MovieChat Forums > Torture Garden (1968) Discussion > Worst Amicus Anthology Film

Worst Amicus Anthology Film

posted 19 years ago by pdmb
22 replies | jump to latest

When compared to other Amicus anthology productions - Tales from the Crypt, Dr Terror's House of Horrors, Vault of Horror, From Beyond the Grave, The House That Dripped Blood, and Asylum - this really is a lame effort, despite some good actors (Michael Bryant, Burgess Meredith, Jack Palance & Peter Cushing) and not having Milton Subotsky as scriptwriter (always a plus).

Of the four stories, only the one about Edgar Allan Poe is really worth watching, although the Piano one has its moments. The other two are pretty dire, notably 'Terror Over Hollywood' which wouldn't scare a three year old, unless easily terrified by bad acting.

For those of you who are about to fork out £12.99 for it on DVD, I would wait for it to be broadcast on TV and save the money. If you must buy any of them, buy Tales From The Crypt.

I wonder if there are plans to make any new anthology films like this.

[–] STEVE-1559 19 years ago

I have to disagree about this being the worst. You're right that the Poe episode stands out as the best, and the others are not as good. Nevertheless, the wraparound story is very nice, and director Freddie Francis handles the material very well.

Overall, this is no masterpiece, but it is better than DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS, HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD, and that rather uninspired VAULT OF HORROR.

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[–] SCAREORAMA 18 years ago

I must agree with the thread creator, this one is undoubtedly the most disappointing Amicus portmanteau. It is a million miles behind such outstanding entries as ASYLUM, THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD, TALES FROM THE CRYPT and FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE. Even the mediocre VAULT OF HORROR is superior to this bore of a movie in which only the linking story itself is any good.

Peter

[–] eye-sea 18 years ago

Hey, mate, Tales from the Crypt, Dr Terror's House of Horrors, Vault of Horror, From Beyond the Grave, The House That Dripped Blood, and Asylum, etc, were all classics, as is Torture Garden - but for some reason you personally did not enjoy it.

I did.

But I agree, Torture Garden has a certain American influence about it, with the presence of both Burgess Meredith and Jack Palance. Maybe it's this that puts you off.

It could be that the film only came about through the majority of American money, so you cannot blame them for including in the contract two fine, and well established character actors, such as Meredith and Palance.

[–] Chuthlu 18 years ago

I would also have to agree with the thread creator. Having just watched Torture Garden last night (on a double edition tape with the sublime Scream and Scream again).
My main problem with Torture Garden is how cheap the whole production looks. Sets shake,bad make-up and terrible sets. Mainly Amicus lame attempt at simulating a Hollywood Nightclub in the Terror over Hollywood Story and the dreadfull carnival set.An Amicus production had never looked so cheap and gaudy.
Plus points though it does have a nice score by Hammer Veteran James Bernard, but when shown with any of the other Portmantue movies it does look like a poor cousin.

[–] gizmosloth 18 years ago

i think it was fairly good although i dont have much to compare this one too i seen either house of horror or vault of horror or whatever they are and i saw thoes yeares ago when i was just a early teenager or younger but alone i think this movie was fairly good i think they could have made the piano story better or gotten rid of it all together and just made the other storys longer and better but i wouldnt say they were really that bad to begin with but could have been better

[–] Skint111 18 years ago

Here's what I reckon the order Amicus anthology films should be placed in, from best to worst:
Tales from the Crypt
Asylum
Vault of Horror
From beyond the Grave
The House that dripped Blood
Torture Garden
Tales that witness madness (is this one counted?)
Dr Terror's House of Horrors

Just my opinion...

[–] Tanithpanic 18 years ago

That sounds about right to me. Dr Terror's House of horrors was a real disappointment. I'd like a new anthology film made with short stories by people like Ramsey Campbell and Christopher Fowler. They know how to make a reader feel very uneasy without piling on the gore.

[–] richard-III 10 years ago

I agree with you on Tales and Asylum, which are two of the best anthology films by Amicus.
But hm, Dr Terror's is the masterpiece, in my opinion. Everything fits together there: the amazing music by Elisabeth Lutyens, the great cast, wonderful atmospheric photography and classic wraparound story.

-I don't discriminate between entertainment
and arthouse. A film is a goddam film.-

[–] BillyFisher 17 years ago

Chuthlu: Carnivals do look cheap and gaudy!

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[–] docdespicable 17 years ago

I think there are a couple of things that need to be considered:

First, this was still early days for Amicus. Writers, actors and directors are important, but so are budgets and production teams, and Amicus was still assembling a solid crew from what Hammer and the other studios hadn't managed to monopolize.

Second, compare this to whatever other anthology films were coming out at the time or have appeared since. Whatever else you might say about Amicus, they had a style and flair all their own, adding just that extra bit of grit and darkness.

Even "bad" Amicus is usually entertaining...

