The Amicus Collection (Asylum / And Now The Screaming Starts / The Beast Must Die)

This review is for the standard DVD edition of "The Amicus Collection" released by MPI Home Video in 2007. You get 3 movies.The 3 discs are:1 )Asylum2) And Now The Screaming Starts3) The Beast Must DiePLOT/SUMMARY: A synopsis of each movie is as follows:ASYLUM: This is an anthology movie that is broken in to 4 parts (sort of) with a framing story. The fourth part is incorporated into the framing story while the first 3 parts have a person telling a story.Dr. Martin arrives at an asylum. He is there for a job interview. He has come looking for Dr. Starr, head of the asylum. When he arrives, Dr. Rutherford (Patrick Magee) tells him that Dr. Starr is now one of the patients. He says that Dr. Starr attacked him and that is the reason he is now in a wheelchair. Dr. Rutherford tells Dr. Martin that pressing a button on his desk is the only way to get into or out of the area where the patients are kept. Both doctors agree that some people in this world so convincingly change their identities that it becomes very difficult to tell the difference from their real identity. This seems to be the case with Dr. Starr. He tells Dr. Martin that he will be hired if he can figure out which of the patients that are in the cell block is Dr. Starr. Dr. Martin agrees to the challenge. He sends Dr. Martin up to the cell area and instructs the orderly to give absolutely no information about the patients to Dr. Martin. Dr. Martin attempts to pull information out of him but the orderly is of no help. Dr. Martin visits 4 patients and there stories are as follows:1) Frozen Fear: Bonnie is the mistress of Walter. Walter has married into wealth and the two have conspired to kill Walter's wife, Ruth.2) The Weird Taylor: Bruno is an old tailor and is about to be evicted from his store for non-payment of rent. A mysterious customer (Peter Cushing) comes into his store with very specific instructions on how to make the suit and brings his own material. The instructions allow for the tailor to make the suit only in the late evening hours. He offers a large sum of money, more than enough for Bruno to pay his rent.3) Lucy Comes to Stay: Barbara (Charlotte Rampling) is returning home from an asylum. She was sent away because of a drug addiction that caused her to hallucinate and create an imaginary friend, Lucy (Britt Ekland). Upon returning home she seeks out her hidden drugs and takes them.4) Mannikins of Horror: This story takes place in the room of Dr. Byron (Herbert Lom). He makes mini-robots with the faces of people he knows. He tells Dr. Martin that they are alive and have the souls of the people they depict.After his fourth interview, Dr. Martin heads downstairs and tells Dr. Rutherford that he is disgusted with the conditions of the asylum. Dr. Rutherford asks Dr. Martin for his choice.AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS: In the 1700's, Charles Fengriffin (Ian Ogilvy) brings home his new bride, Catherine (Stephaine Beacham).She immediately begins having visions of a bloody hand and an eyeless head. She gets pregnant shortly thereafter. Dr. Whittle (Patrick Magee) wants them to move away. Charles refuses. We don't know it yet but there has been a curse placed on the family by a woodsman. Silas is the son of another woodsman also named Silas. Silas has inherited the land from Charles' grandfather. Despite her efforts, nobody in the house will reveal to Catherine their reservations. People start dying and Catherine is losing her mind. She is afraid for her unborn child. She knows there is something amiss with Silas. Charles attempts to buy out Silas but he refuses. Charles calls for a psychiatrist, Dr.Pope (Peter Cushing). Cushing attempts to help Catherine but is stifled by the house servants and Charles himself. Finally, after Dr. Whittle's death, Charles relents and tells Dr. Pope about why Silas is on the land and refuses to leave. Catherine is due shortly to have their child.THE BEAST MUST DIE: The movie opens with a black man, Tom Newcliffe being chased through woods (or a jungle). He appears to be being hunted by white men dressed in black outfits. We see a helicopter following him and we see camera's and microphones throughout the woods. Several times, Tom is caught but released. Finally he comes upon a mansion with a tea party going on outside. Tom is then shot by soldiers in front of the guests. They come rushing to his aid. Tom is in