Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965)
Dr. Terror's House of Horrors was the first portmanteau horror movie by Amicus Productions. The small British studio was founded by producers and screenwriters Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg. As the horror genre grew in popularity due to the success of Hammer films, Amicus saw the potential in the portmanteau format. Subotsky in particular held Ealing Studios 1945 classic Dead of Night in very high regard. Although only a modest budget movie, Dr. Terror's House of Horrors proved to be financially successful and led to a series of similarly structured films over the next decade. These included Torture Garden (1967), The House That Dripped Blood (1970), Asylum (1972), Tales from the Crypt (1972), The Vault of Horror (1973), From Beyond the Grave (1974),
Nightmares (1983)
Due to the commercial success of George A. Romero’s Creepshow in 1982 and the Twilight Zone: The Movie in 1983, there was a resurgence of anthology horror films in the eighties and nineties. Nightmares is one of many “portmanteau movies” that followed and is neither the worst, or the best that the genre has to offer. Originally conceived as a pilot for a NBC TV show, the completed film was deemed too “intense” for television and eventually released theatrically with an “R” rating. Judged by today’s standards, it is not especially violent and the strongest content is in the first chapter of the four part story. Written by Jeffrey Bloom and Christopher Crowe, both of whom have a background in popular seventies television, Nightmares has the look and feel of a TV production.
Tales of Terror (1962)
Directed by Roger Corman, Tales of Terror is an anthology horror film based upon three short stories by Edgar Allan Poe. “Morella”, “The Black Cat” and “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar”. Adapted by Richard Matheson, the screenplay offers a ghoulish tale of revenge, a humorous story of a drunk who murders his wife and her lover and a sinister story of a mesmerist who hypnotises a terminally ill man at the point of death. Deftly produced and looking far more sumptuous than you’d expect from such a modest budget film, Tales of Terror benefits from a strong cast of old school, Hollywood character actors. The anthology format affords each story a fairly prompt and ghoulish climax and as ever with the films of Roger Corman from this period, visual creativity and innovation elevate the proceedings above the standard exploitation fare of the time.
Tales That Witness Madness (1973)
I have a soft spot for portmanteau horror films, especially those made in the UK during the seventies. They often have an impressive cast of character actors and offer a snapshot of fashion, culture and sensibilities from the times. However, their weakness often lies with the inconsistency of the various stories. These can range from the outstanding, to what can best be described as filler. Furthermore, although the latter category have just as short a running time as the other vignettes, it is always the poor ones that seem to drag and disrupt the flow of the film. Tales That Witness Madness does not suffer too badly from this problem. Out of the four stories that are featured two stand out and two others are just average and not overtly bad. However, irrespective of potential narrative inconsistencies, there are some good ideas and a ghoulish streak running throughout the fill’s ninety minute running time.