Dr. Terror's House of Horrors

Plot synopsis:
Five strangers board a train and are joined by a mysterious fortune teller [Peter Cushing] who offers to read their Tarot cards. Five separate stories unfold: An architect returns to his ancestoral home to find a werewolf out for revenge; a doctor discovers his new wife is a vampire; a huge plant takes over a house; a musician gets involved with voodoo; an art critic is pursued by a disembodied hand. By the end, the train riders learn of their true fates in one of the best twists in cinematic history.In "The Vampire" segment, Dr Bob Carroll [Donald Sutherland] draws the Empress, the Hermit, the Star, and the Lovers. His story reveals him marrying a French girl, Nicole [Jennifer Jane]. Upon moving into their new house, Bob cuts his finger and Nicole sucks the blood. At night, she stares out the window at the stars. One morning, Bob and his associate Dr Blake [Max Adrian], examine a boy with anemia and two wounds on neck. Blake suggests that there is a vampire around. That night, Nicole goes to Blake and, as a bat, attempts to bite him. He throws his arms into a cross and she flies away. Next day, the boy is worse. Blake spends the night with him and shoots at a bat. Nicole wakens Bob; she has bloody fingers and claims she cut herself on window. Blake tells Bob that his wife is vampire and he must kill her with a stake. He does so. Police come. Blake denies ever saying such a thing. As Bob is taken away, Blake says, "This town isn't big enough for two doctors...or two vampires," whereupon Blake turns into a bat and flies away. [Synopsis by bj_kuehl]--------------------------KrystelClaire's synopsis:We begin with the 7:55 train for Bradley. Five very different gentlemen coincide in a coach. One of them is a weirdly mysterious tarot reader Dr Shreck (Peter Cushing), who seems to be checking his company. The initials in his briefcase read W. R. S.. Its contents fall to the floor, and Dr Bob Carroll (Donald Sutherland) wonders at the strange cards. Dr Shreck is a doctor in Metaphysics, and his surname means "terror", so he is the Dr Terror of the title. He says that he sometimes predicts horrible things, although he's an amiable person. These tarot cards predict the natural and the supranatural, and he Shreck calls them his "house of horrors". In spite of some of the disbelief, one of them decides to give it a go. After all, if it can't be changed it's better to know. Dr Terror tells him that he is a courageous man, and tells him to touch the tarot cards three times. Dr Terror shows four cards.Tale 1:  Wereworlf Mr Tod Callaghan (Edward Underdown)'s office. There are to architects in that office, him and Jim "Jamie" Dawson (Neil McCallum) and Mrs. Deirdre Biddulph (Ursula Howells) wants to make some structural changes to her new house. A hansom carriage takes him to the mansion. It's a misty night. Caleb (Peter Madden) welcomes Mr Jamie. Valda (Katy Wild) opens the door - she's Caleb's grandchild. They three used to know each other from childhood. Jim's family used to live there for centuries before, until they had to sell it. Deirdre used to be a doctor's wife, but now as a widow she's still beautiful. She wants to demolish a wall to create a bigger ballroom. She had suffered a nervous breakdown at her husband's funeral; he used to be an archaeologist, and she wants to make a museum in his honour.Jim hears an owl which interrupts their conversation, but can't see anything. Valda seems to be spying on him all the time. Caleb didn't grease a door to the basement. He notices scratches on a wall. There's a hidden room behind that plaster wall. Caleb says it's Cosmo Waldemar's coffin. Cosmo allegedly said that the Dawsons stole the mansion from him, and that one of them would take his place in his coffin; But that happened 200 years ago. In spite of that, the plaster looked new. They can't open the coffin, so they go to find another tool. Immediately, the coffin opens from the inside. The basement door is open and there are footprints on the floor but Deirdre didn't see anything leave the home.Valda leaves a note for Jim saying that she wants to talk with him. Caleb finds her immediately, dead. There are bloodstains which lead to the basement. Jim follows them to Cosmo's coffin. Jim tells Deirdre to lock herself in her bedroom. Jim will use a silver