Portmanteau/Anthology Horror Films

[Mykiddar]

As a teenager in the 1970's I used to love those anthology horror titles like Tales from the Crypt, Asylum and From Beyond the Grave and for years they would appear with reasonable frequency on late night TV. One of the pack, however, seems to have fallen off the radar in recent years, both in terms of DVD/VHS availability and TV appearances, and that is 'Tales that Witness Madness'. Was this film ever released on VHS or DVD in the UK and if not does anyone know if there are any plans to release it in the near future? I particularly remember a segment in which Peter McInnerey ( sorry if this isn't spelt correctly) is able to travel back through time on a penny-farthing bicycle.

[duffy moon]

Ahh, the Uncle Albert segment. Yes indeed.

It was released on video in the UK in the early eighties, the cover featured a decapitated head on a platter, surrounded by grapes and other decadent fruits of enjoyment (nothing to do with the actual film though).

I managed to track down (ahem, cough, titter,) a copy a while back, but as far as I know, it's not available to per chase at the mo.

Try P2P on the light green wire as it were, you should be able to find it. Joan Collins in the tree section is fab btw. I like this film.

[stevie boy]

Did this feature Jack Hawkins(Tales that witness madness??)

[DB7]

Did this feature Jack Hawkins(Tales that witness madness??)

Didn't he appear at the end, in a lab of some description?

[Shadwell]

Didn't he appear at the end, in a lab of some description?

That seems to ring bells although at that point in his career, his voice was been dubbed by Charles Grey. This is quite a difficult film to track down. My friend who (cough, splutter) frequents the binary newsgroups has been unable to get hold of it. It's not for sale on DVD either as far as I'm aware or I'd buy the bloody thing as I wouldn't mind seeing it again...

[lostintown]

Ah...portmanteau horror, my favourite.



Has anyone seen "Screamtime"?

Quite a late one (comparatively) but has a kind of naive charm.



The "Tales that witness madness" was let down for me by the bizarre Joan Collins falling in lust with a tree segment.



Madness indeed.



p.s I can help out with Tales....., if you're still looking Shadwell.

[DB7]

That seems to ring bells although at that point in his career, his voice was been dubbed by Charles Grey. This is quite a difficult film to track down. My friend who (cough, splutter) frequents the binary newsgroups has been unable to get hold of it. It's not for sale on DVD either as far as I'm aware or I'd buy the bloody thing as I wouldn't mind seeing it again...

You're probably right. I do recall upping the Joan Collins segment to Youtube some time ago. IIRC my copy was taken from a BBC broadcast.

[Amethyst_Isle]

Didn't he appear at the end, in a lab of some description?

Jack Hawkins appears at the beginning and I think this lab is the linking point to each story, I watched this a couple of weeks ago and lots of people confuse this with the Amicus trilogy films (House That Dripped Blood etc. ) which this is not from the same stable.

[randy mcmayhem]

Hi All,



Just joined as I came across this site looking for an answer on Google. So, over to the experts: Dead Of Night is my top horror film of all time and one of my fave films overall. I'm also a very big fan of the Amicus portmanteau films, though there's still a couple I haven't seen. The question is as well as chasing up the remaining Amicus, are there any other recommendations? The Halfway House has been mentioned to me, but I'm sure there must be more, if so how do they compare to DoN/Amicus?



Cheers,



Andy

[Steve Crook]

What about The Monster Club (1980)?



Steve

[randy mcmayhem]

Cheers, I haven't seen that one, but I've got it on my To See list as an Amicus Production. For completeness, I've seen and very much enjoyed:



Dead Of Night (Ealing)

Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors (Amicus)

The House That Dripped Blood (Amicus)

Tales From The Crypt (Amicus)

Asylum (Amicus)

The Vault Of Horror (Amicus)



To See list:



Torture Garden (Amicus)

From Beyond The Grave (Amicus) - I think I may have seen this years ago

but don't own a copy

The Monster Club (Amicus)

The Halfway House (Ealing) - I'm told it's not a patch on DoN, but worth a look



Any more I should add to the Must See list, particularly if there were any other British studios issuing multiple takes on the DoN template at around the same time as Amicus?



For the record, I'm not much of a fan of Hammer (though the very best is great), nor Tigon, non-anthology Amicus etc. - sacrilige, I know!

[dremble wedge]

Tales That Witness Madness

The Uncanny

[randy mcmayhem]

Cheers, never heard of them! Top stuff.



Andy

[lostintown]

A later one....



Screamtime is worth a look

[Gaumont]

The Halfway House isn't a portmanteau film. Just a ghost story.



Gaumont

[penfold]

The Halfway House isn't a portmanteau film. Just a ghost story.



Gaumont

True enough, but it has the same structure as those 70's disaster movies; half a dozen individual plotlines for each grouping or individual that is reconciled at a shared crisis at the end of the film. Anyway, it's a great film...

[Dr Amicus]

If you haven't yet seen From Beyond the Grave, then you should do so. It's my favourite Amicus Anthology - and ranks with Scream and Scream Again as Amicus's top film. Over on Critierionforum.org, I voted for both very high in my top 50 films from the 70s.



I'd also endorse Tales That Witness Madness - slightly compromised by studio interference (eg splashes of gore in the first story which break up an otherwise stunning Freddie Francis tracking shot) but very impressive. Although a word of warning - although often incorrectly classed as an Amicus film, it is not and the aim was to do something rather different. Don't approach it as a horror film (more a jet black comedy, a la Freddie Francis's Girly) and it's a fine film.



An additional recommendation is the 50's film Three Cases of Murder, a wonderful threesome hosted by Eamonn Andrews (!! No - really!!). Difficult to find (I taped it off the much missed Carlton Cinema years ago), but it's really worth it. One of the segments is a fairly straightforward mystery, but there's an entertaining episode with Orson Welles as a politician - and a marvellous opener called The Picture. I'll say no more, but it's a cracker.

[randy mcmayhem]

Cheers to everyone who replied, I'll be on the lookout for your recommendations. I understand why The Halfway House had a half-hearted endorsement when I was having the conversation that prompted me to start the thread, looks like it's still worth a look though.

[penfold]

Cheers to everyone who replied, I'll be on the lookout for your recommendations. I understand why The Halfway House had a half-hearted endorsement when I was having the conversation that prompted me to start the thread, looks like it's still worth a look though.

If you enjoyed Dead of Night, I have no doubt you will enjoy Halfway House immensely.

[lunar11]

Can anyone name anymore horror movies with an anthology of short horror films other than the ones named below:



From Beyond The Grave

Torture Garden

The House That Dripped Blood

Asylum

Tales From The Crypt

Dr. Terrors House Of Horror

Vault Of Horror



Thanks