It took me watching several Amicus anthology films before it dawned on me they were the modern day versions of Grand Guignol shows.... several different short tales of horror under the one umbrella (the big difference being that Grand Guignol often interspersed its horror with comedy). The reason this one triggered that thought is the framing device is ripped off an old Grand Guignol play - Robert Powell is trying to get a job as a psychiatrist in a loony bin and is challenged to identify a doctor from one of several patients.
The stories here: Richard Todd murders his wife Sylvia Syms so he can run off with mistress Barbara Parkins; Peter Cushing gets a tailor to make a suit that brings people back from the dead; Charlotte Rampling is shoved into rehab by her brother and is visited by old troublesome friend Britt Ekland; Herbert Lom creatres crazy dolls. Also there's the question of whether Powell will make it out alive - what do you reckon?
The stories are decent and the cast is awesome, but I really wish Freddie Francis had directed instead of Roy Ward Baker - this could have used his flair. The running times of some of the stories feels too long (eg Cushing, Lom segments). Still, Rampling makes you wish she'd done more horror flicks, Ekland is good value, the doll is creepy and you can't really go wrong with several stories set in a lunatic asylum.
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