fact, not dead. He is a wealthy person who has contracted a company to build him a top notch security system that surrounds his property. He was merely testing the system. He has invited 5 guests to stay with him and his wife Caroline for a few days to figure out who is a werewolf. He is a hunter looking for the ultimate prize. Tom believes he has the 3 days of the full moon to figure out who is the werewolf.The 5 guests are:1) Arthur Bennington - a diplomat2,3) Jan and Davina - A pianist and his wife4) Paul Foote - an artist5) Professor Lundgren (Peter Cushing) - an archaeologist who knows a lot about werewolves.Also there is Pavel (Anton Diffring), head of the security teamThey all join for dinner and Professor Lundgren gives a scientific explanation for werewolves along with the reason for silver being harmful.The hunt is on. Near the end of the movie, there is a break in which you have to decide who you think is the werewolf.COMMENTS/PRODUCTION:ASYLUM: This is my favorite of the 3 movies."Asylum" is written by famous author and screenwriter Robert Bloch of "Psycho" fame.'Asylum' is also know as 'House of Crazies.'The opening and end credits use the famous classical music, 'Night on Bald Mountain.'All 4 patients had names starting with the letter 'B'(Barbara, Bruno, Bonnie, Byron). I'm not sure if this had any significance.AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS: This was possibly the most expensive movie that Amicus ever made.I felt that it is well done and felt that it was decent. It felt like a 'Hammer' movie to me. The ending was interesting but overall the movie was a bit sluggish. I thought that they waited too long to tell the story of the 'curse'.Peter Cushing gets top billing but doesn't show up until the second half of the movie. Herbert Lom is in basically one scene and gets second billing. Third star Patrick Magee is only in the first half of the movie. The main stars Stephanie Beacham and Ian Oglivy only get fourth billing! This was in keeping with Amicus' practice of hiring name stars for a short period of time.Oakley House, the mansion used in this movie was used many times by Hammer productions.THE BEAST MUST DIE: This movie moves quite slowly at times. I found it lacking.The movie does not seem to have budgeted much for special effects. While viewing the extra's, I learned that one of the producers, Milton Subotsky, decided to spend more money on 'name' actors. He felt paying more for a good actor for a few days was more beneficial to his movies than anything else. The werewolf itself doesn't use any real make up. He is either a dog in disguise or a real life wolf.The open of the movie invites you to try and figure out who is the werewolf. This adds a bit of interest and was clearly inspired by the marketing gimmicks of William Castle. The director was not thrilled with this. Milton Subotsky felt that this was a very poor movie and added the gimmick to try and save the movie.I wasn't quite sure how Tom knew that one of his guests were a werewolf. He gives his reasons for each guest as to why they could be a werewolf. Why couldn't more than 1 be a werewolf? How did he get them to come to his house? These questions may have been answered, I just didn't pick up on it.The movie attempts to give a scientific reason for the existence of werewolves. It even tries to give an explanation for 'silver' being fatal to werewolves. This is merely a trope that was invented by the writer of Universal's 'The Werewolf' and not a legendary device that has been passed down through the ages.Robert Quarry (Count Yorga) was initally considered for the part of 'Tom' but was under contract to AIP. They decided to go with Calvin Lockhart, a black actor who was known for 'Blaxploitation' films. As a result this movie has also been released as 'Black Werewolf' but without the break to decide who is werewolf.Michael Gambon who would go on to play Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series plays Jan, the pianist.RECOMMENDATIONS: Whether or not you purchase this collection depends a lot upon whether you are a fan ofthe time period and the price.This collection is obviously meant for fans of Amicus films who most likely are fans of Hammer Productions. There are numerous extra's that focus on the productions at Amicus.My ratings for each of the plots of the movies are as follows, Asylum - 4 stars, The Beast Must Die, 2 1/2 stars, And Now the Screaming Starts, 3 1/2 stars.Overall I'm giving it 4 stars.

