The Vault of Horror (1973)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

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:

Real-life brother and sister Daniel Massey and Anna Massey play brother and sister in the movie.

Movie Connections:

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

A nice idea indifferently executed

The idea of a horror anthology movie interested me, so I sat down to watch this movie tonight. While the basic structure and idea was good, I was amazed at how sluggish and indifferent most of the five episodes were. Most of this seemed to be because of relatively poor writing--this SHOULD have been a lot more interesting than it was.

The first, third and fourth segments were all completely forgettable and so I won't bother elaborating on them. They just weren't very interesting or scary. The second one, starring Terry-Thomas, wasn't exactly brilliant, but was pretty enjoyable and the final scene, though a tad cheesy, made me really laugh--so it was worthwhile. The only one of the five that really worked well was the final segment that starred Tom Baker (you know, the Dr. Who that everyone liked so much in the 1970s). Baker played an angry artist who wanted revenge on three men who had cheated him and the way this played out was indeed clever. Because of this and the concluding scene, at least the movie ended on a positive note. However, due to the film's highly uneven nature, I'd not recommend it. It's not so much bad--it's just not very good either. Apparently, I am in the minority, though, as several other reviewers liked it.

By the way, a very, very similar film was also made by this same production company, ASYLUM, as it involves four different stories strung together with a central theme. However, ASYLUM is a better and more interesting picture.