As in any anthology in any genre, every viewer will have his/her own favorites. For me, the weakest (and most predictable) story is the first, while the outstanding one is the last, with Tom Baker (cleverest touch: Baker suffocates along with his self-portrait, which is locked up in a vault!). The common recurring theme is evil and/or corrupt people getting their just desserts by means either natural or supernatural, but there is sufficient diversity in the neatly plotted stories, and the ending succeeds in bringing it all together. The all-star cast helps. **1/2 out of 4.

THE VAULT OF HORROR is an Amicus anthology and by that definition alone it's going to be a lot of fun. The first story is definitely nothing special. It's typical, seen-it-a-million-times-before fare and the ending rips off Polanski's THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS. The second story is the comedy horror piece of the film, and is actually very good on reflection, with excellent pacing. A typical short story with a macabre touch and a neat set up help to move this story along and Terry-Thomas has an excellent role which was obviously written for him. The bit where his wife gets ready for him coming home at six is an excellent scene and this story is a perfect example of the "horror and humour" tradition.All actors in the third rope-charming story are excellent and the two antagonists definitely deserve what they get. This is also the animated inanimate object section (ASYLUM had moving body parts, TALES FROM THE CRYPT a crawling hand, DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS a moving plant) and for some reason I just love these bits. I guess it's just the effects work which enthrals me. The fourth story is very short but a good macabre yarn. Influences range from Poe to Stevenson, and even Burke and Hare are reinvented for the seventies as a pair of university students. There are some 'comedy' moments in the story too, and it benefits from the setting of a graveyard to add some atmosphere to the events. Like all of the stories in these Amicus films, the participants get their just desserts come the end of the tale.Tom Baker's final tale is the best of the bunch and with an excellent, well-executed story of revenge and voodoo, similar to Roy Castle's segment from DR. TERROR'S but far more effective and horrific. Denholm Elliott also appears and there are some nifty gore scenes, the most notable being when a man's hands are cut off with a guillotine (pretty graphic for the time). This segment is perfect in every way, it's clever and has a twist ending in the tale you can see a mile off. How much you enjoy THE VAULT OF HORROR depends really on your appreciation of this particular genre. If you're not fond of these anthology films then you might find the proceedings a bit laboured and clichéd. If you are a fan of British '70s horror though, you will definitely enjoy the things on offer here. There's nothing truly powerful, very original, scary or frightening, but it's a good enough way to have a few laughs, watch a decent cast go through their paces and just sit back and relax with the 'cosy toes' feel that this film brings.

Roy Ward Baker directed this five-part anthology film that sees five strangers stuck in an office basement who talk about their recurring nightmares: 'Midnight Mess' - A thief comes to a bad end when he meets some vampires. 'The Neat Job' - A very tidy man becomes involved with the wrong woman. 'This Trick Will Kill You' - A couple in India get mixed up with a mystic much to their regret, 'Bargain Of Death' - A plan involving faking a death by burial goes quite wrong. 'Drawn & Quartered' - Future "Doctor Who" star Tom Baker plays an artist who seeks revenge on the men who wronged him. Weak film has wildly uneven tales that veer from silly comedy to gruesome horror, none of which work, though Tom Baker comes out best. Muddled morality and premise don't help.

Although it has essentially the same plot as the earlier "Tales from the Crypt", "The Vault of Horror" still holds its own. A group of men get trapped in a room and tell each other their dreams, all of which seemed...so real. Probably the most interesting segment was the second one, in which Terry-Thomas (the Englishman in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World") and Glynis Johns (the mom in "Mary Poppins") play what turn out to be the opposite kinds of roles with which they're usually associated. It's just fun to see the twists that occur in each segment, and then the twist at the end of the movie. It's a good time the whole way through.So yes, there is no trick. AND DON'T TRY TO PROVE OTHERWISE!