This is a collection of three of the better Hammer Films. Only real dud in the bunch is And Now The Screaming Starts not that it is bad it is just OK! The beast must die is not so much scary as it is funny. Back in the day when I was a kid these films were something you would look at from under the covers. Asylum holds up today as a perfectly creepy offering. I brought the set just to have Asylum the movie is that good.I don't know what it is about Hammer Films but the locations the cheap sets and wild crazy plots. I don't know what it is the the brits know how to scare the heck out of people. I think in the UK the limited production budgets for props and such does not go far so writing and acting have to carry the show. British horror just seems more chilling because the story develops in the scariest place of all your own mind. Hammer horror films unfolded in your mind which added ten fold in fright to whatever you saw.Hammer Films villains always seem to be tinged with madness hidden under a proper and prim veneer of Victorian posh quality and unquestionable moral rectitude. So when the maniac behind the mask of civility reveals itself suddenly as the plot opens its more of a shock and personal betrayal. I gave this film my best 5 star rating because even after all these years the horror still holds up. Great Hammer Films are best at audience manipulation.

OMG......I saw all three when I in my teens. I hadn't seen these collection in along time...I love watching old movies like this back in day...I'm old school....Finally got these collections of DVD in my b horror in my many many collection....So I promise anyone and everyone to get them....dark sky filmsThank you once again

Asylum is your classic short story anthology that ties together at the end. The Beast Must Die is a different take on the werewolf subject. It also features a cool black lead actor (Calvin Lockhart). And Now The Screaming Starts has the haunted house/ancestral curse/evil spirit thing going on. The great Peter Cushing is in all 3 films. I cant put my finger on it, but Amicus came off more edgy than Hammer. Producers Max Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky did a mighty fine job. I had the good fortune to see Asylum and The Screaming, at the drive-in about 40 years ago. Both those flicks directed by Roy Ward Baker. For a lot of todays instant gratification or torture porn fans, old movies like this may seem too slow or mild. It was a simpler and better time.

Im a big HAMMER and Peter Cushing fan. So i was excited to pick this up for a decent price. Sadly, among the three movies here ASYLUM is the only horror anthology here. There are some extras etc. But the two films the beast must die and Now the screaming starts are very weak full length films. Full length films were not AMICUS studios strong suite.

Bought this DVD because I had never seen Asylum and I wanted to see And Now The Screaming Starts again.Asylum is marvelously entertaining.And Now The Screaming Starts is well executed, but as I had remembered, for me it was disappointing--the problem is with the ending. However, the story until then is good and the actors do a wonderful job.The Beast Must Die is full of good performances, and I'm a sucker for a werewolf tale.

Peter Cushing is my favorite actor, and his presence (whether top-billed or merely as a supporting player) elevates these films beyond their humble origins to the level of solid entertainment.The transfers for "Asylum" and "And Now..." look very good on my 720p projection screen, and while the transfer of "The Beast..." isn't quite up to par, it is a welcome improvement over the Image disc released a decade ago.The commentaries give a nuts-and-bolts view of British film-making of the 1970s without becoming too dry or technical for the uninitiated, and for that reason are not to be missed by the true cinephile.If you know and care who Peter Cushing and Amicus were, then don't dally-- order this at once!

