User Reviews

This isn't a horror anthology in the traditional sense but instead three unrelated short subjects presented as a feature, most likely so it could fill vacant 2 hour slots on television. This same version was released on video by the obscure company S&B Marketing in 1988. It took some digging around on my part since IMDb currently has the info wrong, but all three of the shorts featured here were previously shown on Canadian TV as part of a series entitled "Classics Dark and Dangerous" in 1977. The new opening credits, if you want to call them that, ineptly show snippets from all three shorts, introduce a few of the actors and then insert a new title screen while a deep-voiced narrator attempts to act like there's some kind of recurring theme here: "Three Dangerous Ladies. Lovely Simone, sweet Jenny Santander and the enigmatic Mrs. Amworth all seem so innocent, yet to know them..." After that, the full opening credits for our first story are run, and the full opening credits for the other two shorts are also run when their time comes; each time with silly new narration. It's quite sloppy.

"Mrs. Amworth" was filmed in 1975 (according to IMDb) by director Alvin Rakoff and is based on a story by E.F. Benson. After airing a single time on the CDAD show, it got its own separate VHS release through the company LCA and also became part of this anthology. Glynis Johns has the title role as an elderly eccentric who; claiming to be a descended from a family that lived there many years ago, moves to a tiny Sussex village populated primarily with older residents. Mrs. Amworth's presence, and frequent social gatherings at her mansion, seem to bring life to an otherwise boring little town, but she may be hiding a deep dark secret. Could she possibly have anything to do with a sudden outbreak in strange disorders resulting from a lack of hemoglobin in the blood? John Phillips, Derek Francis and Pip Miller also star in this lightweight, predictable tale.

Next up is "The Mannikin" which is currently listed on IMDb as simply "Mannikin." It's based on a 1937 story by Robert Bloch, which was later ripped off by Graham Masterson for his 1975 novel "The Manitou," which itself became a silly movie directed by William Girdler in 1978. If you ever wondered why Ronee Blakley didn't get much work after NASHVILLE (1975), her awful "performance" in this one is evidence enough. The plot centers around a young singer who begins having severe back pain after her estranged mother passes away. It all has something to do with Satanism, a family curse, a sinister housekeeper and some little demonic critter called a "mannikin" that's reborn out of a massive back tumor that develops on the protagonist's back. Blakley gets to perform her song "Need a New Sun Rising" multiple times and Keir Dullea and Cec Linder co-star.

Finally, we have "The Island," based on a story by L.P. Hartley. Unlike the two previous stories, this currently does not have its own IMDb entry, although it should since it debuted on TV February 3, 1977 before being included in this collection. Of the three shorts, this was the one I was most looking forward to because it features the strongest cast and was directed by Robert Fuest, who has several good genre films to his credit, including AND SOON THE DARKNESS (1970) and THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES (1971). Unfortunately, this turned out to be every bit as predictable as the first story and even less entertaining that the silly second one.

While on leave from the war, Lt. George Simmonds (John Hurt) decides to go pay his lover Jenny Santander (Jenny Runacre) a visit. Her home is apparently the only one on a small island that none of the locals want to set foot on, including the ferryman who refuses to touch shore when he drops George off. On his walk there, the path is littered with dead seagulls. When he finally arrives at the house, things get even stranger. Jenny is nowhere to be found and the butler, Collins (Graham Crowden), behaves secretive and his story about Jenny's whereabouts changes. Even stranger, a man claiming to be an electrician (played by Charles Gray) is there and then promptly disappears himself even though he has no way to get off the island. All of this is supposed to build-up to a surprise revelation which sadly isn't the least bit surprising. The actors are fine, but this is just a waste of their collective talent.

All in all, I wouldn't go out of my way to see this one.

It's a bit hard to entirely fairly review this one, since the sound and picture were on the muddy side on the old videotape I watched.

This is a three part horror anthology with no linking segments, although there is a narrator who speaks in voice-over at the beginning of each one. The movie begins with some clips from each segment.

In Mrs. Amworth, a couple people are apparently bitten by bugs that make them vampires or something like that. One of the more interesting moments was an accidental death of someone, but otherwise I didn't find this one too involving.

In the second part, The Mannikin, a singer/songwriter's mother died (I think), and for some reason she decides never to return to a house that belonged to her best friend (I think) who may have been her mother's housekeeper, I'm not sure. One of the rooms has some occultist trappings that she hurls to the floor.