crucifix to make silver bullets for the gun which Caleb is going to lend to him. Deirdre is reading, and she is attacked by a wolf. Jim shoots it, but it runs away.It's Deirdre who's dangerous. Cosmo will live again when a descendant of the man who killed him will be in the coffin. She is Cosmo Waldemar's widow and has been loyal to him for 200 years.The fifth card is DEATH. Jim is nervous, because he's going to that same place. Mr Franklyn Marsh (Christopher Lee) is very cynic about it all, as he thinks that Dr Terror is just a smooth operator. He thinks that Dr Terror knew his name because he's a renown art critic. Another one says that he's never heard of him.Another candidate is Bill Rogers (Alan Freeman). Now he's going on a holiday with his wife and daughter, but when he returns...Tale 2: Creeping VineBill, Carol (Phoebe Nicholls) and Ann (Ann Bell) return home. The latter notices a new plant and tells Bill to kill it off before it affects her flowers. Bill can't cut the plant, and it looks like it screamed. Jerry Drake (Jeremy Kemp) is a botanist who's going to check it out. Carol plays with Rusty, the dog, and a ball. She goes to have tea, and leaves Rusty to pick up a small playball next to the plant. The plant kills Rusty, which was messing with the soil all over the place. Hopkins (Bernard Lee) makes a study about vegetable life; it must be a mutation which has given the plant some intelligence to protect themselves. They think it's a fantasy, but a plant like that could take on the world.Under the microscope, a brain is found in one of the plants. Carol won't play in the yard without Rusty. The plant attacks Jerry and strangles him. The vine cuts the phone wire and doesn't let anyone out. Ann holds Carol. The vine is all over the windows. Hopkins realises that the vine is afraid of fire when it tries to get away from a match he lights. Hopkins uses that to leave the home and call for help. However, the vine kills him and learns to put the fire out.Dr Horror has as the fifth card death's again. Marsh isn't courageous enough to touch the cards three times.Tale 3: VoodooWally (Russ Henderson) is a musician at a band; he plays the trumpet. The agent, Roy Shine (Harold Lang) sends him to Dupont, in the West Indies, where he'll play at the Flamingo. Sammy Coin (Kenny Lynch) is leaving, and the band is his replacement. The cigarette lady (Valerie St. Clair) has a huge weird ring. Everybody stares at Biff Bailey (Roy Castle) who is mocking voodoo. Sammy tells him not to mess with it, but Biff won't pay attention, and he sees the ritual. Cigarette girl is there, dancing and having a fit. Biff doesn't real that he's been surrounded by male dancers. Vrim (Christopher Carlos) is furious that Biff has written the music of the god Dambala (Thomas Baptiste). Vrim pushes Biff away. Biff says that he'll record the song when he's back in London. He's not afraid of Dambala, but at that moment the balustrade breaks under him, and he falls to a pond.Back in London, a musician (Tubby Hayes) tells him to be careful messing with voodoo. Biff and his band play a tune based on the voodoo rhythm. There's an image of Dambala as well. The breeze becomes wind, windows open, it becomes night, customers start to leave and panic spreads. The owner decides to do up all the place again when he collects on insurance. Tubby advises Biff not to take Dambala or the score home. Biff is nervous and falls to the floor. There is a commercial for Dr Terror's House of Horrors .Biff arrives home, where he lives alone. The window closes because of the wind, the lights turn themselves out and Dambala picks the score from his voodoo song from the fainting Biff. He leaves while Biff is still on the floor. Biff wants to see his fifth card, and sees that it's the death.Tale 4: Disembodied HandFranklyn Marsh says that Eric Landor (Michael Gough)'s painting is remarkable... because it's an atrocity. A group of spectators. a Lady (Faith Kent) tells Landor of what's happening. The painter goes out to talk to Marsh and question his authority to judge his black-and-white abstract etchings. The lady brings out a colourful painting, whom Marsh praises to no end: the balance, the colour, the brushwork, the humour of the whole composition. Landor shows him and the audience who painted everything: it was a monkey dressed in overalls and