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The Vault of Horror (1973)
Country of Origin: UK
Year of Production: 1973
Running Times: 86 mins 87 mins
Format: Eastmancolor
Ratio:
Sound:
CREDITS
 PRODUCTION
Production Company: Amicus Productions / Metromedia Producers Corporation
Executive Producer: Charles Fries
Producer: Max J.
Rosenberg, Milton
Subotsky
Production Executive: Paul Thompson
Production Supervisor: Art Stolnitz
Production Manager: Teresa Bolland
SCRIPT
Script: Milton
Subotsky
Stories: Al Feldstein, William Gaines
DIRECTION
Director: Roy Ward Baker
Assistant Director: Anthony Waye
PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography:
Denys Coop
Camera Operator: John
Harris
Laboratory: Technicolor
EDITING AND POST PRODUCTION
Editor: Oswald Hafenrichter
MUSIC
Music: Douglas Gamley
SOUND
Sound Editor: Clive Smith
Sound Recording: Danny Daniel
Sound Re-Recording: Gerry Humphreys
DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Director: Tony Curtis
Set Decorator: Fred Carter
CAST
Daniel Massey (Rogers)
Anna Massey (Donna)
Michael Pratt (Clive)
Erik Chitty (old waiter)
Jerold Wells (waiter)
Terry-Thomas (Critchit)
Glynis Johns (Eleanor)
Marianne Stone (Jane)
John Forbes-Robertson (Wilson)
Curd (aka: Curt) Jürgens (Sebastian)
Dawn Addams (Inez)
Jasmina Hilton (Indian girl)
Ishaq Bux (Fakir)
Michael Craig (Maitland)
Edward
Judd (Alex)
Robin Nedwell (Tom)
Geoffrey Davies (Jerry)
Arthur Mullard (gravedigger)
Tom Baker (Moore)
Denholm Elliott (diltant)
Terence Alexander (Breedley)
John Witty (Gaskill)
Roy Evans (passerby - uncredited)
Frank Forsyth
SUMMARY
Five men are trapped in a vault in the basement
of an office building. To pass the time, they all reveal how they've
all been having dreams that reveal how they are all going to die.
CAPSULE REVIEW
After the success of Tales From the Crypt,
Amicus adapted a further quintet of stories based on William Gaines'
EC range of horror comics. Regardless of whatever merits EC might had
in the 1950s, by 1973 they were looking decidely ropey and as a consequence,
Vault of Horror is one of Amicus' least interesting
omnibus films. Sadly, Baker seemed ill-at-ease with this style of film
making and couldn't muster anything like the atmosphere or sly wit that
Freddie Francis brought to his anthology films for Amicus. The result
is a dull and incredibly old-fashioned film that simply has nothing
new to say.
AVAILABILITY
UK
Video Distributor: CBS-Fox
USA
Theatrical Distributor: Cinerama Releasing Corporation; Metromedia
Video Distributor: Nostalgia Merchant
CENSORSHIP HISTORY
Norway
Rating: 18
UK
Rating: X; 15
At least three cuts were made to the film to ensure its original X certificate:
In the first story, the film freezes just as the vampire waiter advances
on the tap in Rogers' neck; another freeze frame in the second story,
just as Eleanor raises a hammer to strike Critchit, removed a shot of
blood spurting from the man's head; and in the final story, a shot of
the publisher's bleeding stumps, right after his hands have been severed
by the paper cutter, was removed.
USA
Rating: PG; R
The film was rated PG when it was released in 1974 under the title Tales
From the Crypt Part II. To get the rating, several cuts had
to be made and was, eventually, the same as the British version. A later
video release on Nostalgia Merchants restored the missing footage.
POSTER TAGS
Everything that makes life worth leaving!
ALTERNATIVE TITLES
Further Tales From the Crypt
In der Schlinge des Teufels - German title
Tales From the Crypt Part II - US title
LINKS
SEE ALSO
Tales from the Crypt (1972)
FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
Mad Ron's Prevue's from Hell (1987)
REFERENCES
MAGAZINES
Cinefantastique vol.3 no.1 (Autumn 1973)
p.26
review
CinemaTV Today no.10054 (20 October 1973)
p.14 (UK)
review
Flesh and Blood no.3 (1994) p.41 (UK)
illustrated credits, review
Monthly Film Bulletin vol.40 no.478 (November
1973) p.234
credits, synopsis, review
Sight and Sound vol.3 no.8 (August 1993)
p.62 (UK)
video release note
Video Business vol.4 no.50 (18 February
1985) p.27 (UK)
review
BOOKS
Elliot's Guide to Films on Video p.849
credits, short review, UK video data
The Illustrated Vampire Movie Guide Movie Guide
p.96
credits, short review
KEYWORDS
anthologies, vampires, restaurants, dismemberment,
stage magicians, indian rope trick, gravediggers, severed heads, students,
artists, voodoo, trucks, basements, hell
Last Updated:
17 November, 2008
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