Tales From The Crypt 1972 / Freddie Francis Where does one start with examining arguably Amicus’ greatest portmanteau film? Well, for me, wiping away the tears first while trying to get over the emotionally draining aspect of perhaps its most famous segment is the way to go, but more about that later… Following several box …
The People That Time Forgot 1977 / Kevin Connor The success of Amicus’ first two Edgar Rice Burroughs-based fantasy adventures in 1975 and 1976 led to a third getting the go-ahead, to begin filming the following year. The first two, The Land That Time Forgot (UK, Kevin Connor, 1974) and At The Earth’s Core (UK, …
AT THE EARTH’S CORE 1976 / Kevin Connor Amicus’ first foray into the science fiction adventure, The Land That Time Forgot (UK, Kevin Connor, 1974) did rather well at the box office – well enough for the studio to set wheels in motion for a follow-up. At The Earth’s Core (UK, Kevin Connor, 1976) aimed …
THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT 1974 / Kevin Connor The Land That Time Forgot (UK, Kevin Connor, 1974) is a film I have a lifelong bond with. My relationship with this characteristically British low-to-medium-budget monster film has, appropriately enough, undergone a process of evolution. Perhaps not as complex and mysterious as the natural forces that guide …
MADHOUSE 1974 / Jim Clark You don’t have to be crazy to work here, but it helps! It may be a well-worn cliche, but you can imagine those who worked on Amicus Productions’ 24th film adopting that old adage as their mantra. Tension between the company’s partners, Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg, was reportedly mounting, …
From Beyond The Grave 1974 / Kevin Connor Amicus has always been a crueller studio than Hammer. I consumed so much horror in my youth and nothing gave me the unsettling feeling that Amicus did. Hammer Horror has some beautifully subversive, blackly comic moments, but by and large, they follow fairly traditional narrative beats. By …
And Now The Screaming Starts 1973 / Roy Ward Baker Formed in the early 1960s by two American expatriates, Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg, Amicus Productions quickly became a worthy competitor to Hammer Films, thanks to their low-budget, but entertaining horror anthologies. By 1973, Amicus had become well established as the deviser of the British …
THE VAULT OF HORROR 1973 / Roy Ward Baker As a kid, the dull and drawn-out limbo of a school summer holiday was punctuated by a week-long stay with my grandparents. An annual treat would be a trip to Cardiff where I had some pocket money ready to spend, always kindly boosted by Nan & …
Asylum 1972 / Roy Ward Baker Robert Powell races his sports car through the torrential rain of the English countryside, as the whirling, pounding sound of Mussorgsky’s Night On Bald Mountain fills the air. He pulls up to a gated country house just as the sturm und drang climaxes, and with that crescendo, the title bursts onto the …
WHAT BECAME OF JACK AND JILL? 1972 / Bill Bain By the time that the cameras rolled on What Became of Jack and Jill? (UK, Bill Bain, 1972) In 1970, Amicus had been a proud purveyor of horror for a full five years. In the space of that time, however, tastes had begun to change. …
