Five strangers sharing a tower block lift in London find themselves in a sub-basement. They all have one thing in common and that is they all find themselves dying in peculiar dreams, so one by one they recount them. So we have five stories with a wrap around. As is the norm with anthologies there will be segments that are stronger than others but here, with the exception of the weaker fourth (Bargain in Death), I thought they were all equally good. Greed appears to be a common theme. There is a smattering of dark humour added to the horror. Great cast. It's hardly taxing on the mind but this does make great late night viewing.

This is an anthology film of the type prolific during the 1970s, which became something of a speciality for Amicus Productions. Five fairly lightweight stories feature an exceptional cast including Terry-Thomas as the meticulously house-proud Arthur Critchit ("Can't you do anything neatly?"), his wife Eleanor played by Glynis Johns; Daniel and Anna Massey as brother and sister Harold and Dona Rogers; Curd Jürgens as a magician on holiday in Amicus' cut-price India doing dodgy business with a terrific Dawn Addams; Michael Craig in a grave-robbing tale alongside Robin Nedwell, Geoffrey Davies and Arthur Mullard, who were comedy actors popular at the time; finally, future Doctor Who Tom Baker as Moore, a cash-strapped painter who falls victim of voodoo magic in Haiti and gets revenge on scammer Denholm Elliot and Terence Alexander.The framing device features Thomas, Jürgens, Baker, Daniel Massey and Craig who enter an elevator, a scene which opens the film. The loud bombastic music jars with this scene in my view. Five men, all methodically ignoring each other as people do in lifts as the soundtrack bangs and crashes around them – how much more effective it would have been if the music had been low and sinister. Anyhow, their joint destination, although none of them could foresee it, is an elaborate chamber bedecked with food, seemingly at the basement of the building. It is here they recount their stories and dreams to one another. All of them are revealed to be hugely flawed.The final twist in the story, and just where they are, is not massively surprising, but the success lies in the way in which their fate is revealed. Never a company for lavish theatrics, Amicus nevertheless had an occasional knack of delivering something truly spine-chilling (Moore's protracted revenge is a case in point).The cast are uniformly excellent, never betraying their worth for the occasional silliness of the stories in which they feature. One of Amicus' trademarks was that their films were tinged with a sense of humour that assured its audience that the horror was not to be taken too seriously. Sometimes this approach worked, and sometimes to the detriment of the tales being told, yet with such a lot going on, the pace never falters. When the comedic elements were not successful, it seemed as if the horror itself was being ridiculed.

Disembarking an elevator, five men find themselves in a small room and proceed to tell their dreams to each other to pass the time until they are rescued.The Good Stor(ies):This Trick'll Kill You-Traveling to India, a magician looks to find a new trick to bring into his act. His assistant wants to leave, but after agreeing to another night, he happens upon a local performing a special rope trick. Wanting to know how it works, he tries to get the secret of the act but it soon resorts into something that none of them saw coming. This is a really interesting one that is quite fun. The central premise is quite fun and there's a central air of mystery to be had as it takes place in a foreign country with a seedy underside. There is one particularly gruesome effect when a fakir manages to push a knife right through his cheek, and the scene where his assistant climbs the rope, sees something at the top, screams and disappears, leaving nothing but a swiftly spreading pool of blood on the ceiling is particularly gruesome. Even the rope attack at the end is done well, and the only real part that isn't all that terrific is the long sequence where they try to figure out the trick. It goes on a little too long, but is the only thing wrong with it.Drawn and Quartered-Living in Haiti, an artist finds that his agent has been ripping him off by informing him his paintings are worthless while actually being sold for a lot of money in London. Meeting with a local witch-doctor, he finds that whatever he paints happens in real life. Traveling to London, he threatens revenge but it gets laughed at. Remembering his deal, he sets out to paint their futures for him to decide upon. This one here isn't anywhere near that bad, and is quite fun. The central premise is incredibly original and intriguing, and the fates suffered by the victims are fun to watch unfold. These are great ones and do get a few chills watching them, especially the gunshot one which is really suspenseful. Even the lead-up to the final twist has a few good parts going for it. The ending is a little predictable, but that's all that this one has against it.The Bad Stor(ies): Midnight Mess: Looking for his sister, a man arrives in a small town and finds her living alone. Warned away from going out at night, he decides to venture to the only open restaurant in town. Waiting to be served, he comes across a terrible secret that is particularly shocking. This one here is particularly uneven. Despite the strong central image of vampires planting spigots in a victim's jugular just like a wine cask or the most effective one where the curtains are pulled back to reveal a dining hall filled with reflection-less vampires, this one isn't that spectacular. The twist comes rather quickly, the whole thing is rushed out and this never once takes the time to build up to anything worthwhile. As well, the image of the incredibly fake vampire teeth protruding from the mouths is purely laughable. It's decent, but not that spectacular.The Neat Job-Moving in together, newlyweds quickly realize that his tidiness is a major source of irritation. As they spend more time together in the situation, it soon becomes even more irritable and distressful, and eventually she tries to make things right, to no avail. When it finally becomes too much to bear, she resorts to special means to get it solved. Simply put, this one is dull. It's not that horrific, nothing terribly shocking happens or anything at all, the twist is seen coming from a mile away and as a whole, the idea isn't that terrifying. This is the weakest of the stories and is easily forgettable.Bargain for Death-After realizing he's broke, a horror writer decides to fake his own death to collect the insurance money. As it works to perfection, he awakes in his casket and is soon dug out by medical students who want to bring him back to practice on. When it turns out that the cadaver isn't what they wanted, they resort to other means to get away. This one pretty much plays out like the first one, it's too rushed and doesn't have the time to build up to anything. Nothing is really remarkable about it, and it ends up not really making an impact on anything. The comedy in here is really dreadful and not that funny. It's only real bright spots are the nasty car crash and a pretty gory spade in the head death, but these here are the only things worthy about it.Today's Rating/PG-13: Violence.

Horror anthology film by Amicus. A follow-up of sorts to Tales From the Crypt as it, like that film, takes its stories from the great EC horror comics from the 1950s. The film starts with five strangers entering an elevator and being taken to an empty sub-basement room, despite the buttons they pushed. While they wait to find out what's happening, they tell one another about their strange dreams.First story is "Midnight Mess," about a man (Daniel Massey) murdering his sister (Anna Massey) for her inheritance. Afterwards he finds himself in a strange restaurant where all of the patrons are vampires. It's cool to see Raymond Massey's kids acting opposite one another. This is a somewhat amusing story, but nothing exceptional. Second story is "The Neat Job." A newlywed wife (Glynis Johns) gets fed up with her neat-freak husband (Terry-Thomas) and his constant nagging. Johns is a treat to watch, as always. But again, an unexceptional story.Next story is "This Trick'll Kill You," about a magician and his wife (Curd Jurgens, Dawn Addams) who go to India in search of new tricks and wind up murdering someone. Not bad story with some halfway decent effects. Fourth story is "Bargain in Death." A man (Michael Craig) fakes his own death for insurance money. But things don't go as planned when his accomplice (Edward Judd) double-crosses him. Probably my least favorite story. No real tension to speak of and the payoff is predictable.Final story is "Drawn and Quartered," about an artist (Tom Baker) living in Haiti who seeks voodoo power to take revenge upon those who cheated him. The best (and longest) segment in the film. The story is interesting and Baker is terrific. After the final story, the five strangers realize where they are and why. If you saw Tales from the Crypt (and really, even if you haven't), this ending will come as no surprise. Overall, it's an OK anthology film but a step down from Tales from the Crypt.