Torture Garden [DVD] [2005]

Hmmm... It seems that opinions are divided about this 1960s' Amicus Anthology film. I think it is generally fair to say that the first and last stories are probably the best but the other stories do have their good points as well. The film is helped immensely by a very good cast and stylish direction by Freddie Francis (check out the cool black and white colour scheme in the story featuring a supposedly jealous piano).

I particularly liked the interplay and dialogue exchanges between Peter Cushing and Jack Palance in the final story. In fact Jack's performance in this film is a real revelation. He often played the bad guy in dozens of westerns but here he is cast against type as a man obsessed with anything and everything connected with the great writer Edgar Allan Poe and he plays this part really well. His performance as Dracula in the 1970s is also well worth checking out if you are a horror fan and this further goes to prove what a versatile and underrated actor Jack was.

The cast also includes Burgess Meredith (best-known as The Penguin in the 1960s' Batman TV series and as the trainer, Mickey, in the Rocky films), Barbara Ewing (who went on to appear in Hammer's Dracula Has Risen From The Grave and Guardian Of The Abyss) and Hammer film regular Michael Ripper.

Okay so this film may not be up there with some other Amicus films such as Beyond The Grave but it isn't that bad either and is definitely worth a look, particularly if you like horror anthology films.

Ain't dat da' truth, Ruth! While this may not be as downright creepy as a few other Amicus anthology creep-fests it is certainly not what "May West" described! I don't know which film he/she was watching, but in this film a well-disguised group of creepy sociopaths enter the Carny sideshow tent of a flagrantly creepy "Dr.Diabolo", (one of the many names for "Satan"), and following his "regular performance" they're each given the opportunity to pay for a glance into their future, (* "Diabolo" burns the cash directly after collecting it!) But it's all just a "forewarning" of the inner evil that lurks within their hearts, and souls, and minds. The evil they've all managed to keep hidden from the rest of the world, (as all sociopaths do with a lifetime of acquired skills!) So, "Diabolo" is actually giving them an opportunity to escape their fate of "torture" in his "garden" at a later date by changing their vile and pernicious ways today! And that's a very very high-minded concept. Plus, you get the brilliant "badman" Burgess, as always, adding his signature verbal underlines to each line and every word delivered, causing one to listen up and listen closely, (unless a Nimrod with A.D.D. is the one allegedly doing the listening!) Take my word for it, while "Torture Garden" may indeed be on the lighter side of Robert Bloch's gothic horror writer's bag o' tricks, it is not "RUBBISH"!!!!!! BTW: "M.A.", the "cat" wasn't the evil one, (or even the point), of that story. Nor was it the "piano" doing the dirty deed. Nor were Cushing and Palance "fighting over the works of Poe". Nor, in fact, was anything you mentioned in your "review" actually going on in the film at all! I'd say you need to "review" your intelligence level, perception abilities, and audio/visual faculties, then "re-view" it with a new mindset. But please, pay attention this time... cause the Devil is in the details!

Another one of Amicus' horror anthologies from back in the heyday of British horror, Torture Garden is probably one of the weakest of the bunch. As usual there are a number of smaller stories with a themed plot to link them all together and there are too many poor individual entries to make it work. The linking story isn't too bad though. Here it's the fortune-telling mannequin in Dr Diablo's sideshow but as per usual, the story comes full circle towards the end to put a little spin on what you think has happened. You can see it a mile away (Diablo is another name for what?) but at least Burgess Meredith has some fun in the role of the showman. The first story, Enoch, about a witch's cat who feeds on people's heads starts off silly but actually works, especially towards the end when no one will believe that a cat would do it. Just when you think the whole episode is over and Michael Bryant's character has been locked up and sent away for his psychological problems, along comes a nice twist ending which rounds it all off nicely.

The film goes downhill pretty quickly after this entry though. The second story called Terror Over Hollywood is rubbish and possibly the worst segment Amicus ever did. It's about a wannabe actress who will do anything to get into the movies and make a career in Hollywood, including sabotaging a friend's dinner date with a producer. She then enters in Hollywood's inner circle and uncovers a shocking secret about how the biggest stars have managed to retain their youthful looks throughout the years. This episode is pathetic. It's a nice idea but not for a horror film, and the set looks really cheap. Mr Steinway, the next story is about a protective piano which is inhabited by the spirit of it's pianist's deceased mother and refuses to let anyone come between him and his natural talent. So when an admirer falls in love with him, the piano takes it upon itself to stop it. Freddie Francis gives us some close-ups of the piano, with it's keys bearing like teeth ready to chomp down on a victim. But there's no sense of tongue-in-cheek and the seriousness of this segment is what kills it.

The final story, The Man Who Collected Poe, is arguably the best but mainly because of it's strong casting. Jack Palance is great as the nerdy and eccentric collector of all things Edgar Allan Poe and is fascinated by his work and his dabbles into the occult. He meets Peter Cushing's collector who has the world's greatest collection of Poe items including many unpublished works. Upon further examination, it seems that Poe has been writing from beyond the grave. Or is he really dead? It may be a little confusing at times but the two principle actors in the segment really give it their all. This last story also leads perfectly into the final part of the wraparound story and brings the film full circle. Torture Garden comes off as a pale follow-up to the brilliant Dr. Terror's House of Horrors. The two middle stories really drag on and it's only the final one which really manages to capture the imagination and the essence of what the link story was trying to achieve in the first place.