a navy t-shirt. A spectator (Pauline Chamberlain) laughs with a shrill voice.At a formal dinner, a toastmaster (Frank Forsyth) introduces Marsh, who has to give a speech, but Landor shows him cutouts of a monkey, and that makes Franklyn feel dizzy. In another exhibition, Landon inquiries about Marsh's opinions. Landon scares him away just for standing by his side. Marsh runs over Landor in purpose. At hospital, a nurse (Judy Cornwell) tells the surgeon that the patient is Eric Landor, the artist. The surgeon says "not anymore". The newscast announces that Landor is at St Michael's hospital, still unconscious. Eric Landor wakes up to find that his right hand is missing.Franklyn tells workpal George (Brian Hawkins) at the newspaper that he can't concentrate, and doesn't want to go for a drink. Eric Landor commits suicide because his professional life is over.A hand crawls behind Franklyn Marsh while he's driving. The hand attacks him but Marsh throws it out of the window. He gets home feeling very distressed. There are some knocks on the door, but nobody outside number 27. Marsh locks himself in without realising that the hand has crawled in. He tries to get his shit together until he feels the hand is grabbing one of his legs. He puts the dusty hand on the bonfire of his fireplace.The following day, the darkened hand crawls into his office and gets up into his table; then, it jumps to his neck to strangle it. Marsh uses a letter opener to stab the hand several times, and put it into a box. He wraps the box into a packet and throws it into a river. George and Franklyn drink at a pub. Another friend (John Martin) congratulates Franklyn in solving whatever problem was affecting him. It's a dark, rainy night when Franklyn leaves home, driving.Suddenly, the hand appears outside the windscreen holding onto a wiper. Franklyn's so startled that he steers like a madman and has a car accident. When the police and the ambulance arrive, a man (Walter Sparrow) comments that Franklyn won't die, but that he'll be blind forever. He comments that there are many things which a blind man can still do.The Franklyn Marsh in the train is startled about the story although he doesn't want to admit it. Dr Terror picks the death card again when he's questioned how to prevent this from happening.Tale 5: VampireDr Bob Carroll (Donald Sutherland) cuts himself with a can opener. Nicolle (Jennifer Jayne), his wife, doesn't want him to tend to the small wound, but kisses and sucks on it. That night, there is a bat outside.Bob feels tired and is waiting for Dr. Blake (Max Adrian), whom he works with in a clinic. She can take his car because Blake will drive Bob to work anyway. There, a boy called Johnny Barry (Frank Barry), feels week and has little blood. His mother, Mrs Ellis (Irene Richmond) said that it began suddenly. Blake comments like it looks as if a vampire has attacked Johnny while the nurse (Laurie Leigh) takes Johnny away. Bob mocks the notion in front of Nicholle, who takes things in her own hands. Blake pretends to leave and then follows Nicholle up the stairs. Suddenly, a huge bat appears out of nowhere. He tells Bob that the bat didn't attack him because he did the sign of the cross with this arms.Blake wants to accompany Johnny while he sleeps with his window open, as he's seen two punctures in his neck. The bat appears and he shoots it.Bob wakes up and sees Nicholle who says that she's caught her hand when was about to close the window. Blake wants to put a wooden stick in Nicholle's heart, or, more precisely, he wants Bob to do it, as it'd be easier to do it. He notices the bat returning through the window and then Nicholle is there. Bob pretends to be sleeping, but says "I love you" to her.Cut to a police car with its sirens on. A detective (Al Mulock) listens to Bob's story with incredulity. Bob tells him that Dr Blake will confirm his story; but when he enters, he says it's a ridiculous excuse for having committed murder. Bob insists that he told him; Blake doesn't acknowledge to have been attacked. Bob is arrested on the spot. Blake stays behind and he says that the town is too small for two doctors... or two vampires.Dr Terror shows him his fifth card: death.Dr Terror touches the cards three times. He picks one and it's death as well. They realise that it's the train, which is going to have an accident. Marsh interrogates Dr Terror, asking who he is. He vanishes when they go through a dark tunnel.The five gentlemen are very satisfied: they have reached their destination without accidents. They get off, but the foggy atmosphere and void town looks unnatural. A used newspaper appears taken by the wind: TRAIN CRASHES - FIVE DEAD. They stare at each other.Dr Schreck is Death himself, and he shows himself as a skull in a robe.The five gentlemen walk slowly after Dr Schreck.---written by KrystelClaire

