The Vault of Horror (1973)

Director:

Roy Ward Baker

Writers:

Al Feldstein (stories)
William M. Gaines (stories)
(more)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery

Tagline:

Below the Crypt lies Death's waiting-room - The . . . Vault of Horror

Plot:

Five men trapped in the basement vault of an office building share visions with each other of their demise...

Plot Keywords:

Death | Vampire | Artist | Painting | Vault

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Daniel Massey	...	Rogers (segment "1: Midnight Mass")
Anna Massey	...	Donna (segment "1: Midnight Mass")
Mike Pratt	...	Clive (segment "1: Midnight Mass") (as Michael Pratt)
Erik Chitty	...	Old Waiter (segment "1: Midnight Mass")
Jerold Wells	...	Waiter (segment "1: Midnight Mass")
Terry-Thomas	...	Critchit (segment "2: The Neat Job")
Glynis Johns	...	Eleanor (segment "2: The Neat Job")
Marianne Stone	...	Jane (segment "2: The Neat Job")
John Forbes-Robertson	...	Wilson (segment "2: The Neat Job")
Curd Jürgens	...	Sebastian (segment "3: This Trick'll Kill You") (as Curt Jurgens)
Dawn Addams	...	Inez (segment "3: This Trick'll Kill You")
Jasmina Hilton	...	Indian Girl (segment "3: This Trick'll Kill You")
Ishaq Bux	...	Fakir (segment "3: This Trick'll Kill You")
Michael Craig	...	Maitland (segment "4: Bargain in Death")
Edward Judd	...	Alex (segment "4: Bargain in Death")
Robin Nedwell	...	Tom (segment "4: Bargain in Death")
Geoffrey Davies	...	Jerry (segment "4: Bargain in Death")
Arthur Mullard	...	Gravedigger (segment "4: Bargain in Death")
Tom Baker	...	Moore (segment "5: Drawn and Quartered")
Denholm Elliott	...	Diltant (segment "5: Drawn and Quartered")
Terence Alexander	...	Breedley (segment "5: Drawn and Quartered")
John Witty	...	Gaskill (segment "5: Drawn and Quartered")
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
George A. Cooper	...	(scenes deleted)
Roy Evans	...	Passerby On Street (uncredited)
Frank Forsyth	...	(uncredited)
Tommy Godfrey	...	Landlord (segment "5: Drawn and Quartered") (uncredited)
Genine Graham	...	(uncredited)
Geraldine Hart	...	(uncredited)
Tony Hazel	...	(uncredited)
Daniel Jones	...	Print Shop Assistant to Arthur Gaskill (uncredited)
Maurice Kaufmann	...	Bob Dixon (segment "5: Drawn and Quartered") (uncredited)
Sylvia Marriott	...	Mrs. Breedley (uncredited)
Elsa Smith	...	(uncredited)
Tony Wall	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Roy Ward Baker

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Al Feldstein		stories
William M. Gaines		stories
Milton Subotsky		writer

Produced by
Charles W. Fries	....	executive producer
Max Rosenberg	....	producer
Milton Subotsky	....	producer

Original Music by
Douglas Gamley

Cinematography by
Denys N. Coop

Film Editing by
Oswald Hafenrichter

Casting by
Ronnie Curtis

Art Direction by
Tony Curtis

Set Decoration by
Fred Carter

Makeup Department
Roy Ashton	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Teresa Bolland	....	production manager
Arthur Stolnitz	....	production supervisor (as Art Stolnitz)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Anthony Waye	....	assistant director

Art Department
Bill Waldron	....	construction manager

Sound Department
Danny Daniel	....	sound mixer
Gerry Humphreys	....	sound re-recording mixer
Charlie McFadden	....	boom operator
Clive Smith	....	sound editor

Camera and Electrical Department
John Harris	....	camera operator
David Wynn-Jones	....	focus puller (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
John Briggs	....	wardrobe master

