The Vault of Horror (1973)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Roy Ward Baker

Writers:

Al Feldstein (stories)
William M. Gaines (stories)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery

Tagline:

Below the Crypt lies Death's waiting-room - The . . . Vault of Horror

Plot:

Five men trapped in the basement vault of an office building share visions with each other of their demise...

Plot Keywords:

Death | Vampire | Artist | Painting | Vault

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Daniel Massey	...	Rogers (segment "1: Midnight Mass")
Anna Massey	...	Donna (segment "1: Midnight Mass")
Mike Pratt	...	Clive (segment "1: Midnight Mass") (as Michael Pratt)
Erik Chitty	...	Old Waiter (segment "1: Midnight Mass")
Jerold Wells	...	Waiter (segment "1: Midnight Mass")
Terry-Thomas	...	Critchit (segment "2: The Neat Job")
Glynis Johns	...	Eleanor (segment "2: The Neat Job")
Marianne Stone	...	Jane (segment "2: The Neat Job")
John Forbes-Robertson	...	Wilson (segment "2: The Neat Job")
Curd Jürgens	...	Sebastian (segment "3: This Trick'll Kill You") (as Curt Jurgens)
Dawn Addams	...	Inez (segment "3: This Trick'll Kill You")
Jasmina Hilton	...	Indian Girl (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")

Also Known As:

Further Tales from the Crypt
Tales from the Crypt, Part II

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Norway:18 | UK:15 | USA:PG (edited for re-rating) | USA:R (original rating) | Canada:PA (Manitoba)

Filming Locations:

Millbank Tower, Millbank, Westminster, London, England, UK

Company:

Amicus Productions

Trivia:

As he prepares to take his fake overdose the paperback book Michael Craig is reading is the film tie-in to Tales from the Crypt (1972).

Movie Connections:

Featured in Nightmare Theatre's Late Night Chill-o-Rama Horror Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

Uneven horror anthology with a strong cast. If you don't expect all that much you should have some fun.

An uneven anthology of EC horror comics stories from Amicus, this time directed by Roy Ward Baker who had worked on 'The Avengers' and was responsible for some of the best Hammer movies ('Quatermass And The Pit', 'The Vampire Lovers', 'Dr Jekyll And Sister Hyde'). Baker had already made 'Asylum' for Amicus the previous year. It was a similar anthology, only based on stories by Robert Bloch. 'The Vault Of Horror' has an even better cast of actors than 'Asylum', but is slightly less enjoyable for me. Maybe it's because there's five stories instead of four, and is therefore a bit rushed in places, but a lot of it has to do with the uncertainty of the tone. Gruesome black comedy is easy to pull off in a comic book, but not so easy in a movie. Well, not in this movie anyway. It's starts off strangely, almost like a Bunuel film. Five strangers (Donald Massey, Terry-Thomas, Curt Jurgens, Michael Craig, Tom Baker) enter a lift which unexpectedly takes them down to a basement. They get out and see a table waiting for them, so they sit and begin to recount nightmares that haunt them. Massey's involves looking for his missing sister, Terry-Thomas plays a newly married neat freak, Jurgens a magician looking for new ideas in India, Craig a man with an ingenious insurance scam and Baker a painter who uses voodoo to punish his enemies. All the stories have their moments but the final one starring Tom Baker (just before he became Dr Who #4) is the most effective. The film is full of well known faces in supporting roles including Denholm Elliot, Glynis Johns, Edward Judd, and even a surprise appearance from Robin Nedwell and Geoffrey Davies from the "Doctor" TV shows, playing yes, medical students. I can't honestly say that 'The Vault Of Horror' is all that good, but I enjoyed it for the most part, and if you approach it not expecting all that much you should have some fun.