UK, 1964
98m
35mm film, Techniscope, Technicolor, 2.35:1
mono, English
A British anthology horror film directed by Freddie Francis.
Plot Summary
Five people aboard a train are joined by a fortune teller who reads their Tarot cards and tells five grisly stories: an architect encounters a vengeful werewolf; a doctor is horrified to learn that his new wife is really a vampire; a carnivorous plant traps a group of people in a house; a musician steals music from a voodoo priest, with terrible consequences; and an art critic is tormented by a disembodied hand.
Credits
* = uncredited
Crew
Directed by: Freddie Francis
© MCMLXIV [1964] Amicus Productions Ltd
Amicus Productions presents an Amicus production
Produced by: Milton Subotsky and Max J. Rosenberg
Production Manager: Ted Wallis
Screenplay by: Milton Subotsky
Assistant Director: Bert Batt
Continuity: Pauline Harlow
Director of Photography: Alan Hume
Camera Operator: Godfrey Godar
Photographed in Technicolor and Techniscope
Film Editor: Thelma Connell
Music Composed by: Elisabeth Lutyens
Conducted by: Philip Martell
Songs by: Kenny Lynch
Jazz Music: Tubby Hayes
Steel Band Leader: Russ Henderson
Sound Recordist: Buster Ambler
Director of Sound: John Cox
Dubbing Editor: Roy Hyde
Wardrobe Supervisor: Bridget Sellers
Make-up: Roy Ashton
Hairdresser: Frieda Steiger
Special Effects: Ted Samuels
Art Director: Bill Constable
Choreography: Boscoe Holder
Produced at: Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, UK
Cast
[closing credits]
Peter Cushing (Dr Terror [Dr Sandor Schreck])
Werewolf
Neil McCallum [Jim Dawson]
Ursula Howells [Deirdre Biddulph]
Peter Madden [Caleb]
Katy Wild [Valda]
Creeping Vine
Alan Freeman (Bill Rogers)
Ann Bell (Ann Rogers)
Sarah Nicholls [real name: Phoebe Nicholls] (Carol Rogers)
Bernard Lee (Hopkins)
Jeremy Kemp (Drake)
Voodoo
Roy Castle (Biff Bailey)
Kenny Lynch (Sammy Coin)
Christopher Carlos (musician)
The Tubby Hayes Quintet
Disembodied Hand
Christopher Lee (Franklyn Marsh)
Michael Gough (Eric Landor)
Vampire
Donald Sutherland (Bob Carroll)
Jennifer Jayne (Nicolle)
Max Adrian (Doctor Blake)
Harold Lang
Edward Underdown
Isla Blair
Al Mulock
Judy Cornwell
Hedger Wallace
Laurie Leigh
Brian Hawkins
John Martin
Faith Kent
Kenneth Kove
Frank Forsyth
Walter Sparrow
Frank Barry
Irene Richmond
Thomas Baptiste
Valerie St. Clair
Russ Henderson Steel Band
George Mossman [pony and trap driver] *
Alternative Titles
Le cinque chiavi del terrore – Italian title
Gabinet grozy doktora zgrozy – Polish title
Die Todeskarten des Dr Schreck – German title
Le Train des épouvantes – French title
Links
Extracts included in
House of Cards (2015)
Press
1965
Monthly Film Bulletin vol.32 no.374 (March 1965) p.39
Except perhaps in the fourth story, which borrows freely from The Beast with Five Fingers, this horror anthology is filmically near-negligible compared to the best of Riccardo Freda. Moreover it lapses into crudity in the weakest, Voodoo story, with too many brash comedy asides from Roy Castle and others. Yet four of the stories are undeniably compulsive, thanks to ironic variations played on familiar routines, and to several strong performances. […] Peter Cushing’s unshaven, mittened Death ties the stories neatly together; and the denouement has an adequately apocalyptic flavour. – from an uncredited review
Variety 3 March 1965
