Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965)

Five passengers are in a cabin of the train to Bradley, when a sixth one asks whether he may join them in their cabin. He introduces himself as the tarot cards reader Dr. Schreck, a.k.a. Dr. Terror (Peter Cushing), who can tell the future of those who tap his cards deck three times. The first passenger to tap is the architect Jim Dawson (Neil McCallum), who is traveling to an island to renovate the house that belonged to his family that Mrs. Deirdre Biddulph (Ursula Howells) bought from him. He will learn that there is a werewolf in the house. Bill Rogers (Alan Freeman), who is traveling on vacation to meet his wife and daughter, taps the deck and learns that an intelligent creeper vine will threat their lives at his summer house. Then the musician Biff Bailey (Roy Castle) taps the deck and learns that he will bring a voodoo song from his tour in Caribe with creepy consequences. Then the snobbish and arrogant art critic Franklyn Marsh (Christopher Lee) learns that the artist Eric Landor (Michael Gough) will expose his arrogance and Franklyn will revenge with tragic consequences. Last, Dr. Bob Carroll (Donald Sutherland) taps the deck and learns that he will discover a secret about his fiancée Nicolle Carroll (Jennifer Jayne), who has just moved to a small town in New England to live with him, and his colleague Dr. Blake (Max Adrian). 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. "Werewolf", "Creeping Vine", "Voodoo", "Disembodied Hand" and "Vampire" are great segments. 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. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "As Profecias do Dr. Terror" (The Prophecies of Dr. Terror")

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. The film is very well directed, just not written too well. The Voodoo tale is very zippy and has a timely message about cultural appropriation. Its all innocent and inoffensive and watchable. Its even kitschy enough to watch with friends and laugh at.

Five men enter a train carriage in London bound for Bradley, and are joined by a sixth, the mysterious Doctor Schreck whose name, he mentions, is German for "terror". 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. It sounds silly, but the punchline is pretty grim, considering its a PG rated film.All the stories have something whimsical about them, one breaks the fourth wall, one features Kenny Lynch, and they all have that 'it was so much safer back then' feel to it.It's not for everybody, but for fans of Amicus and Hammer, this will really fit the bill.

An Amicus production, similar to some of the other Amicus films which are constructed of a series of shorts all wrapped up nicely however this was reportedly the first in the wave of Anthology horrors. Five strangers on a train are joined by a mysterious tarot reader who wants to read their futures to help the journey pass. 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. All the journeymen play along with Peter Cushing's (Dr Schreck, which translates as Dr Horror) tarot session only to learn about an awful fate that awaits them. The horror anthology is split into sections which unfold as (1) Werewolf, (2) creeping Vines, (3) Voodoo, (4) Disembodied hand, (5) Vampire. Don't forget the wrap around which has mystery, suspense and mortality.If you've seen some of the other Amicus anthologies you'll know to expect a big plot twist at the end, which some people may be able to predict but it's still a fun journey getting to it. There is some dated camp horror along the way, it's fairly family friendly by today's standards but I'm guessing in the 60's it was tension and suspense galore. I first watched this as a child with my dad who loved all these kind of movies and it certainly was a bonding experience which I look back on fondly. If you like good old fashioned horror, any of the hammer films or like me you could watch Cushing and Lee read a phone book and still enjoy it you'll be happy passing the time with this classic. I'm giving this 6 out of 10. Great!