A sort of follow up to The Torture Garden, another Amicus
anthology from the stories of Robert Bloch. The linking device to this
one is an old haunted house where various wacky shenanigans take place: writer Denholm Elliot gets so into his latest novel he starts thinking one of the characters is alive; Peter Cushing visits a waxworks and is reminded of a lost love; Christopher Lee hires a nanny (Nyree Dawn Porter) who doesn't approve of his harsh treatment of his child; horror star Jon Pertwee finds himself with a real vampire's cloak.
The star value of these Amicus films were increasing steadily: in addition to Elliot, Cushing, Lee and Pertwee, there's also the voluptuous Ingrid Pitt on hand as Pertwee's co-star. It looks handsome and is well directed.
It's a shame the story material isn't that strong. The Elliot episode feels very familiar, and the Cushing one is dull (especially considering waxworks sounds as though it's going to be interesting). Also the linking device - involving a police inspector looking for a missing actor and a real estate agent - is poor, lacking actors with the gravitas of Peter Cushing or Burgess Meredith.
However the Lee segment, with the creepy child actor, is very good, and the Pertwee one a lot of fun - there's some amusing British horror industry in jokes (including Pertwee referring to Dracula - "the Bela Lugosi one not the one with the new chap".)
Peter Duffell directed this. Never heard of him. Did a good job.
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