Five short horror episodes, thinly linked, provide a usefully chilly package deal which will offer audiences several mild shudders and quite a lot of amusement. […] [T]he film has good production values and several imaginative directing touches. […] These playlets are insufficiently developed to sustain prolonged interest, though one or two of them, notably the creeping vine and the voodoo disaster, merit deeper treatment, but they provide some useful thesping changes. Cushing has little to do, but Christopher Lee as the art critic and Michael Gough as his artist victim are vivid characters. Roy Castle makes his first screen appearance effectively as the pop musician. – from a review by Rich
References
Periodicals
- Alien Worlds no.14 (March 1965) pp.20-21 – illustrated review (Vision by Alan Dodd)
- Castle of Frankenstein no.8 p.6
- Supernatural no.1 (January 1969) pp.40-43 – illustrated interview with Milton Subotsky (The Amicus brain by Gwynne Comber)
- The Daily Cinema no.9018 (22 January 1965) p.11 – note (Trade shows)
- The Daily Cinema no.9019 (25 January 1965) p.11 – note (Trade shows)
- The Daily Cinema no.9021 (29 January 1965) p.7 – note (Trade shows)
- The Daily Cinema no.9022 (1 February 1965) pp.7; 9 – credits, synopsis, review (by P.J.D.); note (Trade shows), note (General Releases – North London)
- The Daily Cinema no.9025 (8 February 1965) p.5 – note (General Releases – North London)
- Monthly Film Bulletin vol.32 no.374 (March 1965) p.39 – credits, synopsis, review
- Scream no.80 (September/October 2023) pp.53-57 – illustrated review (The studio that dripped blood! Exploring some of Amicus’ most popular horror anthologies Part 3 by Reece G. Donnell)
- Variety 3 March 1965 – credits, review
- We Belong Dead no.29 (Autumn 2021) pp.18-29 – illustrated article (Killer plants: A potted history by Jules Boyle)
- We Belong Dead Amicus Special Spring 2021 pp.11-15 – illustrated review (by Aaron AuBuchon)
Books
- The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror by Phil Hardy (ed.) pp.160-161
- The Charm of Evil: The Life and Films of Terence Fisher by Wheeler Winston Dixon p.406
- Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing and Horror Cinema: A Filmography of Their 22 Collaborations by Mark A. Miller pp.145-159
- The Christopher Lee Filmography by Tom Johnson and Mark A. Miller pp.138-141
- Christopher Lee: The Authorised Screen History by Jonathan Rigby pp.40, 102-103, 141, 208
- Cinematic Vampires by John L. Flynn p.156
- English Gothic: A Century of Horror Cinema by Jonathan Rigby pp.138-40, 139, 144, 145, 161, 164, 165, 229, 237
- Euro Gothic: Classics of Continental Horror Cinema by Jonathan Rigby p.144
- Feature Films, 1960-1969: A Filmography of English-language and Major Foreign-language United States Releases by Harris M. Lentz III p.111
- The Films of Christopher Lee by Robert W. Pohle Jr and Douglas C. Hart pp.99-102
- The Films of Freddie Francis by Wheeler Winston Dixon pp.6, 93-101, 207-210
- Horrorshows: The A-Z of Horror in Film, TV, Radio and Theatre by Gene Wright p.251-252 – illustrated credits, review
- Lord of Misrule (new edition) by Christopher Lee p.218
- Peter Cushing: The Gentle Man of Horror and His 91 Films by Deborah Del Vecchio and Tom Johnson pp.176-180
- Reference Guide to Fantastic Films by Walt Lee p.108 – credits
- Sixties Shockers by Mark Clark and Bryan Senn pp.159-161
- The Straight Story from Moby Dick to Glory by Freddie Francis with Tony Dalton pp.134-139, 144, 173, 269, 270
- Top 100 Horror Movies by Gary Gerani p.62 – illustrated credits, synopsis, review
- The Werewolf Filmography by Bryan Senn pp.289-291
Other sources
- British National Film Catalogue vol.3 (1965) – credits