Tags: revenge

Review:
I simply admire those 60's and early 70's English horror movies from Amicus.They're so charming and fun to watch(albeit sometimes goofy)that I really appreciate this kind of entertainment.Christopher Lee is excellent as usual and the rest of the cast is also splendid.The film contains five rather weird stories.The best one-The Disembodied Hand involves an art critic,who is terrorized by a severed hand.By today's standards "Doctor Terror's House of Horrors" isn't very scary or violent,but it features some really creepy scenes.All in all this is simply a must-see for fans of the English horror.My rating:7/10..
As I said previously, it's not horrific but really, I could watch the likes of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee sitting in an open field reading aloud from the Edinburgh and Lothians phone book, so to see them in a creepy train carriage sparring over the merits of fortune tellers and "the entire lunatic fringe" is just a joy.
The standout tales are 'Voodoo', which features Roy Castle as a jazz horn player who nicks a piece of sacred African music while spying on a voodoo ceremony and comes to regret it, and 'Disembodied Hand', an unpleasant story of wounded pride, foul play, and revenge that stars Christopher Lee and Michael Gough.
It has the wonderful atmosphere, photography and pacing that is sorely missed in today's films.It is also nice to see a horror film where the cast look and act like adults, instead of a bunch of high school kids.My favorite segments are Werewolf and Voodoo, though I did enjoy seeing Jennifer Jayne (Trollenberg Terror) in Vampire.For those who do not understand the title, the reason the film is called Dr. Terror's House of Horrors is because, in the film, Dr. Shreck refers to his tarot card deck as his "house of horrors"..
Peter Cushing is excellent and eerie as usual as Dr. Schreck, and fellow horror icon Christopher Lee is equally great as one of the passengers in the train, an arrogant art-critic.
Ranks above many of the similar films which followed by having classic horror themes in the stories - werewolves, voodoo, severed hand, killer plant and vampires.
That said we do have the one comic relief story, which as usual is by far the weakest - here we have Roy Castle as a jazz musician getting caught up in voodoo.It is the framing story in these horror anthologies which often make or break the entire film, and in 'Dr Terror's ....' it is excellent with Cushing having a real tone of menace as the quietly spoken, sinister Dr Schreck, as the action switches back to the increasingly claustrophobic train carriage.At a time when Hammer's standards were beginning to slip, Amicus provided an important rival which ensured the British horror output remained interesting and inventive for quite some time..
TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (Techniscope)Sound format: MonoFive travellers on an overnight train are told their fortunes by a mysterious old man (Peter Cushing) who turns out to be...
Rosenberg as a response to various tax concessions which encouraged an upsurge in British movie-making, independent studio Amicus hit the ground running with this breezy horror anthology, directed by famed cinematographer Freddie Francis, in which several heavyweight thesps (including Christopher Lee and a very young Donald Sutherland, the latter a sop to US audiences) and a couple of notable UK media celebrities (entertainer Roy Castle, DJ Alan Freeman) meet grisly fates at the hands of various supernatural entities (werewolf, creeping vine, voodoo, disembodied hand and vampire, respectively).Lavishly photographed by Alan Hume in widescreen Techniscope - Francis had, of course, learned a thing or two about widescreen composition during his work on SONS AND LOVERS (1960) and THE INNOCENTS (1961), amongst others!
