 · 7/10 · 29 November 2001]

Yet another good Amicus horror anthology - this one follows the format seen in 'Dr Terrors House of Horrors' and 'Tales from the Crypt', with five strangers telling (or being told) their stories.

'Vault of Horror' starts with a panoramic view of London, which moves round to a modern tower block. Five men enter the building's lift at various levels going down to the ground floor. The lift carries on to the sub-basement where the men find themselves trapped. To kill the time they recount their recurring nightmares to each other.

Whilst much about these anthology films is sub-standard, the short story format doesn't allow boredom to set in and as a viewer I find them enjoyable to watch. They know their limitations and concentrate on giving the horror fan numerous quick-fixes to keep him more than happy.

'Vault of Horror' isn't quite up to the standard of the two genre classics mentioned earlier, but its certainly up with the likes of 'Asylum' and 'From Beyond the Grave' (the latter being slightly over-rated in my opinion).

As is usual the five stories range in quality - the 1st and 3rd segments (Midnight Mess & This Trick'll Kill You) are the above-average standard fare; the 2nd segment (The Neat Job) looks like it is the comic relief story. This impression is mainly due to Terry-Thomas in the main role and on closer inspection the segment is more of a psychological horror/thriller entry - not as fun to watch but still average. The 4th story (Bargain in Death) is the disappointment - the story is fine featuring insurance fraud, betrayal, premature burial etc. but the segment self-destructs with implausible coincidences, poor dialogue and disastrous comic-relief - Arthur Mullard as a grave-digger and Robin Nedwell as a medical student. This leaves Tom Baker to rescue things in the final story (Drawn and Quartered), as a vengeful artist who's been ripped off by critics and gallery owners. This is a longer segment with good characterisation and a decent script which could have been fleshed out into a full-length horror film in its own right.

We all know what will happen in the end, but this only reinforces the affection that fans will have for the film and others like it. It really is a shame that Hammer didn't branch out into the anthology area in the early 70's as well - with these films Amicus proves itself to be the near equal of that more famous British studio.

"Strange. Mysterious. Unworldly. Almost unbelievable."

[The_Movie_Cat · 4/10 · 18 June 2002]

There's something so deliciously cheesy about British horror films from the 60s and 70s. Badly dubbed, erratically edited and with cranky dialogue they're awful yet wonderful at the same time.

Most anthology films seem to take the basic template of the superb Dead of Night, yet fail in two important respects. One is the colour. The 80s may be the biggest fashion disaster, but for home decor the ubiquitous browns and oranges of this era are a horrific mistake to be forever avoided. The other is that Dead of Night's framing story was at least as interesting as the tales that it surrounded. In The Vault of Horror it's just five blokes sat around a table discussing nightmares. The ultimate resolution to this is quite familiar to fans of Brit Horror, and is pretty much identical to similar conclusions in Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965) and sort-of prequel Tales From The Crypt (1972).

The stories themselves don't lend much to narrative tension, given that it's openly stated that they're dreams. Mind you, most of the tales are campy affairs that only pre-PC Britain could have produced anyway. Middle class vampires with their own restaurant chain; a hen (cockerel?) pecked housewife with a hammer fetish; a stereotyped India, replete with sitars and magic rope trick; and Tom Baker as a portrait artist specialising in voodoo. It's the sort of thing ripe for satire, which makes it all the more disappointing that Steve Coogan's "Dr. Terror's House of Horrible" wasn't really very good. The Indian girl with the rope trick is even a white actress (Jasmina Hilton) browned up, for goodness' sake!

The film could make for a good study, as it shows an interesting line in what really frightened middle class Englishmen at the time. Not mummies, demons or Frankenstein's monster. Instead we get misogyny and racial minorities. The fourth story sets itself out from the preceding ones by actually opening strongly - a man buried alive - rather than the somewhat laborious pace of the others. However, it too goes nowhere, and with Arthur Mullard as a gravedigger it's the campest of the lot.

