The tyranist's thoughts
This little anthology comes completely from the mind of Robert Bloch, yes, that Robert Bloch. Amazingly, this is the first Bloch penned movie reviewed for the Compendium. We reviewed Psycho ages ago, but that classic was just based on Bloch's work.
The frame of the anthology involves a young doctor arriving at an asylum looking for work. To test his skills he is asked to go upstairs to the ward and determine which of the patients is the doctor that formerly ran things, having now gone completely nuts. Not bad, but it was a little stilted. It was also more involved in the entirety of the movie than normal frames, but that only helped.
The first story, "Frozen Fear," is about a man and his mistress conspiring to do away with his troublesome wife. Unfortunately, forces beyond the grave subscribe to her side of things. The story was decent, but not really terribly new. I suppose that in 1972 it would have been something. I did really like the luscious Barbara Parkins as the mistress, but the shock at the end of the story really isn't much.
Story two, "The Weird Taylor," almost doesn't fit in the anthology. In fact, when it ended I was a little confused about how the way the story ended could possibly lead to the follow up in the frame. That's pretty vague, but you'll recognize what I mean if you ever watch this. On the plus side, this little vignette features Peter Cushing. He gets top billing but is only on screen for about ten minutes. Maybe less. Regrettably, his character is pretty flat through no fault of his own.
"Lucy Comes to Stay" is third. I made the mistake of reading the back of the DVD before watching this one. Not that it ruined the story. Quite the contrary. It actually confused me a little. It didn't take long for me to sort everything out and the shock at the end is once again, not much of a shock, but this is certainly one case in which Rish's rabid anti-promotional material stance if validated. Britt Ekland features in this one but she seems diminished and far less voluptuous than later appearances.
Lastly is "Mannikins of Horror" which makes me giggle even now. Not that the story is so bad, just the title. The story concerns a mad scientist who has constructed ridiculously detailed little dolls, one of which he sees as the future home of his soul. This one is so intertwined with the frame that it almost isn't its own story. It also felt truncated. I could see this one develop into a much longer piece, but I think it's already been tried by Charles Band.
The anthology really isn't a bad little piece of work, but it is disappointing that the two top billed actors, Cushing and Ekland, are in it for so short a time. If you like anthologies you'll probably like this one. Bloch has a nice, creepy sensibility and this is a great way to do him homage. Wait a minute, he wrote the screenplay himself. He's just cashing in on stories that he'd already written. Ah well, it's still nice to see Bloch's unusual approach up on screen.