She's got a bit of a raspy voice and her guitar playing seemed awfully out of tune, and her acting is dreadful. The editing in this was is quite poor too, lingering on scenes that aren't working, on closeups of actors that aren't performing well, or who are (like Keir Dullea here) overacting.

She develops some kind of tumor or hunchback and dons a red cloak and yells at her psychologist and returns to the house. There, some sort of satanic ritual is done, and some black creature breaks through the skin of her back. The psychologist rushes to the house to find out what's going on with her, but is told he's not needed. On the way home, he's attacked by some sort of mutant devil baby (*really* bad special effects) that is the mannikin, I suppose.

In the last segment, The Island, John Hurt is returning from a war in Africa and is visiting his lover on an island nobody wants to take him to. There he finds only the butler, and a man claiming to be an electrician. The butler has not seen the electrician, and it seems like the place might be haunted, or something. This one was rather dull too, I'm afraid.

Despite some big names in the cast, writing, directing, and composing, the movie is one that certainly has earned its obscurity. Still, hopefully a better print may be found and put on DVD at some point.

I've enjoyed many of the multi-story British horror films of the 70's, so this along with an enticing title held some interest for me, but when it came down to actually watching, I wasn't as satisfied as I hoped to be. Glynis Johns and John Hurt held the most interest for me, but unfortunately, the cheaply made individual parts (apparently made for unrelated TV airings in Canada then melded together for feature length movie presentation for British TV) made much of this difficult to watch, especially due to poor photography and shrill sound recording.

I didn't find any of the stories particularly spooky although the second segment (featuring Ronnie Blakely and Keir Dullea) had a story involving a monster born out of a growth on Blakely's back did have potential for eerie reactions. Glynis Johns, as good as she is, sends in the groans with the underdeveloped first segment, while Hurt adds a touch of class along with Charles Gray in the slow moving third segment that took forever to develop and really didn't provide any tension. Not horrible, just not really memorable unless you have to see these British greats.

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

*Plot and ending analyzed*

An interesting assortment of three intimately bizarre stories. The acting is rather sufficient enough to carry all the narratives, since the budget is quite limited. They all resemble Teleplays, and are garrulous, which will be uninteresting to some audience members. I personally don't mind that at all, since I grew up in the time of plays and and television programs which relied heavily on dialogue.

Mrs. Amworth - A small village is experiencing a strange sickness related to blood. An older woman has visited the village. So does a young man, whose uncle is friends with another elderly man. The elderly man has his own unusual theory about the cause of the illness. He also is a voracious reader of the occult. Finding that the village experienced a similar plague in the distant past, he also discovers that the older woman was related to a witch in that time. It turns out that she is a vampire and has been biting people in the village.

The Mannikin - This is a more unusual story than the first one, and it was quite enjoyable except for the all too familiar ending. The eerie music and the murkiness of what is happening really makes it captivating.

A female singer visits her dying mother's home as she is about to expire. She leaves, vowing never to return. A mysterious female house attendant seems connected to the house and the dead mother in some way. The female singer starts experiencing painful mental and physical episodes, and a psychologist is consulted. He is played by Keir Dullea (2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)).

It looked like I recognized actor William Hurt in a very small part as a patient in the psychologist's office.

It was revealed later, that female singer is controlled by the mysterious female house attendant, and returns to her mother's house and gives birth to a small creature, arising from her back.

The big letdown is the small creature itself, absolutely no creativity went into the making of it, and it looks bloody awful and is completely lacking in any terrifying aspects.

The Island - This was probably the best of the stories. John Hurt is really fantastic in this, playing an officer, on leave from France in World War One. He visits an extremely solitary island. There sits an estate with a proper English butler. At first I thought that perhaps it was his own house and that he was visiting his mother. But we later find out that it is his lover's house. The husband of the woman also makes an appearance, or does he? The woman is later found dead, killed with a bullet from John Hurt's revolver.

What makes this one intriguing is that we don't exactly know who killed the woman. Was there a complot between the butler and the dead woman's jealous husband? The butler stated to John Hurt that he was in South America. Or was that just a lie? Did John Hurt see a ghost? Perhaps it was John Hurt that shot her. Or the butler. Maybe she shot herself and then the butler put the revolver back in the holster. No definite answers makes it even more tantalizing.

The copy of the movie I saw was in terrible condition and the audio was very bad. The color was too dark in some places, and it was also very blurry at times.

I still thought that the story collection was interesting enough to warrant a view.