Prize for the best segment then goes to the voodoo art of Tom Baker in the final tale. Punningly titled "Drawn and Quartered", the rankness of this subtitle is only bettered by the first's "Midnight Mess". Not scary, witty or particularly inspired, it's weird because this film is rubbish, yet I really quite liked it.

Nicely atmospherical horror anthology.

[The Yeti · 3 November 2002]

Since all of the stories have their ups and downs I will review them each on their own. Five men are trapped in a basement with a table and chairs. They proceed to tell them stories from their nightmares that seem to real to be just a nightmare. Include Major Spoilers!

{Story 1} It involves a man (Daniel Massey) trying to hunt down his sister (Played by Anna Massey) as she is the beneficiary of her fathers will. After tracking her down, Daniel Massey kills her and enters a restaurant. He was told they were closing but they are indeed open, for a gang of vampires. If you are clever enough to find the uncut version, it includes Daniel Massey getting a drinks pump stuffed into his neck and the vampires proceed to pour blood from his neck squirting it out as he spasms. Very good direction with a spooky atmosphere and an engrossing story.

{Story 2} It sees Arthur Gritchit (Played very splendidly by Terry-Thomas) and his new wife Eleanor settling down into their home. All is good until Arthur starts getting angry at the fact that Eleanor keeps changing the house around and not putting things back in the right places. 'Everything in its place and a place for everything. That Eleanor, is the value of neatness.' Arthur says. Eleanor then tries to tidy the house up really fast before Arthur gets home. Only a few things to put away until everything gets out of hand. Arthur gets home while Eleanor has just knocked over a box of nails to put a painting on the wall with. Arthur then starts ranting 'Can't you do ANYTHING neatly!' Eleanor in a rage bashes his head with a hammer. We then see a tidy house and Arthurs body parts that have been assorted in different jars. Eleanor cackles crazily. A great performance by both characters with Terry-Thomas adding humor every chance he gets. A fitting ending and a story that never gets boring. I could write the story's script from memory I've seen it that many times!

{Story 3} Curt Jergens plays a magician who spots a woman in India chanting a rope. The trick is spectacular as Jergens can't spot how shes doing it. He offers to buy the rope but the woman refuses as it is a very special rope. Jergens pays her to do the trick at his hotel room with his wife. When the woman goes to the hotel, Jergens and his wife stab her to death. When Jergens chants the rope his wife climbs it to show off. She then looks up at the ceiling and lets out a piercing scream. She disappears and blood appears on the ceiling. The rope then comes down and starts lashing Jergens as we see it has a mind of its own. It hangs Jergens and everyone can see him hanging from his hotel window. A good if predictable story that has a great performance by Jergens and good classic revenge by a stolen item. The only flaw is we don't know what the rope did to his wife.

{Story 4} Michael Craig is a man who fakes his own death by being buried alive, expecting to be dug up later in an insurance scam. The man who should dig him up doesn't come to dig him up as he keeps the money for himself. Two college students want to dig up a corpse to use in a science project and they dig up Craigs grave. He gets up and screams in a mad rage. The two students run for it and end up causing Michael Craigs friends death as his car crashes. The grave digger who went with the two boys however has smashed Craigs head in with the spade. Another predictable story with a good ending. Craig looks rather bored in his performance yet manages to pull it off. The head bashing sequence is good and the comedy routine from the college boys is a nice touch.

