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Torture Garden (1967) Country
of Origin: UK PRODUCTION SCRIPT DIRECTION PHOTOGRAPHY EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION MUSIC SOUND MAKE UP AND
COSTUMES DESIGN AND SET
CONSTRUCTION MISCELLANEOUS LOCATIONS CAST Framing Story Enoch Terror Over
Hollywood Mr Steinway The Man Who
Collected Poe Others PLOT SUMMARY Dr Diablo, a sinister circus sideshowman, promises to reveal to his customers their innermost desires and proceeds to spin a quartet of horrific yarns. Enoch: Williams murders his frail old uncle to get his hands on a fortune. But the uncle's supernaturally gifted, telepathic cat uses Williams to keep up his supply of the human heads he eats; Terror Over Hollywood: would-be starlet Carla discovers the horrific secret of her favourite stars' success and endless youthfulness; Mr Steinway: possessed by the malevolent spirit of the mother of a famous pianist, Leo, a Steinway piano goes berserk when a young woman, Dorothy falls in love with Leo and threatens to take him away from 'her'; The Man Who Collected Poe: Wyatt, an obsessive Poe fanatic, murders dealer Canning and inherits his collection, including an unpublished manuscript. But down in the basement is the prize find - Poe himself, resurrected by Canning... Thanks to strong stories by Bloch (Enoch is a bit old hat, but serviceable enough) and moody direction from Francis, Torture Garden emerges as one of Amicus' few wholly satisfying anthology films. Good performances all round are an asset, Palance in particular giving a fine performance as the obsessive collector. Francis creates some remarkable images; Carla hacking skin from the face of a fellow actor with her fingernails to reveal gleaming strips of metal; the killer piano rumbling across a rehearsal room to crush Dorothy to death; the resurrected Poe sitting in a gloomy, decrepit basement. One of Amicus' - and Francis' - finest. France UK USA Sweden UK 1966 1967 1968 April Il giardino delle torture -
Italian title MAGAZINES Monthly Film Bulletin
January 1968 pp.6-7 (UK) Shivers 36
pp.26-27 (UK) BOOKS Amicus: The Studio That Dripped
Blood pp.50-55 English Gothic pp.137 -
138 (London: Reynolds & Hearn (2001)) OTHER SOURCES screen KEYWORDS anthologies, the devil, carnivals, circuses, sideshows, pianos, murder, cats, animals, telepathy, automatons, simulacra, robots, hollywood, movie industry, actresses, returned to life, writers
Last Updated: 1 January, 2009
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