Another horror anthology where the framing device is better than the stories themselves. Powell is a young doctor going for a job at a mental home. His rather odd interview assessment involves deducing which one of four inmates is the previous holder of the position, who went insane.
The setting of a gloomy old Victorian asylum is strong, as are the scenes where Powell visits the room of each lunatic to hear their story. The first tale with dismembered body parts coming back to life to terrorise their murderer is the best, though it loses some of its credibility with an over-the-top finale. Other stories have Charlotte Rampling and Britt Ekland as murderous alter-ego's; Peter Cushing making a small guest appearance in a story concerning bringing the dead back to life with a special set of clothes; and Herbert Lom as the mad creator of small living voodoo dolls.
As with similar films, the conclusion of the framing story - in this case discovering the identity of the mad doctor - neatly wraps up the film. The weakness of the stories themselves though ( only the first and last are above average ) does undermine the film as a whole, and while it rates higher than 'Torture Garden', it doesn't rival 'Dr Terror's House of Horrors'.
The setting of a gloomy old Victorian asylum is strong, as are the scenes where Powell visits the room of each lunatic to hear their story. The first tale with dismembered body parts coming back to life to terrorise their murderer is the best, though it loses some of its credibility with an over-the-top finale. Other stories have Charlotte Rampling and Britt Ekland as murderous alter-ego's; Peter Cushing making a small guest appearance in a story concerning bringing the dead back to life with a special set of clothes; and Herbert Lom as the mad creator of small living voodoo dolls.
As with similar films, the conclusion of the framing story - in this case discovering the identity of the mad doctor - neatly wraps up the film. The weakness of the stories themselves though ( only the first and last are above average ) does undermine the film as a whole, and while it rates higher than 'Torture Garden', it doesn't rival 'Dr Terror's House of Horrors'.