[–] fiftyfootqueenie 17 years ago

Yes, I agree, it was still entertaining, and I did enjoy it... but it was, in my opinion, the lesser of the whole bunch. The stories weren't quite twisty enough (although kudos to 'Terror Over Hollywood' for coming up with the android idea way before Ira Levin did The Stepford Wives) and I didn't like the 'Americanisation' of it, slight as it was (not that it worked - the girls' 'Hollywood apartment' looked far more like a flat above a shop in Battersea).

[–] lostinaction 16 years ago

I watched recently The House that dripped blood and Torture Garden was the second so far. Maybe I've seen the others long time ago too but I've forgotten them. IMO Torture Garden is much weaker than The House that dripped blood. Torture Garden isn't very scary and when you have a Torture Garden in a Horror Movie it should have been used. The Tales and their connection with Dr. Diabolo isn't as good as it should be. I agree the US influence destroys somehow the British Horror (and Humour). It's best seen in the last episode with the Overacting of Palance and the cool (and good as ever) Peter Cushing. The second Story with the Hollywood Stars is boring and disappointing. I wished there would have been a more classical (Vampires!) horror tale in that movie too. The first story with the cat wasn't that bad and at least it reminded me on The Black Cat. The third has it's cheesy moment which I liked but the actors were unusually bad. OK but to sum it up even Torture Garden is more entertaining than many Blood & Gore Horror Movies of Today.

"Well, nobody's perfect."

[–] Hey_Sweden 13 years ago

I would tend to agree with your assessment of this movie. It's a lesser Amicus anthology, but it really isn't bad at all.

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[–] LouisRenault 13 years ago

I just bought this to complete my Amicus portmanteau set and I have to agree with the OP. Five of these pictures are all great fun with the ranking being just a matter of personal taste; Dr Terror is a marked step worse; and Torture Garden is much worse still.

Every Amicus has its weak story, but here 3 out of 4 are just terrible: No 1, going through the motions; No 2, just plain silly; No 3, the homicidal piano, quite laughable. As others have pointed out, the Poe story is best, but in this company that isn't saying much.

My recommendation: if you like Amicus, by all means rent this or buy it if you see it cheap, but don't buy at full price and certainly don't think of paying the inflated prices it is sometimes sold at.

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ElectricWarlock 12 years ago

I really enjoyed this film a lot. All of the stories were entertaining and fun to watch. I don't see how anyone could dislike it because it's not a bad film at all.

Come, fly the teeth of the wind. Share my wings.

[–] mazaldivar 11 years ago

Always been aware of the dislike for this one but I'm of the opinion that all Amicus anthologies are no better or worse than the other.
They each have their share of stinkers and winners.

Half the tales in TORTURE GARDEN may be duds but it may contain the best wraparound story of all the films and THE MAN THAT COLLECTED POE segment stands as one of the best stories in the whole Amicus collection. At least for me.

Just viewed MONSTER CLUB for the first time the other night.
If that is considered an Amicus horror anthology than that must take the prize for the worst of the lot.
A shame Vincent Price showed up to the Amicus party as late as he did.

I seem to recall that he had a contract with AIP and it wouldn't allow him to appear in the early cycle of the Amicus studio.

[–] euro4569 11 years ago

I actually believe that Torture Garden was right up there with the other Amicus anthology films. In fact, the second story disturbed me quite a bit because the main character just didn't have her career come down but her entire life came to a crash halt. Just think, spending the rest of your life as an android, not being able to love, taste, feel, etc and retaining your past memory as a human being. Very eerie if not scary.

[–] ElectricWarlock 11 years ago

The second story was actually my favorite of the film. If you research conspiracy theories about how evil Hollywood and the entertainment industry truly is, it makes the story all the more effective.

Death lives in the Vault of Horror!

[–] ravi02 10 years ago

It isn't a popular opinion, but From Beyond the Grave is my least favorite of the Amicus anthologies I've seen. All it really has going for it is Peter Cushing's performance as the store owner and the first segment with the haunted mirror. The rest of the stories were forgettable.

Torture Garden at least has two segments (the one with the black cat, Edgar Allen Poe) and enjoyably over-the-top performances by Burgess Meredith and Jack Palance to balance things out.

[–] ElectricWarlock 9 years ago

I have to agree with you. I do enjoy them all but I have to say that "From Beyond the Grave" is the one I enjoy the least out of the ones I've seen. I can't really pinpoint what but something about it just doesn't feel the same as the other Amicus films. Although I still enjoy it I just don't feel it's "up there" with the rest of the Amicus anthologies as one of my favorites of all time. I know a Region 1 DVD/Blu-Ray of Dr. Terror's House of Horrors is being released in just a few days from Olive Films and I've never seen that one before so I'm very excited to watch it. I've never seen it before and I hear it's supposed to be the best. It will be hard to beat Tales From the Crypt, though.

[–] residentevil6901 10 years ago

I wasn't born until 73 so I didn't watch too many of these when I was young, it wasn't probably until Creepshow where I saw my first movie such as this. I have been going back and watching some of these, just watched this one today and The House That Dripped Blood yesterday. The thing that stood out to me is that most these short stories have a Twilight Zone feel to them. Fun to watch if you have never seen them but they really don't make me want to watch them for a 2nd viewing.