{Story 5} Tom Baker is an artist. He has been forced to live in the carribean because his paintings were'nt selling. They were actually getting lots of money at galleries and it turns out Bakers auctioneers were lying. Baker sees a voodoo priest for a revenge spell. Baker then has the ability to paint a picture of a living thing and destroy the painting. Thus, this will happen to the real life person. He paints all three auctioneers and rips the first mans hands from the painting. After an accident, the mans hands are cut off. After he paints the second auctioneer he pokes out the eyes. In real life, the mans wife throws acid at his face so he'll never see again. The third auctioneer gets to see his painting as Baker shows it to him. He paints a red hole in his head and the man shoots himself in the head. Baker though, has painted himself and as he runs from the scene of the crime some workmen from the top room spill some water. Baker is hit by a truck and the truck runs over his face. We then cut back to Bakers painting and see that the water has ruined the painting. It has worn away Bakers face. A very clever twist with some great acting from Tom Baker and a cameo from Denholm Elliott. It is probably the best story apart from the second story.

The whole movie is put together with class acting and great atmosphere. You will be engrossed and thoroughly spooked by the stories. One of the best anthology movies of all time. 8.5 out of 10.

The actors make it worthwhile.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 26 January 2015]

"The Vault of Horror" is not one of the best horror anthologies to come from Amicus. The main problem is that the stories just don't have that much kick to them. The execution is reasonable, and there are a few creepy moments as well as some very funny ones. The most valuable asset that the movie can boast is a sterling group of actors who make the most out of so-so material, taken from the old E.C. comics published by William M. Gaines.

A quintet of men are taking the elevator in a big hotel ALL the way down. They end up in a sub basement that they weren't aware existed. With no way out of the place (which looks like a club of sorts), they decide to hang around. Soon, they're regaling each other with the nightmares that are plaguing them.

In "Midnight Mess", Rogers (Daniel Massey) tracks down his sister Donna (Anna Massey) to a rather strange community where it's not advisable to be out and about after dark.

Terry-Thomas plays Mr. Critchit in "The Neat Job". A fussy anal retentive, he drives his new bride Eleanor (Glynis Johns) right up the wall, until she can't take it any longer.

"This Trick'll Kill You" stars Curd Jurgens as Sebastian, a magician who finds a young woman performing a trick that fascinates him. In fact, he's willing to kill to be able to use this trick.

In "Bargain in Death", author Maitland (Michael Craig) thinks he's arranged for the perfect insurance scam, only for his plans to be derailed by some desperate medical students.

Appropriately enough, we end with the best segment, "Drawn and Quartered". Tom Baker plays a painter named Moore. Eager to get revenge on those who exploited him, he makes a deal with a voodoo master, and acquires the ability to destroy people and objects by painting pictures of them, then altering the pictures.

Erik Chitty, Dawn Addams, Edward Judd, and Denholm Elliott are also among this superior British cast. There's a little bit of gore, including one ingenious image in "Midnight Mess". A hysterical comic gag involves Mr. Terry-Thomas. In-jokes add to the fun, with Craig seen reading the novelization for "Tales from the Crypt". In fact, Craig has the best line in the movie when he says, "There's no money in horror."

We fans of the genre know differently. Overall, this is fun. Nothing great at all, but it has its pleasures.

Seven out of 10.

The best anthology horror I've seen

[GiraffeDoor · 7/10 · 13 February 2019]

I love the retro flavor of this movie.

Great premise for an anthology: we begin with five strangers quietly meeting in some office building and they pass the time by telling of their strangest dreams. They include Tom Baker (for one generation, the narrator of "Little Britain") sporting a fine beard.

The first story is by far the weakest. It's stylish and well paced to be sure so I would place it above a lot of feature length things the of the same genre, even recent stuff which on the whole I prefer, but it's just too formulaic and familiar to really work.

The second story is my favourite. It feels more like one of those vintage "weird fiction" stories rather than horror in the conventional sense. Two marvellous actors are at the heart of this comedic anecdote whose humour actually gives it a disquieting power. It could have gained a lot from showing a bit less, something that applies to all the stories to some extent, but it ties itself up very satisfyingly.

The third gives us some exotic appeal. It loses a lot of its potential by the end but the production values are there and the music is super. It makes on think why we don't listen to Indian music more often. I could say a similar thing about the fifth story. On that note the awesome Die Irae style main thing is awesome.

