Torture Garden (1967)

I’m a huge fan of the old Amicus studios and the great movies that they made.  I’m especially fond of the anthologies that they shot.  But somehow I never realized that Torture Garden was one of those anthologies.  Hell it was one of the earlier ones that the studio made, was directed by the great Freddie Francis and was written by the legendary Robert Bloch.  Sometimes I have to wonder if I’m really paying attention half the time!

So basically what we have here is a wrap around story with Dr. Diablo (played with scenery chewing glee by Burgess Meredith.  We are introduced to the cast while they are attending a cheesy sideshow.  Here they meet the previously mentioned Dr. Diablo who promises to show them real horror after they scoff a bit at his regular show.  One by one he presents them with visions of some horrible possible futures and offers them a chance to change their destinies. 

First up is a man who allows his uncle to die in the hopes that he is going to inherit a pile of cash.  But after the man’s death he can’t find the pile of gold that he was expecting.  That is not until he finally figures out his uncle’s terrible secret and gets caught up in it himself.  This is a solid story, but I didn’t find it that interesting.  Plus it relies on a cat being very creepy and I’m just not scared of cats. 

The second story is a bit more fun.  Here we see an aspiring actress sabotage her roommate’s big date so that she can go out with a big time movie producer.  Things work out really well for her as she makes an impression on a famous actor that brings her in on his latest project.  But when he inexplicably turns down her romantic offers she keeps digging until she discovers the secret behind their youth and energy.  This is my second favorite story in the movie.  I kept expecting some sort of supernatural twist or explanation, but what they finally give us is completely different and a lot of fun.  I don’t want to ruin it, but it does have that awesome EC comics feel to it.

The third story is my least favorite one in the movie.  It has to do with a woman who falls in love with a wonderfully talented pianist.  The only thing that she doesn’t bargain for is that he has a very special relationship with his piano.  When she becomes more possessive and threatens to derail the man’s career the piano takes matters into it’s own “hands” (not really because it doesn’t have hands).  Honestly the only thing that might scare me less than a cat is a piano.  While different and interesting this one dragged for me and just didn’t have the same feel as the rest of the movie. 

But the payoff here is the final story.  This is the one that features both Jack Palance and the great Peter Cushing.  They play characters that meet while comparing their Edgar Allen Poe collections.  Both men are quite obsessed with the famous American horror author.  When the Palance character comes to visit the Cushing character his is terrible impressed and quite jealous of the man’s extensive collection.  After plying him with a few drinks he discovers that the man has the ultimate Poe collectable in the basement of his house.  As I’ve said this story is the big payoff.  First of all watching two great actors like Cushing and Palance work together is incredible.  The story is solid and much like the second one has a real old school EC comics like vibe to it.  I love where the story ends up.  And what is even better is how they take the ending of this story and work it into the wrap around with Dr. Diablo.  While all of the other characters are disturbed by what they have seen only the Palance character seems interested in speeding up his fate!

This is a great old school Amicus movie that I recommend everyone go out and add to their collection.  I had a blast with it and I think you will too.

3 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer

© Copyright 2010 John Shatzer