Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965) by Freddie Francis

Director: Freddie Francis

Year: 1965

Country: United Kingdom

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Anthology

Plot:

Taking a train ride together, a group of passengers is shocked to learn their compartment-mate is a tarot card reader and agrees to have their fortunes read.

Review:

Werewolf-Hired to refurbish a friend's house, a man arrives to begin work on the decoration plans, only to find a rumored coffin secretly buried inside that houses a special coffin. Realizing that the incident is about to play out, the legend of a great evil returning to hunt them down, he sets out to protect them from the family curse. This was a pretty solid and enjoyable entry that gets this started quite nicely. The arrival at the house and the need for redecorating it give this an appropriately Gothic touch, with the interior of the house, which coincides nicely with the reveal of the coffin and its curse. That leads into the build-up of events and the strange incidents that befall the family into a rather fun twist that is quite shocking, while the only real flaw is that this one doesn’t show off that curse in the flesh all too well.

Creeping Vines-Returning with his family from a holiday, he and his wife are bothered about a strange plant growing in their garden, but are dismayed even more when the plant successfully prevents its removal. Calling in a friend to study the situation, they find the plant is indeed evolving to a state of intelligence that threatens their very survival. This was a pretty fun entry that has a lot going for it. The idea of the plant arriving at this evolutionary state and preventing others from harming it is a wholly chilling and creepy one, made all the more terrifying by the vicious and cruel acts it commits along the way. This just stumbled slightly as the final measure of defeating the creature seems to be quite logical, but it is instead found out by accident, and it seems rather unbelievable, but that’s the only real downgrade here.

Voodoo-Hoping to get his big break, a musician joins the rest of his jazz band on a trip through the West Indies for a vacation and finds a voodoo ceremony intriguing to the point of using the music in his show. After doing so, a series of freak accidents and bad luck causes him to believe that he has incited a powerful voodoo curse upon himself. This was a pretty disappointing effort without much going for it. The guy is a clueless moron who we don’t really feel sympathetic towards, as he just openly comes in and begins offending the local religion or acting like a stereotypical horny tourist, so rather than feeling any sense of fear or concern for his condition, he comes off as getting what he deserves. Even worse, the idea of him stealing the song and using it for his own career turns him into outright unlikable, and with rather lame sequences showing the curse taking effect, there’s not much to this one beyond some rather enjoyable dance scenes of the voodoo ceremony.

Disembodied Hand-After being humiliated at a gallery opening, a noted critic is teased about the incident to the point of seeking revenge on the painter who caused it, and causes him to lose his painting hand. After the painter commits suicide following the incident, his disembodied hand sets out to right the wrong committed against his owner. This was a pretty enjoyable and fun segment. This really gets a lot to like with the usual manner of the wronged party seeking their revenge, as the humiliation at the show sets off a chain reaction that eventually forces the payback by running him over. The relentless scenes involving the severed hand continuing to come back and attack him are incredibly chilling and get quite a few shock jumps with all the encounters, leaving this one incredibly fun, being hurt only by the rushed finale that could’ve been explored a little better without the rush.

Vampire-Settling into their house together, a man and his newlywed bride find their house and new life together quite idyllic until a case at the clinic where he works starts to eat away at them both. Fearing that his wife is the vampire culprit behind everything he’s come across, he sets out to stop it from continuing. This was a fine effort with some minor problems. The build-up here is fine if slightly rushed, with the lone nocturnal visit from the bat and then the case with the boy raising the questions nicely, if quite quickly, as the half-joking prognosis is correct but seems to be quite rushed. Likewise, the knowing identity of the vampire is really underdeveloped and seems to be given quite a quick turnaround, much like the ending twist, which is just completely rushed, as there’s no reason why this occurs. It does have a pretty solid twist that gives this quite a lot to like, much like that early build-up into the reveal, but this ends up making for an effort that should’ve been a feature-length effort.

Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors-Taking a train ride together, a group of passengers are shocked to learn their compartment-mate is a tarot card reader and agree to have their fortunes read. As time goes on, they realize the true intent behind their strange visitor and his wondrous tales. For the most part, this segment works quite nicely as a wrap-around function. The function of the tarot card reading is to segue into the stories to be told, while the various iterations of their curiosity to try it for themselves. The ordering seems to be slightly off, with the severed hand being the logical conclusion being done on the most vocally critical of his work, and thus serves as a fine warning not to be that kind of person anymore, while the last segment is quite anticlimactic to end this on. Still, that’s all that really holds this segment back.

Overview: ****/5

One of the finer anthology efforts in the scene, with only minor niggling flaws that aren’t too detrimental, this becomes quite obvious about its influential nature, and is quite the fun time. Those who appreciate the studio’s output, anthologies in general, are fans of Gothic horror or this style of film, should look into this one quite easily, while only those who don’t enjoy the style or genre should heed caution.