The fourth story suffers from a lack of good characterisation; it just has no personality or good pacing, not that I hate it.

And now for Baker. Great premise delivers even if it doesn't always seem to make sense. It's sort of like Final Destination two decades before final destination.

There's a wonderful wraparound which gives the movie its essential charm including a great ending and beginning. The stories themselves are a bit of a mixed bag but they have that "weird fiction" vibe where you'r just the plaything of a universe with a thing for irony and karma.

It may be sort of schlocky but that just gives in a more grotesque tone.

A real treat and very refreshing after sitting though Bird Box or The Conjuring.

Good, but not great

[pumaye · 7/10 · 25 June 2002]

This sequel to Tales from the Crypt offers five short stories, taken by the E.C. Comics, but only the first and the last (on a Vampire restaurant and on a voodoo curse put over paintings) are really worth your time. The other three are worse in value, but all of them are at least watchable. As good as any other anthological horror movie, but you may ask for more after viewing this.

Interesting to see, as the artist in the fifth episode, actor Tom Baker before his Doctor Who years.

Simple at times, but gets the effect! ** SPOILERS **

[naseby · 7/10 · 20 June 2010]

There are a lot, just like a music compilation, of disappointments with a segmented arrangement. Much like an orange that's maybe got a 'segment' on the turn, I find these horror anthology films. The three mainstays of this genre, this film, Doctor Terror's House of Horror and Tales from the Crypt are the best known. One way to view it is to remember those segments that were most memorable when you hadn't seen the film for years. My most memorable one is 'The neat job', with Terry-Thomas and Glynis Johns, where the neat-freaked Mr Thomas plays Arthur, an astute, rich and successful oldie now looking to finally settle down with a little wife, in the form of posh but impoverished Glynis Johns as Eleanor. It's not long before his neatist ways surface after she tries to re-arrange the rooms/furniture whatever else would be out of place to him. Eleanor, bored one evening, slightly on edge awaiting Arthur's also punctual return, accidentally knocks things over and in attending to them, in turn indirectly causes more mayhem and mess/damage - not advisable for a neat freak who's about to return home in ten minutes! It nicely reaches a point where even though Eleanor has had many shriekings from Arthur before, he catches her in his workshop, after trying to re-hang a picture she'd knocked off the wall with a nail. On seeing the mess, Arthur lets rip, but we cut to Eleanor's face like a raging tiger and thumping Arthur on the nut violently with the hammer in her hand. It doesn't quite end there. It shows Eleanor pleasantly walking around stating 'you said I couldn't be neat' "well", she goes on to say, "everything's in its place NOW Arthur". A large wall shows lots of jars with Arthur's body parts, properly labelled-up. Some have questioned as we do, whether Arthur should find himself within the final roll-call of Curd Jurgens end (Epitaph?) for all the bad people who ended up in a sticky end as truly evil enough, but he was still torturing poor old Eleanor! I found the one with Mr Jurgens and Dawn Addams familiar too. A serious magician finds an act in India, a magic rope trick too good to be true. The daughter/assistant of the fakir-like chap refuses to sell it to him so he murders her. Dawn Addams tries out the the trick by climbing the rope and suddenly looks up and screams, and, disappears, disturbingly as if taken into another world, with a patch of blood on the ceiling, then the rope calmly wraps itself around Jurgens' neck and strangles him - we then see the girl, whom was murdered, back with the rope trick in the market - as if to say she has all power with the rope trick, a bit like Robert De Niro's part as Al Capone in 'The Untouchables' 'If someone messes with me, I'm gonna mess with them!'. Tom Baker's Voodoo one is easy, but still watchable - the artist whose career could've done better was brought to that by critics who who panned his paintings so they then bought them cheap and you guessed it, sold them for a massive profit. As Baker enlists a voodoo-man or Witch Doctor if you like, as he's in a kind of self-imposed exile in the Caribbean somewhere, you can guess he's going to paint rather than stick pins in a doll (As he asks the latter, he's reminded as an artist he can just 'paint' to do his deeds). Again, the three men who wronged him, have portraits painted by Baker and are naturally dissected, (One loses his eyes, another, his hands and Denholm Elliot's character shoots himself). Baker has forgotten his own portrait though, locked in a safe and forgetting also he needs air! He manages to open the safe in time to stop HIMSELF suffocating. Trouble is, he has left it out and below a skylight where a painter (Of the decorating kind) is on a platform, spills some stripper which crashes through the skylight and nicely smudges away Baker's self-portrait. Next it cuts to the latter running across a road into the path of a lorry and getting smudged horribly himself! The other stories in this include a good tongue-in-cheek one with the Masseys about vampires. Daniel Massey kills his own sister and then finds himself unwittingly in a restaurant of the vamps, add to that his dead sister and all put a tap into his neck, like a beer keg, and have a blood fest. The other story with Michael Craig and Edward Judd about faking death to cop the insurance, only for Craig to find himself really dead. Curd Jurgens leads the way in explaining how the men met up - to repeat and suffer telling these stories to one another each night for eternity. Simliar of course to the other two films mentioned. A welcome, kitsch Britsh-horror type flick!