Other crew
Betty Harley	....	continuity
Paul Thompson	....	production executive

Production Companies

• Amicus Productions
• Metromedia Productions

Distributors

• Cinerama Releasing Corporation (1973) (USA) (theatrical)
• Ambassador Film Distributors (1973) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Dynamite Films (1981) (USA) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Cinefear (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (2006) (Finland) (TV)
• Media Home Entertainment (198?) (USA) (VHS) (as Nostalgia Merchant)

Other Companies

• BFI National Archive  made from material preserved by (as the BFI National Archive)

Also Known As:

Further Tales from the Crypt
Tales from the Crypt, Part II

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Norway:18 | UK:15 | USA:PG (edited for re-rating) | USA:R (original rating) | Canada:PA (Manitoba)

Filming Locations:

Millbank Tower, Millbank, Westminster, London, England, UK

Company:

Amicus Productions

Trivia:

Despite playing one of the five main leads, Michael Craig only has 20 lines.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Mad Ron's Prevues from Hell (1987) (V)

THE VAULT OF HORROR (Roy Ward Baker, 1973) ***

Fairly good entry in the Amicus anthology cycle, even if none of the stories are particularly remarkable (or original). The premise is also quite simple: five men meet inside an elevator which takes them, irrespective of the floor to which they were destined, to the basement of the building where a table has been set up for them; they gather around and, to while away the time until they're rescued, each recounts a recurring dream.

The cast is fine, as usual: Daniel Massey goes in search of his missing sister (real-life sibling Anna), eventually locating her at a remote village – where, as it turns out, all the locals (including the woman) are vampires!; this may be the most popular episode but also, perhaps, the most disposable (despite the amusingly outrageous fate awaiting Massey at the end) – considering that Amicus had already dealt with the subject of vampires in at least two previous horror compendiums, DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS (1965) and THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD (1971). Terry-Thomas is an ageing wealthy man who decides it's high time for him to marry, but ends up literally driving commoner wife Glynis Johns crazy with his obsessive fastidiousness! Curt Jurgens is a magician on holiday in India with wife Dawn Addams: to show off, he exposes a local exponent plying his trade at the market square; humiliated, the latter plots an elaborate and terrible revenge – with the aid of his young daughter – by intriguing Jurgens with a new trick involving a magic rope.

In the fourth episode, Michael Craig plans to collect his own life insurance (with the help of pal Edward Judd) by faking his own death – the latter, however, has no intention of sticking to his part of the bargain (though he's ultimately not allowed to reap the rewards of his fraud and betrayal). Craig eventually wakes up from a deep sleep in his coffin – terrorizing a couple of intended body-snatchers into the bargain, but himself runs into the wrong end of the graveyard custodian's shovel! This is the shortest episode and, frankly, I was expecting its ironic punchline to be more grisly and drastic! The last segment is the longest and best, if still offering nothing we haven't seen before: a painter (Tom Baker) living a bohemian existence on a tropical island discovers that promoters of the business (including Denholm Elliott as an influential art dealer) had downplayed his talent in order to acquire his stuff cheaply, and then made a pot for themselves by selling it again at the proper value. He turns to a voodoo priest for revenge, who gives him the power to destroy the subject of his paintings – naturally, he draws portraits (from memory and apparently in no time at all!) of his three enemies and has his way with them; what he doesn't know is that, while he's away from the studio, something is about to happen to his self-portrait...

The final revelation is typical of Amicus; while the handling is somewhat pedestrian yet reasonably efficient and the general tone unassuming, this kind of fare has endured by always putting the accent on fun (with the added bonus of star gazing). Incidentally, like its predecessor TALES FROM THE CRYPT (1972), this drew inspiration from the popular EC Comics; as a matter of fact, the film itself was known in some quarters as TALES FROM THE CRYPT, PART II. Having mentioned the latter film, both of these have just been released as a 2-Disc Set DVD by Fox; unfortunately, the print used for THE VAULT OF HORROR (while presented in its OAR, unlike the DivX copy I watched) is reportedly the milder PG-rated edit. There are only a few shots missing but, apart from being awkwardly replaced by still-frames, they actually constitute a couple of delightful reveals and one instance of hardly-shocking gore! Considering the fact that I also own TALES FROM THE CRYPT on DivX and that the DVDs contain no significant extras, I'm content with these versions.