Reading this was an odd experience – a book about a studio, none of whose films I’ve seen so far. Well, that’s not entirely true – I have seen the Doug McClure actioners they made towards the end of Amicus’ existence, but nothing else. Amicus are often mentioned in conjunction with Hammer as they were a British studio best known for horror films, often starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. They flowered during the late 60s and early 70s, when Hammer was in decline; their films were slightly different from Hammer – in particular, they developed their own sort of sub-genre, the horror anthology film. Inspired by Dead of Night, these proved surprisingly lucrative for Amicus, and gave the studio's output a real point of difference. They also made a few Dr Who films, some sci-fi, even a few art house pieces like The Birthday Party. Eventually like most independent production companies they went bust, albeit after one of their biggest hits, The Land that Time Forgot.
This is a terrific book, full of wonderful pictures and interviews, useful synopsis of the films, behind the scenes stories, etc. It doesn't view the studio output through rose coloured glasses and has a solid look at the characters of Rosenberg and Subotsky, who were the powers behind the throne. And it's not too long, either. Really worth getting if you're interested in Amicus - or just Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.
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