tavm This is another one of those obscure horror films I just discovered. Six passengers inhabit the same train car of which one of them is a Dr. Schreck (Peter Cushing) who has Tarot cards which can tell each passenger's future after each one taps on them three times. First passenger to do that is told of his coming back to his family home which he sold to a woman. There's a werewolf involved. Second tale has another passenger coming back to his family with some unusual plants waiting for him. Third tale has a jazz musician going to Haiti where he discovers some new music he wants to use for his own performances. Fourth tale concerns an art critic who gets humiliated by an artist he doesn't like. And the fifth one has a doctor dealing with what his wife really is. In many of these films, when Peter Cushing's around, Christopher Lee isn't far behind and here he's the art critic in the scariest and funniest of the five short tales in the movie. Michael Gough is also in that one as the artist. The tale with the unusual plant has the first M in the James Bond flicks-Bernard Lee-playing one of the investigators. And Donald Sutherland is in the last tale as one of two doctors. I thought the first two stories were pretty good, the third one had great musical performances, the fourth was the best one, and the fifth had an amusing ending. The reveal of the passengers' fate at the end was perhaps not too surprising but if you like these genre tales, you probably didn't mind... So that's a recommendation for Dr. Terror's House of Horrors.

Woodyanders The mysterious Dr. Schreck (superbly played with quiet menace by the magnificent Peter Cushing) relates five tales of terror to a quintet of men on board a train.First and just okay yarn, "Werewolf" -- A man resurrects a werewolf. Decent build-up with a fair pay-off. Second and most silly anecdote, "Creeping Vine" -- A house gets infected by a killer sentient vine. The inane premise makes this one impossible to take seriously. Third and oh-so-groovy vignette, "Voodoo" - Jazz musician Biff Bailey (a solid performance by Roy Castle) falls prey to a lethal voodoo curse after he steals a sacred song. Cool premise and swinging music make this baby a total gas. Fourth and most entertaining segment, "Disembodied Hand" -- Pompous snob art critic Franklyn Marsh (Christopher Lee in sterling supercilious form) finds himself being terrorized by the severed hand of painter Eric Landor (the always excellent Michael Gough) after he drives Landor to commit suicide. The relentless attacks by the disembodied hand are a hoot and Lee excels in his sublimely obnoxious portrayal of a hateful arrogant jerk. Last and very well done story, "Vampire" -- Newly married physician Bob Carroll (a very young and engaging Donald Sutherland) discovers that his bride Nicole (the fetching and enchanting Jennifer Jayne) is harboring a dark secret. Dandy eerie mood and a total corker of a surprise bummer ending.Director Freddie Francis maintains a steady pace throughout and adroitly crafts a tense spooky atmosphere in the wraparound segment. Milton Subotsky's crafty script delivers a few neat grim twists. Alan Hume's crisp widescreen cinematography provides a pleasing polished look. The shivery score by Elisabeth Lutyens hits the spine-tingling spot. An immensely enjoyable omnibus outing.

Hitchcoc This is a Freddie Francis film. It is remindful of some of the anthology series from the sixties that were seen on television. There are five supernatural tales concerning five men, riding in a train compartment. Along with them is a weird man with a pack of Tarot cards. He explains that these cards will tell the future of any man who wishes to take a chance. Of course, each is going to "tap the deck three times." The stories are disparate, and, sadly, have no connection to each other. The first involves a man who does house renovation who finds a stone casket in the basement of a house where he grew up. The second is about a plant that grows outside a house and begins to feast on living tissue. The third involves a musician who steals the music from a group of voodoo worshippers in the East Indies and finds you shouldn't mess with this. The fourth, played by Peter Cushing, tells of a severe art critic who tries to destroy the careers of artists, one in particular, who humiliated him. It's the old dismembered hand bit. And, finally, a man played by a very young Donald Sutherland, marries a beautiful French woman and gets more than he bargained for. They are held together by a contrived denouement. Still, the stories were fun and engaging.

Jape0808 When I first heard the name Dr. Terror's House of Horrors I was sure that it would flop. Nevertheless one night I decided to give it a try and I was actually surprised by it's quality. The beginning was very exciting and so were the first few stories. After that they began to turn into silly cliché horror stories, especially the third and fifth ones. Though the film turned into worse direction it wasn't enough to make this a bad movie.Peter Cushing gave one of his best performances in this film. He was perfect as Dr. Terror and the other actors were decent to good. The visuals were quite bad but what would you expect from this kind of film. Because of bad effects the film failed to be scary but that didn't really matter. The only real problem I had with visuals was the final scene which was done very badly (even though the idea was good).Given the budget and the release year this film is very well done. Especially Francis' direction was spectacular. The screenplay was at times great and sometimes terrible. (if you like classic horror plots this is a movie for you). The quality change between the stories were a serious minus for the film. I can't say this is an excellent or remarkable film but if you wish to see some good acting and directing then you should really consider giving this a try.