Great fun - and poor old Terry Thomas!

[neil-upto11 · 9/10 · 29 March 2011]

It goes without saying that if you tune into an Amicus anthology you cant expect million-dollar budgets. Or even hundred-dollar budgets. But this is part of the fun. These great, honest stories were banged out on a shoe-string and we love them.

I still think 'The House that Dripped Blood' (even though it doesn't actually drip anything, incidentally) is more enjoyable but 'The Vault of Horror' has a good go and brings us exactly the kind of fare we love to lap up.

It's always a bit silly to pick holes in a film like this but, forgive me, I must just say Terry Thomas gets a very raw deal: Everyone else is either a psychopath or a cold-blooded killer (or both) and Terry's great crime is 'being too fussy'! Well, I suppose that'll teach him to stray into 1970s British horror...

Enjoyable Amicus anthology

[Stevieboy666 · 7/10 · 3 June 2018]

Five strangers sharing a tower block lift in London find themselves in a sub-basement. They all have one thing in common and that is they all find themselves dying in peculiar dreams, so one by one they recount them. So we have five stories with a wrap around. As is the norm with anthologies there will be segments that are stronger than others but here, with the exception of the weaker fourth (Bargain in Death), I thought they were all equally good. Greed appears to be a common theme. There is a smattering of dark humour added to the horror. Great cast. It's hardly taxing on the mind but this does make great late night viewing.

A nice idea indifferently executed

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 10 January 2008]

The idea of a horror anthology movie interested me, so I sat down to watch this movie tonight. While the basic structure and idea was good, I was amazed at how sluggish and indifferent most of the five episodes were. Most of this seemed to be because of relatively poor writing--this SHOULD have been a lot more interesting than it was.

The first, third and fourth segments were all completely forgettable and so I won't bother elaborating on them. They just weren't very interesting or scary. The second one, starring Terry-Thomas, wasn't exactly brilliant, but was pretty enjoyable and the final scene, though a tad cheesy, made me really laugh--so it was worthwhile. The only one of the five that really worked well was the final segment that starred Tom Baker (you know, the Dr. Who that everyone liked so much in the 1970s). Baker played an angry artist who wanted revenge on three men who had cheated him and the way this played out was indeed clever. Because of this and the concluding scene, at least the movie ended on a positive note. However, due to the film's highly uneven nature, I'd not recommend it. It's not so much bad--it's just not very good either. Apparently, I am in the minority, though, as several other reviewers liked it.

By the way, a very, very similar film was also made by this same production company, ASYLUM, as it involves four different stories strung together with a central theme. However, ASYLUM is a better and more interesting picture.

Great anthology!!! Equally as good as (if not better than) "Tales from the Crypt".

