Torture Garden (1967)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Just like their main rival Hammer Films, British production company Amicus Productions was attempting to conquer the lucrative horror market in the 1960s and 70s. While Hammer found success with their literary properties such as Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolf Man, Amicus found a niche in portmanteau films; anthology tales containing multiple stories, with each featuring one of the hapless chumps gathered together for the opening scenes. The first was Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, directed by Freddie Francis and starring Peter Cushing, and Terror's moderate success led to Torture Garden, with both director and star returning. We open at a fairground sideshow, where showman Dr. Diablo (Burgess Meredith) is inviting customers into his tent for some cheap thrills. When the group fail to be impressed by Diablo's shtick, he dares them behind the curtain where more terrifying revelations await them. It will cost them an extra five bob though.Naturally, the group's curiosity gets the better of them, and they proceed behind the curtain. Awaiting them is a motionless fortune teller (Clytie Jessop) holding a pair of shears. Stare into the shears, Diablo tells them, and their destiny will appear before them. First up is Colin (Michael Bryant), who holds back his rich uncle's (Maurice Denham) medicine as he lays dying in the hope of finding out where his dough is hidden. The uncle dies however, so Colin searches for the loot. What he stumbles upon is a demonic cat who demands murder in exchange for gold coins. Next is Carla (Beverly Adams), a Hollywood up-and-comer who steals her best friend's date for the night, and winds up at the table of big time producer Eddie Storm (John Phillips) and heartthrob actor Bruce Benton (Robert Hutton). Benton has been around for years but hasn't seemed to have aged a day. She soon discovers his secret and the reason why stars of the silver screen maintain their youthful beauty. The third story, seen through the eyes of Dorothy (Barbara Ewing), tells of her doomed romance with concert pianist Leo (John Standing), and how their relationship comes under threat when Leo's piano becomes jealous with murderous rage.Torture Garden saves the best story for last, and features two screen heavyweights in Jack Palance and Peter Cushing. In The Man Who Collected Poe, Palance plays Poe enthusiast Ronald, who visits renowned Poe collector and the possessor of the greatest screen name ever, Lancelot Canning. Canning has collected everything from the great writer's possessions to his actual manuscripts, but Ronald notices that some of these unpublished writings have been scribbled on 1966 paper. Like all anthology films, some stories work better than others. The first three segments range from passable to downright terrible, with the third part, Mr. Steinway, proving the most ridiculous and forgettable. Amicus would go on to make more, such as The House That Dripped Blood, Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror, and Torture Garden may just be the most disposable of the bunch. It's worth seeing for Palance and Cushing trying to out-ham each other in what is the only truly engrossing story of the bunch, and Burgess Meredith has fun in what is essentially a re-hash of his Penguin character from the Adam West Batman television series. As a complete film, it's both too camp to be scary and not camp enough to be charming.

'Torture Garden' ( 1967 ) doesn't feature a garden, much less any torture. It was the second horror anthology produced by Amicus following 'Dr.Terrors House Of Horrors' ( 1964 ), inspired by the Ealing classic 'Dead Of Night' ( 1945 ). Whereas the former movie was scripted by co-producer Milton Subotsky, 'Garden' was based on stories by Robert Bloch, author of 'Psycho'. A group of assorted people visit a macabre fairground attraction - 'Torture Garden' - where they meet 'Dr.Diabolo' ( Burgess Meredith ), an odd little man who promises to reveal their futures to each of them in turn. All they have to do is stand before a waxwork of Atropos - The Goddess Of Destiny ( Clytie Jessop ) - and all will be revealed.Colin Williams ( the excellent Michael Bryant ) murders his rich uncle Roger ( Maurice Denham ) and is then plagued by a strange cat called Balthazar which keeps ordering him to kill.Sexy aspiring starlet Carla Hayes ( Beverly Adams ) uncovers the existence of a secret Hollywood elite - movie stars who have preserved their good looks by being turned into robots by Dr.Heim ( Bernard Kay ). Rather than kill her to keep her quiet, Heim gives her the same treatment.Dorothy Endicott ( Barbara Ewing ) becomes secretary to a world-famous pianist ( John Standing ), only to fall in love with him, incurring the wrath of his deceased mother who has been reincarnated - if you can believe this - as a piano.Ronald Wyatt ( Jack Palance ) is an avid book collector, in particular the works of Edgar Allan Poe. He visits fellow collector - Launcelot Canning ( Peter Cushing ) at his Maryland home, and finds a veritable shrine to the late author ( I bet Canning has copies of the Roger Corman/Vincent Price A.I.P. movies stashed away somewhere ). Finding unpublished works on modern paper, Wyatt demands to know where they came from. The answer is startling. Canning has managed to resurrect Poe from the dead...Once the stories are over, there is a final twist concerning the true identity of Dr.Diabolo.This is not a bad collection, at times it resembles the Hammer television series 'Journey To The Unknown'. As is usually the case in movies such as this, the stories themselves are a mixed bag - the first and last ones are the best, while the third is absolute rubbish ( if you can restrain yourself from laughing as Barbara Ewing is murdered by a piano, you're made of stronger stuff than I am ). Story number two is 'Twilight Zone' style science fiction, and sticks out like a sore thumb. The last one is my favourite, with Palance hamming it up as a man obsessed with Edgar Allan Poe. You can feel his envy as Canning shows him round his private collection. Cushing is, as ever, excellent. And good old Penguin himself ( Burgess Meredith ) is always watchable.'Atropos' appears in all four stories - keep an eye out for her.Bloch wrote two more movies in similar vein for Amicus - 'The House That Dripped Blood' ( 1970 ) and 'Asylum' ( 1971 ).

