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Amicus classic presents four stories centered around a lovely English rental house with a macabre history… obviously. Detective Inspector Holloway of Scotland Yard pays a visit to the small village where the house stands, hunting down a missing actor. The local police sergeant shares the history of the house (the last known whereabouts of said actor) with the agitated Holloway. A young couple rent the place where the author husband (the eternally-missed Denholm Elliot) looks for the proper inspiration for his new book after suffering some writers block when it comes to his new piece of macabre fiction. It seems to be just what he needed and he vigorously works on his new slice of murder fiction, this one involving a mad strangler on the prowl. The horrors of the author’s imagination prove just as dangerous to reality when his fictional maniac begins to show up off the page and in physical reality. Method for Murder is a perfectly twisted little tale that hits the right notes for an introduction. Having a slowly unraveling Denholm Elliot anchoring it with his lead performance was the right choice. The goofy twist sits comfortably in the EC inspirations for all of these anthology horrors. Waxworks brings Peter Cushing into things as a stockbroker, looking to enjoy a quiet retirement of gardening, reading and listening to music. Never married, he does pine for a love he lost a long time ago. He comes across a waxwork while he wanders around town and is shocked to discover a grim tableau displaying the spitting image of his lost love. She is modeled after the waxwork owner’s wife who was not only murdered but also a murderess. An unexpected visit from an old friend (and romantic rival) and another trip to the waxwork brings about obsession and tragedy. Cushing gives a strong performance considering he attempted to get out of it to spend time with his ailing wife which counters just how silly this entry really is. Sweets to the Sweet finds John Reid (his royal badass Christopher Lee) taking up residence in the house with his young daughter Jane and bringing in a private tutor to care for her while his business takes him away to London. Mrs. Norton and Jane hit it off and she grows disturbed by how isolated Mr. Reid is keeping his daughter but his strictness and caution may have a reason and it tracks back to his dead wife. Perfect slow burn that has a lovely little bite and a clever twist on witchcraft. Finally, a very game John Pertwee (my favorite Doctor) exudes the perfect level of arrogance as a horror film actor who gets his hands on a black cloak that grants him a vampire’s powers. He’s renting the house during the production of his movie, just a few miles out from the studio. Tearing apart the production with pure venom, he is quite unhappy at the current state of horror movies. His disdain at the wardrobe picked for him is what has him taking a trip to a mysterious shop and getting his hands on the perfect cloak. Everything goes to hell when the supernatural powers of the cloak have our lead freaking out about a vampire’s curse. The Cloak is a blast with Pertwee reveling in his character and a very sexy Ingrid Pitt getting some time to shine. Everything wraps up when the detective heads to the house and snoops around, brandishing a ridiculous candelabra and coming to an inevitable end. Stay away from spooky cellars, even if your candelabra is massive.
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