Each story has its merits, but director and scriptwriter keep the best two for last: Lee's pompous art critic is haunted by the living severed hand of an artist (Michael Gough) he drove to suicide, and Sutherland discovers his new bride's (Jennifer Jayne) bloodthirsty secret, leading to a twist in the tale...Lee gives the showiest performance, as a haughty member of the critical Establishment whose ego leads him on the path to self-destruction, but his fellow cast members all rise to the occasion, and Francis even manages to indulge Castle's famed jazz trumpeting abilities without holding up the plot!
Further, they find their fate and who the mysterious fortune teller Dr. Terror is."Dr. Terror's House of Horrors" is a great anthology from Amicus Productions with five short stories.
Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Donald Sutherland are part of the cast and synonym of a great entertainment for fans of British horror films from the 60's.
TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS (1965) *** Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Donald Sutherland.
Effectively creepy horror flick with five men aboard a train who are told their fates/fortunes by a spooky doctor's Tarot cards with a quintet of tales of the macabre; the best is "The Hand" with Lee as an art critic who gets his comeuppence by an artist's dismembered hand!.
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.
But what I liked the best about this anthology was the train ride scenes where they were getting their tarot cards read.Really good film for late at night or for the 31 Days of Halloween Movie Fest.8.5/10.
Freddie Francis directed this five-part horror anthology framed by five strangers in a train car being read their futures by a mysterious fortune teller(played by Peter Cushing) via Tarot cards.
I think the first critic was watching another film but this proves to be a very great horror by the British.Story concerns a man Dr. Terror who reveals the future of his passengers.
Fun. Five enjoyable horror stories strung together by Peter Cushing telling people their fate on a train with Tarot cards.
The first story deals with werewolves--very creepy and well-done (if you can see it on a big screen); the second is about killer plants--the worst of the movie...bad special effects and lousy acting; the third is an eerie little voodoo tale; the fourth is about a disembodied hand going after an obnoxious critic (Christopher Lee); the last is about a man (Donald Sutherland!!!) discovering his wife is a vampire...very funny.
The things that worked against it were the weakness of some of the stories, like for instance, the devouring plant, and the miscasting of Roy Castle and Alan Freeman, who were out of their depth in a horror film (whoever came up with that idea, are we hard up for actors or something??).
Five strangers on board a train and are joined by the mysterious Dr Shreck, he's a fortune teller and offers to read their Tarot cards.Five men, five stories, Werewolf, The Creeping Vine, Voodoo, Disembodied Hand & Vampire.
I finally got to see it one night in the 70s when my parents were out, I can even remember the time and channel it was shown on, in fact I can still remember now the feeling of dread that took over me as Christopher Lee is pursued by a severed hand, checking under my bed before turning the lights off.Now that's the beauty of horror films isn't it?
This is a fun movie that is uneven but worth sticking with.The wonderfully named Dr. Shreck(played by the always reliable Peter Cushing)is the Tarot reading mystery man dispensing unpleasant fates for his fellow travellers who include Donald Sutherland(looking little more than a lad here) and Christopher Lee. The best of the five segments are--in order of merit-- Lee's episode where he plays a pompous art critic who is stalked  by a severed hand, some scenes which were reminiscent of the early Oliver Stone film The Hand, the final episode dealing with small town doc Sutherland and vampirism that hits close to home and the episode of the jazz musician who steals a West Indie voodoo melody and has to deal with the consequences.
Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965) *** (out of 4) Five men including Donald Sutherland and Christopher Lee board a train where they are greeted by a sixth person, Dr. Sandor Schreck (Peter Cushing) who then tells them their future.
A recipe for disaster, this certainly is; as pretty soon after the train has started, Cushing is reading the other 5 men's fates with the use of his deck of tarot cards, which he likes to call his "House of horrors".
