⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Amicus strikes again! Five men board a lift in a downtown office building and end up in what appears to be a sub-basement gentleman’s club. Accepting that they’ll have to wait for assistance, they grab a drink and eventually begin speaking to each other about their recurring nightmares. Said nightmares make up the anthology. Midnight Mess follows a murderous young man as he tracks his sister to a strange small town where everyone seems awfully concerned about being out after dark. He’s there because the passing of their father has left her all of the family fortune which the man cannot abide by. With her dead, he stands to make a nice chunk of change but there’s going to be an unexpected problem when it comes to leaving the village with any of his blood still in his veins. The casting of actual siblings Daniel and Anna Massey is a wonderful little spot of fun and the twist is perfect for the EC inspiration. A short and solid opener. The Neat Job has a fussy elderly bachelor (Terry-Thomas who came to a memorable end in The Abominable Dr. Phibes) snagging himself a trophy wife in the lovely Glynis Johns. His ceaseless nagging, refusal to accommodate and demands for perfection lead to a wonderfully sinister and well-deserved downfall. Johns and Thomas are perfect in this and make the short tale of just desserts fly by in a flash which is unfortunate because it would have been a blast to spend more time with this duo. “Everything in its place and a place for everything!” This Trick'll Kill You finds a magician and his wife in India seeking out new tricks for his act and he’s willing to stoop to criminal acts to accomplish his goal. A rope trick catches his eye and when the young woman who performs it refuses to sell it to him, his scheming ass murders the young girl with the help of his wife. Well, the impressive trick is not really a trick at all and that comes back to bite the greedy white folks in their pasty asses. Another solid yarn with suitably despicable characters facing macabre comeuppance. I know not everyone would get excited about a murder-rope but it’s my kind of weird and, let’s not forget, I am an idiot. Bargain in Death concerns a man with a nice mustache and silver hair combo finding himself buried alive after faking his death. It’s an insurance scheme that goes to Hell because people are scumbags, double crossing screws everything up and sometimes desperate med students make terrible choices. A bit silly and kind of a nothing portion in the end. A bearded Tom Baker shows up in Drawn and Quartered as a struggling painter currently holed up in Haiti. He assumes his art to be worthless thanks to the words of a critic and his own agent but a friend tracks him down through circumstance and lets him know he’s a hit back home. When he hears the names of the people who are profiting, he is on the other side of happy. In fact, he heads to a local witchdoctor to get himself some revenge through Voodoo. This leads to his art effecting reality and an ability to deal out comeuppance with the stroke of a pencil or brush. That’s all fine and dandy as long as you keep destructive chemicals away from any self portrait. Guess what happens. Denholm Elliot graces us with his presence as a slimy art buyer. A fine tale but one that could have taken more time with its story. The tales of terror come to a close and the men realize just what fate has brought them to this strange room. It’s a fine time but doesn’t really have much staying power thanks to its refusal to draw anything out. Whereas Tales featured a couple tidbits with some true staying power, Vault fits more in line with reading a collection of creepy shorts and then going on to the next batch of stories. It’s still a good time, even if it is lacking much substance. Not having Cushing and Collins may also have something to do with that.
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