[hkchris · 10/10 · 21 June 1999]

As far as anthology films go, it's hard to beat this one. It's got a great early 70's campiness about it that gets better each time I watch it. It not the easiest film to find (I've only seen it at ONE video store in the midwest US) and if you do track it down on the old Nostalgia Merchant label it's cut. There are quite a few scenes out of place and some cut altogether (most notably the "vampire sequence"). It's too bad Fox couldn't pick this up and distribute it along with "Tales From The Crypt". Overall, I highly recommend this film and suggest getting your hands on a UNCUT Japanese import.

Fun little find!

[Wikkid_Gamez · 7/10 · 9 June 2019]

Still making my way through IMDBs "The 40 Best Horror Movies You've Never Seen" A good list of older harder to find movies. It has been fun watching these movies and growing up on the '90s Tales from the Crypt show I have a soft spot for these connected series. Definitely worth a watch!

Vault of Horror

[Scarecrow-88 · 5/10 · 20 October 2008]

Companion film to Amicus' omnibus Tales from the Crypt concerns five men who find themselves locked within a vault after an elevator leads them to it with no doors or exits, as they relate nightmarish stories about themselves which feel so vivid and real. The first tale concerns a psychotic brother, Rogers(Daniel Massey)who desires his father's fortune and will seek out his sister Donna(Anna Massey)to kill her for it. What he doesn't expect is to become the main course on the menu of a restaurant serving vampires! The second tale concerns a neat-freak who slowly drives his sweetheart wife mad with all his demands of everything around the house being as tidy and ordered as possible. The neat-freak is played expertly by Terry-Thomas with just the right touch of insufferable complaining, pressing so hard towards wife Glynis Johns figuring out how his house is to remain. The end result is a howler as she takes his lessons to heart, using his methods of tidiness to the extreme when he drives her over the edge. The third tale concerns a magician and his wife, Curd Jürgens & Dawn Addams who will kill to possess the basket rope trick of an Indian girl. They never expect that the rope has better ideas in store for them. The forth tale concerns Michael Craig's desire to collect insurance paid after his death faking it only to find that his partner plans to leave him buried alive. Thrown into the mix are anatomy students who plan to use his body as a tool of study! The fifth and final tale(..my favorite)concerns an angered artist, Tom Baker, betrayed by his agent(..played by Denholm Elliot)who "buys" voodoo in order to get revenge against not only him but the art critic who slandered his work and the art curator who claimed his work wasn't good enough to show the public. Through an ability given to him by the voodoo, Baker has the ability to harm his victims(..or objects)painted to his canvas. But, before receiving this power he had painted a portrait of himself and it is of the utmost importance that nothing comes in contact with it..sufficed to say, dire consequences are a result.

Like it's companion, each storyteller is corrupt in one way or another and pay for their sins, and their true fears are replayed to them, for each character to relive over again. Unfortunately, I think there was some post-production tinkering because it seems that certain scenes are tampered with like the attack on Massey in the restaurant as the vampires drain him of blood. Also, most of the tales pale in comparison to the superior, far more ghoulish stories in Tales from the Crypt. I found the third tale concerning the rope which can whip it's victim, rather hokey. The first tale concerning a diabolical killer who desires an inheritance that's not his unless his sister is dead, finding himself in a den of vampires with no escape, rather familiar and unexciting. The second tale concerning the neat-freak and the wife he drives bonkers with his ravings regarding "a place for everything and everything in it's place" rather amusing, especially the macabre ending. The fifth is the one I especially had fun with because it's so unique and menacing. The idea that a man can destroy his foes by harming their portraits after having painted them on canvas thanks to the power voodoo was a really nifty premise to see unfold. But, I didn't think there were that many great thrills or mind-blowing shock-sequences this time around. Maybe by 1973, the Amicus anthology was losing steam. Good cast, though. And, the film is filled to the brim with unscrupulous individuals who get their just desserts.