are always the best”) and an un- masking scene clearly patterned on Chaney’s PHANTOM OF THE OPERA which might have been nearly as effective, but was robbed of its full effect by hur- ried cutting. The movie is also compromised, as was the earlier MILL OF THE STONE WOMEN, by some ramshackle miniature work (courtesy of the director). Podestà, the eponymous star of Robert Wise’s HELEN OF TROY, was married at the time to the film’s producer Marco Vicario, and future director Bertrand Blier (GOING PLACES, GET OUT YOUR HANDKERCHIEFS) is credited as Margheriti’s first assistant. The scenario antici- pates in several ways Bava’s later BARON BLOOD (1972), which was given the similar title of Gli orrori del castello di Norimberga in Italy, and whose US advertising cannibal- ized campaign elements from this film’s German release as Das Schloß des Grauens. Media Blasters/Shriek Show’s new DVD sounds fuller and looks quite a bit cleaner than did the film’s previous release on VHS from Panther Entertain- ment in the 1980s. Unfortu- nately, while the audio-visual presentation is near-impec- cable (apar t from some a couple of loud thumps at reel changes), the disc we viewed was subject to several instances of fleeting pixilation and a few momentary freeze-ups. Worse still, the disc is authored in such a way that time-coding is not accessible on all players. (It seems to have been unavailable to the folks at Media Blasters themselves, who list the run- ning time as “90m approx.”) The extras include a nicely thor- ough selection of international still and poster materials and trailers for this and three other Shriek Show releases.
62
Imports AMICUS COLLECTION
Anchor Bay UK/Xploited Cinema, £39.99/$59.95, PAL DVD-2
...AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS!
1973, DD-5.1 & 2.0/DTS/MA/ 16:9/LB/+, 90m 9s ASYLUM
1970, DD-5.1 & 2.0/DTS/MA/ 16:9/LB/+, 88m 19s
THE BEAST MUST DIE
1974, DD-5.1 & 2.0/DTS/MA/+, 87m 49s
DR. TERROR’S HOUSE OF HORRORS
1964, DD-5.1 & 2.0/DTS/MA/ 16:9/LB/+, 93m 16s
THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD
1970, DD-5.1 & 2.0/DTS/MA/ 16:9/LB/+, 97m 10s By Kim Newman
Given that various labels are competing to issue the Hammer Films back-catalogue on DVD with varying wealths (or dearths) of supplementary materials, it was inevitable that someone would make a similar effort for the output of Amicus, Hammer’s major rival in the British horror market of the 1960s and ’70s. THE AMICUS COLLECTION, a five-disc Region 2 set (limited to 5,000 copies) from Anchor Bay UK, comes in a charmingly in- ventive fold-out coffin container, which some have found problem- atic: the individual discs tend to come loose within the package and put at risk of scratching. All five films included fea- ture Amicus mainstay Peter Cushing, and three represent the company’s fondness for
DEAD OF NIGHT-style omnibus horrors (two drawn from the stories of Robert Bloch). Three of the titles have been released (and reviewed by VW) on Re- gion 1 DVD as part of Image Entertainment’s “Euroshock Collection” ...AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS! [VW 96:44], ASYLUM [VW 64:6], THE BEAST MUST DIE [VW 73:10]—and DR. TERROR’S HOUSE OF HORRORS has been out from Alan Young Films in Italy as Le cinque chiave del terrore (cf: correspondence from Mark Middleman in VW 94:79, and Michele De Angelis in VW 86:78), while THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD makes its DVD debut here, though a domestic Lions Gate DVD has since been released ($14.98). Those who own the previously- available titles—or missed pick- ing up on—...AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS!, which went OOP even before we ran our review—will find this collec- tion a significant upgrade. There has been a tendency for R2 re- leases of Hammer Films to lack the extras found on R1; here, that is reversed—the films are all accompanied by new-minted extra material not found on the Image discs.
Freddie Francis’ DR. TERROR’S..., foundation of the House of Amicus, is the only 1960s title in the batch—and seems even older in its mildness, though it should be noted that only the atypical SCREAMING has much in the way of sex or violence. A streak of prissiness runs through the oeuvre of Am- icus’ mainstay producer-writer Milton Subotsky that may have put him at commercial odds with his partner, Max J. Rosenberg (the whole collection now only rates the UK’s “15” rating). It has the most basic frame story as six men share a railway carriage and
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