Film Snail

6.3

The Vault of Horror

R·1973·83m

Horror

Summary

The sequel to Tales from the Crypt. Five strangers trapped in a basement vault converse about their recurring nightmares. Their stories include vampires, bodily dismemberment, east Indian mysticism, an insurance scam, and an artist who kills by painting his victims' deaths.

Cast

Anna Massey

Donna Rogers (segment 1 "Midnight Mess")

Terry-Thomas

Arthur Critchit (segment 2 "The Neat Job")

Glynis Johns

Eleanor Critchit (segment 2 "The Neat Job")

John Forbes-Robertson

Wilson (segment 2 "The Neat Job")

Curd Jürgens

Sebastian (segment 3 "This Trick'll Kill You")

Dawn Addams

Inez (segment 3 "This Trick'll Kill You")

Ishaq Bux

Fakir (segment 3 "This Trick'll Kill You")

Michael Craig

Maitland (segment 4 "Bargain in Death")

Edward Judd

Alex (segment 4 "Bargain in Death")

Robin Nedwell

Tom (segment 4 "Bargain in Death")

Geoffrey Davies

Jerry (segment 4 "Bargain in Death")

Tom Baker

Moore (segment 5 "Drawn and Quartered")

Denholm Elliott

Diltant (segment 5 "Drawn and Quartered")

Terence Alexander

Fenton Breedley (segment 5 "Drawn and Quartered")

Erik Chitty

Old Waiter (segment 1 "Midnight Mess")

Mike Pratt

Clive (segment 1 "Midnight Mess")

Jerold Wells

Waiter (segment 1 "Midnight Mess")

Marianne Stone

Jane (segment 2 "The Neat Job")

Frank Forsyth

Male Customer (segment 1 "Midnight Mess")

Jasmina Hilton

Indian Girl (segment 3 "This Trick'll Kill You")

Arthur Mullard

Gravedigger (segment 4 "Bargain in Death")

Geraldine Hart

Landlady (segment 4 "Bargain in Death")

John Witty

Gaskill (segment 5 "Drawn and Quartered")

Tony Hazel

Voodoo Man (segment 5 "Drawn and Quartered")

Maurice Kaufmann

Bob Dickson (segment 5 "Drawn and Quartered")

Sylvia Marriott

Mrs. Breedley (segment 5 "Drawn and Quartered")

Tommy Godfrey

Landlord (segment 5 "Drawn and Quartered")

Elsa Smith

Secretary (segment 5 "Drawn and Quartered")

Tony Wall

Painter (segment 5 "Drawn and Quartered")

Daniel Massey

Harold Rogers (segment 1 "Midnight Mess")

George Oliver

Restaurant Vampire (segment "Midnight Mess") (uncredited)

Daniel Johns

Cutter (segment 5 "Drawn and Quartered")

Egbert Sen

Man in the crowd (uncredited)

Crew

Director

Roy Ward Baker

Screenplay

Milton Subotsky

Story

Al Feldstein

Story

William M. Gaines

Reviews

Unimonster

December 16, 2017

The Vault of Horror (1973, Roy Ward Baker)

Just as Britain's premier house of horror, Hammer Films, was entering the period of it's final decline in the early 1970s, a new challenger for the throne arose. This was Amicus Productions, founded in 1962 by two American screenwriters and producers, Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg. Beginning in 1965, with Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, Amicus focused on horror films, especially anthology film inspired by the 1945 British classic Dead of Night.

In 1972 the studio released it's best known title, Tales from the Crypt. Based upon the EC comic book of the same name, the movie was a huge hit, on both sides of the Atlantic. It was only natural, then, that it would be quickly followed up by a similar film, again sharing a title with a classic EC comic, The Vault of Horror.

The movie consists of five short stories, framed by five men who find themselves trapped in the basement of a building, and begin recounting their nightmares to each other. These range from a man who finds himself at dinner with the undead, to a starving artist with the power to kill through his art. The cast is impressive, and while the stories are, as with all such movies, uneven in quality, that unevenness is much less pronounced than is the norm, with the final tale being the weakest.

Speaking personally, I love these anthology films, also referred to as Portmanteau films. It's much easier to construct a short horror tale than a long one, and the story telling is often better. Though not as well known as the earlier Tales from the Crypt, I think it's the better film, and it's one of my favorites. Give it a try!