The Vault of Horror (1973)

An anthology of five horror stories shared by five men trapped in the basement of an office building.

Director:

Roy Ward Baker

Writers:

Al Feldstein (based on the stories written by), William M. Gaines (based on the stories written by) (as Bill Gaines)

Stars:

Curd Jürgens, Terry-Thomas, Tom Baker

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Daniel Massey	...	Rogers (segment "Midnight Mess")
Anna Massey	...	Donna (segment "Midnight Mess")
Mike Pratt	...	Clive (segment "Midnight Mess") (as Michael Pratt)
Erik Chitty	...	Old Waiter (segment "Midnight Mess")
Jerold Wells	...	Waiter (segment "Midnight Mess")
Terry-Thomas	...	Critchit (segment "The Neat Job")
Glynis Johns	...	Eleanor (segment "The Neat Job")
Marianne Stone	...	Jane (segment "The Neat Job")
John Forbes-Robertson	...	Wilson (segment "The Neat Job")
Curd Jürgens	...	Sebastian (segment "This Trick'll Kill You") (as Curt Jurgens)
Dawn Addams	...	Inez (segment "This Trick'll Kill You")
Jasmina Hilton	...	Indian Girl (segment "This Trick'll Kill You")
Ishaq Bux	...	Fakir (segment "This Trick'll Kill You")
Michael Craig	...	Maitland (segment "Bargain in Death")
Edward Judd	...	Alex (segment "Bargain in Death")

Storyline

Five strangers board a descending lift, one by one, in a modern office block in London. They reach the sub-basement, though none of them have pressed for that destination. There they find a large, elaborately furnished room that appears to be a gentlemen's club. The lift door has closed; there are no buttons to bring it back, nor any other exit. Resigned to waiting for help, they settle down with drinks and talk. The conversation turns to dreams, and each man tells of a recurring nightmare.

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Plot Keywords:

anthology | elevator | portmanteau | greed | buried alive | 

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Taglines:

Everything that makes life worth leaving!

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

In only a very few places was Dawn Addams dubbed by Honor Blackman. Most of the dialogue is spoken by Ms. Addams.

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Goofs

Denholm Elliot is pointing a gun at Tom Baker but under voodoo influence turns the gun on himself so that it's pointing at the middle of his head. An impossible move . The camera then looks down the barrel and the position of the hands have changed allowing for the gun position which wouldn't have been possible under the influence.

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Quotes

Waiter (segment 1 "Midnight Mess"): Good evening. The table d'hôte is rather nice, sir. Juice, soup, roast, sweet, coffee.
Rogers (segment 1 "Midnight Mess"): That'll be fine!

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Alternate Versions

August 2008, Film Four showed a BFI National Archive restored print which included the uncut versions of the Daniel Massey, Terry-Thomas and Tom Baker stories ('Midnight Mess,' 'The Neat Job' and 'Drawn and Quartered' respectively). This restored print was broadcast in an open-matte 1.33:1 format, showing more picture information at the top and bottom of the screen in comparison to the wide-screen 1.85:1 of the Fox Midnight Movies DVD.

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Connections

Follows Torture Garden (1967)

User Reviews

Subtle Horror Despite a Couple Hands Chopped Off

Since I first saw photos of it when I was a little kid, I wanted to see this early 1970s horror movie from the same British who brought us TALES OF THE CRYPT. When I was like 7 or 8 years old, I was a little chilled by the photo of the man hanging upside-down and a vampire has connected a tap-fawcet to the unfortunate bloke's neck! Sadly, this scene happens in VAULT OF HORROR (1973) exactly as it did in magazine oldies like FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND and THE MONSTER TIMES: It's a still shot! That's right, a single photo of the fanged villain and his victim! It's done this way for dramatic effect and seems to work, but I had already seen the exact same thing in printed form!

However, this is not to say I was disapointed. This series of stories is very interesting, with intriguing characters throughout. The ending is predictable to anybody who's already seen TALES OF THE CRYPT, but there's a nifty gore seen earlier in the film where a guy's hands get chopped off. As is often the case with British horror, the emphasis is more on drama than sheer terror-- but it's all pretty entertaining.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 March 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Vault of Horror

Filming Locations:

Twickenham Studios, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Amicus Productions, Metromedia Producers Corporation (MPC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1