Monday, October 24, 2011

Torture Garden


(1967) ***

This star studded anthology film starts off at a weird sideshow. We’re introduced to Dr. Diablo, who will show us tortures beyond our belief. After a really lame show, the disappointed customers are invited to spend even more money with the promise that the next show will blow their minds like never before. A few of them take the bait and pay, they are escorted behind a curtain where a woman sits frozen with a pair of scissors in her hand, she is the deity Atropos. One by one the guests are invited to stare at the scissors so they may see a possible future.

This film stars Burgess Meredith as the infamous Dr. Diablo. The stories are short and suspenseful, everything moves right along. Burgess Meredith is a great devil too. In the first story, a man-eating cat torments a greedy playboy. The second tale is of a wannabe Hollywood starlet who discovers her co-stars are androids. A possessed grand piano has a fit of jealousy when it’s owner takes on a new lover. The final story, "The Man Who Collected Poe", stars a young Jack Palance, and Peter Cushing, I think he liked doing these anthologies. A Poe collector (Palance) murders another collector (Cushing) over a collectable he refuses to show him, only to find his fate with Edgar Allan Poe himself.

6 comments:

Abduscias said...

I liked Jack Palance..he was a good Curly in Cityslickers! This movie looks cool..I want a pair of psychic scissors! lol

JPX said...

That first picture looks like the Penguin. This sounds a lot better that The Vault of Horror.

Catfreeek said...

Sounds like you picked the worst of the bunch.

Octopunk said...

Pretty weak to promise mind-blowing and then deliver suck, and then try to entice with more mind-blowing. But ain't that just like the devil?

Johnny Sweatpants said...

Great coincidental transition from JPX's Vault of Horror review. I loved the 70's Tales From the Darkside anthology and this sounds equally appealing!

Crystal Math said...

Looks like a lot of fun to watch! I've always found anthologies or short programs like Twilight Zone or Thriller simply fun to watch! :-) Maybe for next year's 'thon. . .

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