TORTURE GARDEN is a Amicus horror anthology that seems rather forgotten . It rarely turns up on television but even so it's slightly puzzling why it's not fondly remembered . After seeing it I've come to the logical conclusion that whilst it isn't dreadfully camp like the rather dire THE MONSTER CLUB it lacks a morbid fun factor like VAULT OF HORROR has in abundance . There's also the feeling that the movie s marketed towards an American audience thereby making the TORTURE GARDEN lose much of its British charm the Amicus anthologies had in their favourThe stories themselves are rather hit and miss which leads to the train of thought that if you dislike one story then they'll be one along in a minute that you might prefer . And in these type of stories the old warning that be careful what you wish for because you might just get it are at the centre of the tale . The first and fourth stories are the best but none of them are outstanding - they're merely okay

Throughout the mid 60s and early 70s Amicus Productions churned out a series of wonderful little horror anthologies including: DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS (1965), THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD (1970), ASYLUM (1972), TALES FROM THE CRYPT (1972, which is my all-time favorite anthology), THE VAULT OF HORROR (1973, second best of the bunch), FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE (1973), and TORTURE GARDEN (1967).TORTURE GARDEN features Burgess Meredith, Jack Palance, and Peter Cushing.The film begins at a carnival side-show, which is Dr. Diabolo's Torture Garden. For those willing to stick around, and pay 5 pounds more, awaits the shock of a lifetime – with a money back guaranty! This is an anthology, comprised of four stories plus a wraparound (the wraparound is the 'in-between' story that ties the rest together). I love anthologies; both for the hits and the misses… my general feeling is that about half of the stories work; and, the others not so well.The first story features a man very much in debt; but, a fair bit of luck comes his way after his uncle dies, with a little help, nonetheless. Turns out, the man is the sole beneficiary of his uncle's inheritance, but it comes with a few strings attached, one being a cat with an unusual diet and psychic powers.The second story features a comely woman who would do anything to make it in the movie business, including betraying her roommate. She soon learns of a group within the business, who never seem to age; and, will do anything to protect their secret (think Death Becomes Her.) The third tale involves a female musical journalist doing a piece on a famed pianist. The two hit it off; and, a whirlwind romance ensues. However, problems arise due to the strange relationship between the man and his piano (extra points for the obscure reference to the ancient Greek muse Euterpe!) The fourth story is the best of the bunch; and, it features two extremely avid Edgar Allan Poe collectors. Turns out the Poe-passion runs in the family, as the one man's grandfather started accumulating Poe memorabilia, which his father followed, and now he is doing. The other man is envious; bur, soon discovers there's more to this collection that meets the eye.Amicus did produce a number of different type films including horror (The Psychopath, which I rated 7 out of 10); and, some science fiction (They Came From Beyond Space and The Terrornauts).However, the production company's strength was the horror anthology. Overall the stories in TORTURE GARDEN aren't very horrific or very shocking, but they do provide some disturbing atmosphere, and there's a lot of fun to be had here.