Dr. Terror's House of Horrors

"Acclaimed as "THE FEAR OF THE YEAR.""

1965 1h 38m EN

👍

6.5

SOLID

★6.5TMDB · 200

Horror

Synopsis

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Five train passengers are joined by a mysterious fortuneteller who offers to read Tarot. A quintet of stories unfold: an architect returns to his ancestral home to find a vengeful werewolf; a doctor suspects his new wife is a vampire; an intelligent vine takes over a house; a jazz musician plagiarises music from a voodoo ceremony; and a pompous art critic is pursued by a disembodied hand.

“Acclaimed as "THE FEAR OF THE YEAR."”

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Cast

Peter Cushing
Dr. Sandor Schreck aka "Dr. Terror"
Christopher Lee
Franklyn Marsh
Roy Castle
Biff Bailey
Alan Freeman
Bill Rogers
Donald Sutherland
Bob Carroll
Neil McCallum
Jim Dawson
Bernard Lee
Hopkins (segment 2 "Creeping Vine")
Peter Madden
Caleb (segment 1 "Werewolf")

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Freddie Francis
Writers: Milton Subotsky
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

61 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Freddie Francis, shot by Alan Hume. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Elisabeth Lutyens. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Thelma Connell shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee and Roy Castle carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Acclaimed as "THE FEAR OF THE YEAR."".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0059125 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Freddie Francis directs. Alan Hume behind the camera. Elisabeth Lutyens scores. Thelma Connell cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

161 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Freddie Francis, shot by Alan Hume. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Elisabeth Lutyens. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Thelma Connell shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee and Roy Castle carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Acclaimed as "THE FEAR OF THE YEAR."".
7IMDB entry: tt0059125 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Alan Hume
Original score: Elisabeth Lutyens
Editing: Thelma Connell
Makeup / hair: Roy Ashton
Runtime: 98 min · 1h 38m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965)

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Freddie Francis

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2014-09-25
★ 8/10
Five characters in search of a station. Five strangers on board a train and are joined by the mysterious Dr Shreck, he's a fortune teller and offers to read their Tarot cards. Five men, five stories, Werewolf, The Creeping Vine, Voodoo, Disembodied Hand & Vampire. Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors is one of those films that had a big impact on me as a child. When it was shown on British TV, the next day in the play ground would be kids talking about it, well those kids (un)lucky enough to have parents who would let them watch it that is! I finally got to see it one night in the 70s when my parents were out, I can even remember the time and channel it was shown on, in fact I can still remember now the feeling of dread that took over me as Christopher Lee is pursued by a severed hand, checking under my bed before turning the lights off. Now that's the beauty of horror films isn't it? Sure enough this Amicus compendium looks a trifle clunky now, but really we shouldn't be judging it by a new age standard, we should be judging it by the 1965 time frame and embracing the totally creepy vibe that infiltrates this particular railway carriage. The Werewolf and Disembodied Hand segments are great pieces of horror, while the others make up for in style what they lack in genuine horror. Peter Cushing, Alan Freeman, Roy Castle, Donald Sutherland, Kenny Lynch, Bernard Lee and of course the irrepressible Christopher Lee, I thank you all for leaving an indelible mark on me as a youth, it's a mark that I proudly wear to this everlasting day! 8/10
CinemaSerf2024-09-05
★ 6/10
Peter Cushing is spookily menacing here as "Dr. Schreck" who joins a group of passengers on a late night train journey where he offers to read their tarot cards. Despite the sceptical objections of fellow traveller Christopher Lee ("Marsh") he proceeds to read to each fellow passenger a future full of, well, terror... The film acts out each scenario as depicted by the doctor's tales in graphic, gory - though, it has to be said not very scary, detail. The supporting cast deliver these well - especially Phoebe Nicholls and Bernard Lee; Roy Castle not so much. I can't help but think it would have been so much more effective in black and white, but it is still quite a fun watch with plenty to keep it interesting and it's nice to see Lee out of bandages!