You think of a riveting Hammer Films production when you see names like Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Michael Gough...not this time.
A nice Cushing/Lee movie from Amicus with a young Donald Sutherland, this film would inspire the 70s Tales From The Crypt movie, which is one of the classic horror anthology films and somewhat inspired the success of 90s TV series.
Maybe another older movie used this framing device, but I'm sure that TFTC's producers were looking at this British hit when they put their film together."Dr. Terror" is slow and clunky but the stories are short enough and each feature a nice bygone horror antagonist thats more charming than scary.
This tale is cool, as there aren't really enough killer plant horror stories in this viewers' humble opinion.In "Voodoo", Roy Castle plays Biff Bailey, leader of a jazz band hired for a gig in the West Indies.
A sixth man(Peter Cushing) arrives who goes by Dr. Schreck, which means "terror." As the ride begins, he offers to tell the men their fortunes by using his Tarot Cards, or as he calls them, his "House of Horrors." Thus, the 5 tales unfold.
This film takes me back to my teenage years watching it on the TV when all we had was hammer horror films to watch and staying up late to watch it.I love Peter Cushing his voice and acting he just made the film, the stories were not all good my least fave was the plant one with Alan Freeman not at all scary just silly.My favourite was the vampire one which stuck in my mind because I love vampires, Jennifer Jayne was a good vampire even if you did not see her fangs or biting anyone it just was the allure of her going into the night as a bat, granted not good effects but for the time OK.
Max Adrian plays his part well and he is perhaps the best thing to be found in this disappointing final tale.The twist ending to the linking story would have been very surprising when this movie came out but seems very formulaic for those who have seen other Amicus anthologies.
Thanks to the power of Tarot, Schreck tells them each a story of how they will die -- tales involving voodoo, vampires, a creeping hand and deadly plants...And this is from director Freddie Francis, known for his work with Hammer (and Amicus, which this film is).
However, story 2 (killer vine) and story 3 (voodoo) are disappointingly silly, whilst story 5 about a vampire (with a baby-faced Donald Sutherland)is good and has a nice twist at the end.The best story of the lot (by far) is Story 4 with Christopher Lee as a savage art critic and Michael Gough as a sensitive artist - watch out for the disembodied hand!
What a horrible title!I wonder who chose it.First of all,it takes place on a train!A mysterious man offers to tell five travelers their future,thanks to tarots.This is actually a film made up of sketches ,with short returns to the present,and a spooky epilogue which has a contemporary feel today (think "los ostros" "the sixth sense" "campfire tales" "Jacob's ladder" :do you know what I mean?) Segment one: a werewolf tale ,not particularly original ,but entertaining,passable Gothic stuff.Segment two:a maleficent creeping vine,the weakest link,IMHO.Segment three :voodoo time,involving a musician who stole "sacred" music.Not bad,and fine score.Segment four:by far the best of the lot;probably inspired by Maurice Tourneur's (Jack's father)stunning "la main du diable" (1943),it is a creepy story,not forgetting humor (the young artist with good prospects).Might have influenced in return Douglas Hickox's "theater of blood" and its "death to the critics!".Segment five :features an unusually young Donald Sutherland.A vampire tale saved by the sense of humor displayed in its last scene.All in all,this is pretty entertaining stuff..
But with a great cast including Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Donald Sutherland and Roy Castle, there is still plenty to enjoy about this silly-but-fun offering.Five men on a train are joined by a mysterious fortune teller by the name of Dr. Schreck (which, literally translated, is Dr. Terror).
In the final story, Donald Sutherland discovers his wife is a vampire (this tale has a nice twist ending).Amicus later went on to fine tune the anthology movie with Tales from the Crypt, From Beyond the Grave and Vault of Horror; whilst these are all better than Dr.Terror's House of Horrors, the movie is still worth giving a go.
