City of the Dead (1959)
Aug 25, 2002Town of Occultists/Reincarnated Witch
An effort from the early days of the Anglo-horror cycle about a town ruled by a reincarnated witch. This comes drenched in a good deal of heavy black-and-white atmosphere
Milton Subotsky
The Skull (1965)
Aug 14, 2004The Marquis de Sade's Possessed Skull
Peter Cushing-Christopher Lee vehicle from Amicus with Cushing as a collector who obtains the Marquis de Sade's possessed skull. One of the more over-rated Anglo-horror films, this feels more like an episode from one of their anthologies than a full film
Dr Who and the Daleks (1965)
Oct 27, 2000Doctor Who Film
This was the first of two Doctor Who movies produced during the height of Dalekmania during the 1960s. Alas a comedy element in the form of the asinine buffoonery of Roy Castle is allowed to dominate and kills the show off
Dr Terror’s House of Horrors (1965)
Feb 15, 2000Horror Anthology
The first of Amicus’s horror anthologies. The stories are rehashes of five popular horror tropes, all united by Peter Cushing as the title doctor telling the fortunes of five passengers on a train carriage
Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966)
Dec 21, 2001Doctor Who Film
The second of the theatrically released Doctor Who films intended to highlight the popularity of The Daleks, this is an improvement in that it dispenses with the first film's buffoonish comedy elements
The Terrornauts (1967)
Jul 22, 2013Communications from Space
SF effort from the UK's Amicus Films with an ambitious plot about communication from the stars that manages to prefigure films like Contact and 2001. On the other hand, the film fails is in its pitiful and utterly inadequate special effects
Torture Garden (1967)
Jun 28, 2002Horror Anthology
Following the success of Dr Terror's House of Horrors, this was the second of Amicus's trademark horror anthologies with Burgess Meredith as a carnival barker showing people their fates
The Deadly Bees (1967)
Mar 3, 2001Killer Bee Attacks
An Amicus film directed by Freddie Francis and with a script by Robert Bloch that proves the dictum that there is no such thing as a good killer bee movie
The Mind of Mr. Soames (1969)
May 31, 2016Man Awakens with the Man of a Child
This comes with a great premise – a man is woken from a coma for the first time and is forced to deal with the world with the mind of a newborn infant. A clear attempt to copy Charly, this would be a great vehicle for a modern character actor but suffers from stodgy unimaginative handling
The House That Dripped Blood (1970)
Dec 24, 2002Horror Anthology
Another of the Amicus horror anthologies from a series of stories by Robert Bloch. An okay effort, mostly being remembered for Jon Pertwee's turn as a comic vampire
Scream and Scream Again (1970)
Dec 20, 2001Mad Scientist/Android Takeover Conspiracy
Cult Anglo-horror film with a series of vampire killings that lead to Vincent Price trying to replace bureaucrats with androids
I, Monster (1971)
Jul 5, 2002Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Adaptation
The title and names are changed, otherwise this is an extremely faithful adaptation of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde starring Christopher Lee. Not very successful at the time, this interestingly opens the story out with Freudian psychology
Asylum (1972)
Apr 1, 2002Horror Anthology
One of the best of the horror anthologies from UK’s Amicus Films. This adapts four stories from Robert Bloch, which are all tales told by the inmates of the titular asylum and settle in with chill effectiveness
Tales from the Crypt (1972)
Feb 18, 2001Horror Anthology/Comic-Book Adaptation
Amicus adapts several stories from the notorious EC Comics as one of their anthology films. Missing is EC's black humour but this is a worthwhile Amicus anthology
… And Now the Screaming Starts! (1973)
Jan 6, 2005Haunted House/Supernatural Retribution
Amicus Films venture into the haunted house genre with a newlywed Stephanie Beacham haunted by a disembodied hand but atmosphere is weakened by the constant reaching for crude shock effect
The Vault of Horror (1973)
Feb 27, 2003Amicus Horror Anthology
The second of Amicus Films’ adaptations from EC Comics, a follow-up to their earlier Tales from the Crypt and one of their weaker horror anthologies with the episodes much more variable in overall quality
Madhouse (1974)
Jul 7, 2004Mad Horror Actor
An attempt to copy the Dr Phibes films with Vincent Price as a horror actor facing a series of killings on the set of his comeback film
The Beast Must Die (1974)
Nov 28, 2004Werewolf Whodunnit
Amicus film that manages the novel idea of combining a werewolf with an an Agatha Christie styled whodunnit as people try to guess which among the guests gathered at a mansion is a werewolf
From Beyond the Grave (1974)
Sep 14, 2002Horror Anthology
One of the best of the Amicus horror anthologies. All of the episodes are strong, well cast and well directed. The third episode offers a particularly funny comic take on the exorcism film
At the Earth’s Core (1976)
Nov 7, 2001Lost World at the Centre of the Earth/Edgar Rice Burroughs Adaptation
Second in the trilogy of Edgar Rice Burroughs adaptations starring Doug McClure. This opens with the fabulous invention of the drilling mole but the arrival at the earth's core look cheap and tatty
The Uncanny (1977)
Jul 6, 1999Cat Horror Anthology
A production from Amicus founder Milton Subtosky in the style of the horror anthology that made the company's name
Dominique (1978)
Apr 19, 2016Psycho-Thriller
A creaky old-fashioned psycho-thriller – one that draws heavily on Les Diaboliques and a contrived plot to drive somebody crazy – that came out the same year as Halloween and feels a whole world apart
The Monster Club (1980)
Dec 6, 2002Horror Anthology
Following the collapse of Amicus Films, producer Milton Subotsky went on on his own to make this horror anthology, the bread and butter of Amicus in their heyday. Though he brings in some major horror names – Vincent Price, John Carradine – the jokey tone failed to find any success
The Martian Chronicles (1980)
Aug 12, 2012Human Colonisation of Mars/Ray Bradbury Adaptation
Ray Bradbury's book about the human colonisation of Mars is an SF classic for its wistful, nostalgic poetry. This tv mini-series adaptation is killed by a lumbering director who over-explains Bradbury's imagery in the most literal ways
Cat’s Eye (1985)
Jan 4, 2000Stephen King Anthology
An anthology of three Stephen King stories, this comes out with extremely variable results where what were originally a series of tight and mordant tales end up strangely overblown