Fans of the "modern" horror know of Hammer Horror films and their many films starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Vincent Price. One might be forgiven for thinking, when watching one of the 3 films in this set from the Amicus Productions archive, that these are from Hammer horror studio, for they a lot of the same ambience and star some of the same cast Peter Cushing. Director Baker, in one of the extremely informative and frequently funny commentaries included in this set, insists that the Amicus films are, to quote Monty Python, completely different from Hammer, but a more objective eye may catch more similarities than differences. The Amicus films included in this set do, as Baker avers, take a more leisurely and less gorey approach than a lot of the Hammer films, but they share an overall ambience that will appeal to any lovers of late 50s through early 70s British horror.The films included in this set are:And Now The Screaming Starts, a perhaps trifle overlong feature that plays like a very special Night Gallery episode, with new bride Stephanie Beacham trying to figure out if her groom's family manse is haunted, or if she's simply going bonkers. The film boasts impressive production values (as do all the films in this set), and features excellent performances from Beacham, Ian Ogilvy as her husband, Cushing as her therapist and especially Herbert Lom as a really evil ancestor of Ogilvy's. Mixing elements from films as disparate as The War Lord and Rosemary's Baby, And Now the Screaming Starts plays well as a psychological thriller if not an outright shocking horror film.The Beast Must Die is a fun, somewhat campy spin on the venerable werewolf tale, albeit with a William Castle-esque gimmick--the film starts with a disclaimer that one of the characters is in reality a werewolf and it is our task as audience to figure out which one it is before the end of the film. There's even a "werewolf break" to ponder the various clues before the denouement is bared, along with the werewolf's fangs. This film was obviously (and somewhat hilariously) made in the wake of Shaft, believe it or not, and features a dashing African-American hero played with understated panache by Calvin Lockhart. Cushing shows up here, too, as yet another Doctor, as does an impossibly young Michael Gambon, who even at this early stage in his career has the limpid, world-weary eyes that would define his better-known roles. While lacking the directorial flair of the two other films (both directed by Baker), The Beast Must Die is nonetheless a lot of fun if taken in the right spirit--it's not as deathly and breathlessly serious as the Universal Wolfman series, but that's actually for the best in these proceedings, which play almost like an Agatha Christie whodunit (or at least whoisit), albeit with a hirsute twist.Asylum is in some ways the most satisfying of the three films, and the most representative of what Amicus was known for--the compilation film. Based on four short stories by famed author Robert Bloch (Psycho), who also wrote the screenplay, Asylum cleverly clothes its portmanteau format in a Beast-like gimmick. This time, a new to the institution doctor, played by Robert Powell, must figure out which of the four patients he visits (and whose creepy stories comprise the film) is in reality his predecessor at the asylum who has since gone insane him (or her) self. Featuring great turns by a host of excellent character actors (including Cushing yet again, as well as Lom, Barbara Parkins and Britt Eklund), Asylum provides the most outright chills of the set and moves between its four stories with ease.The DVDVideo:All 3 films look gorgeous, with enhanced 1.78:1 transfers mastered in high-def from 35mm elements. Images are absolutely crisp (with virtually none of the graininess that can sometimes mar early to mid-70s features), with excellent color.Sound:The stereo soundtracks are all similarly excellently realized.Extras:All of the films boast at least one commentary track featuring the director, while Screaming also features Beacham with Ward and another with Ogilvy individually. There's also an illuminating (and at times scabrously funny) feature on the history of Amicus films featuring co-founder Max Rosenberg, who does not hesitate to dis many of his collaborators through the years.Final Thoughts:Fans of the modern horror genre, and Hammer Films in particular, are going to love this set. However, anyone with a fondness for well-made, occasionally chilling psychological thrillers will find a lot to love in the three films featured here. Amicus is sometimes referred to as "Hammer's little brother," but this sibling packs its own unique punch.

Love this box set . Bought it for Asylum which is an amazingly exciting movie .Amicus put out great anthology movies . Great price , great product , good times from my childhood .

Very enjoyable! Some of it was silly but overall fun to watch. Recommended to any Hammer or Amicus film collector.

its a good collection from this period with the bonus of peter cushing in them good quality picture too i can reccomend for this price

DVD as stated Region 1 so full length, pleased with product and delivery , highly recommend.Hoping to order some more DVD's for my Amicus collection.