Both Castle and Lynch master the art of performing music without microphones, but their story doesn't really go anywhere, as does the opening werewolf segment.Easily the best are the final two entries with Christopher Lee and Donald Sutherland, though even here we have to contend with a plastic hand (complete with close ups of the seal down the side) and a rubber vampire bat.
It is a bit corny that Blake turns out to be the vampire himself but it is slickly done – Freddie Francis directs all the 5 stories rather well in fact- and Sutherland is, as he usually was, very good whilst Adrian is good too.The final scene where those on the train/house are revealed to be already dead became something of an Amicus trademark and it is not particularly well done here – certainly in comparison with the generally superior Tales From The Crypt- and is a rather bland ending to a film that is short on gore but strong on atmosphere..
During the journey, the doctor opens his pack of Tarot cards, which he calls his "House of Horrors", and proceeds to reveal the destinies of each of the travellers........Anthology films are always a mixed bag of nuts, but it doesn't matter if there is a poor segment of the anthology (there usually is), the fundamental part of the film, in order for it to work, is the wrap around story.Surprisingly, the wrap around story, involving the six in a train carriage, is the most sinister and haunting part of the film, and this is because of the wonderfully restrained performance from the titular doctor himself, Peter Cushing.Any other horror film made around this time would have the main 'villain' mugging and playing up to the camera, but the thing that makes Cushing's portrayal so eerie, is that he appears to be just as normal as the other five passengers.The stories, as I've already said, are something of a mixed bag, we have one about a werewolf and an old house with a curse, a wonderfully over the top story about Roy Castle stealing some Voodoo song, a woeful story about a killer plant, and another featuring Donald Sutherland who is tricked into killing his wife, whom is a vampire.But the stand out has to be the Christopher Lee story, about a dismembered hand following him, looking for revenge.
Neil McCallum encounters a werewolf in the Hebrides, Roy Castle has trouble with voodoo music, Alan 'Fluff' Freeman finds a strange plant in his garden, Christopher Lee flees from a disembodied hand and Donald Sutherland discovers he is married to a vampire.
As soon as you see the characters in their train compartment you know you are in for a great ride, there are some of the silver screens most iconic legends: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Donald Sutherland, Neil McCallum, Alan Freeman and Roy Castle.
"House of Horrors" is what newly-minted Kraut mystic Peter Cushing calls his tarot deck, and in keeping with the nomenclature, every fortune he tells to his coach-mates in the wicked framing-story is a litany of inescapable doom - death by killer plants, vampires, voodoo, disembodied hands, you name it.
Once there strange things start to happen as an ancient highland legend appears to become reality...The second story is 'Creeping Vine' which sees Bill Rogers (Alan Freeman) his wife Ann (Ann Bell) & daughter Carol (Sarah Nichols) held hostage & terrorised by an intelligent killer plant...The third story is called 'Voodoo' & features musician Biff Bailey (Roy Castle) stealing the music from an ancient voodoo ritual during a visit to the West Indies, however the voodoo god Dambala dislikes thieves...Then it's a story called 'Disembodied Hand' in which art critic Franklyn Marsh (Christopher Lee) is humiliated by artist Eric Landor (Michael Gough) in a tale of unusual revenge & retribution...The fifth & final segment is 'Vampire' where an American Doctor named Bob Carroll (Donald Sutherland) & his new wife Nicole (Jennifer Jayne) return home where shortly after an apparent series of vampire attacks begin...Then it's back to the train carriage to discover it's destination & one final revelation & twist...This English produced film was directed by Freddie Francis & was the first in a series of anthology horror films from Amicus studios, their next effort was the disappointing Torture Garden (1967), I have always liked these anthology films that feature short horror tales with nice twists & while Dr. Terror's House of Horrors isn't the best it isn't too bad at all.
Peter Cushing, of course, is a stalwart of British horror movies, but also along for the ride are Roy Castle, in his first feature film appearance, Alan Freeman (actually Australian, but he made his name in the UK), Christopher Lee, and the Canadian Donald Sutherland.