by Chip Kaufmann –

I have frequently written articles in this publication concerning England’s Hammer Films along with reviews and DVD picks of some of their movies.

Now it is time to pay tribute to Hammer’s chief competitor in the 1960s and 1970s, Amicus Productions. The primary impetus behind this tribute is the release on Blu-Ray later this month of the company’s flagship production, Dr Terror’s House of Horrors in honor of the film’s 50^th anniversary. Dr. Terror set the pattern for future Amicus releases with its multi-story format and outlandish title.

In order to compete with Hammer who usually set their films in the 19^th century and based them on classic horror literature, Amicus chose to copy a famous British film from the 1940s called Dead of Night. This film featured a portmanteau format (several different stories with a central framing device) and had a contemporary setting. This format had its origins in the German silent fantasy film Waxworks (1924) which told different stories based on figures in a wax museum.

Although the Amicus movies were produced in England, the founders were American. Both Max J. Rosenberg (1914-2004) and Milton Subotsky (1921-1991) were New Yorkers who gravitated to England in the mid 1950s where they began by producing early rock and roll films. In 1960 they made their first horror film City of the Dead (U.S. title Horror Hotel) which was a modest success in England but a big hit in America. In 1962 they formed Amicus Productions (Amicus means friendship in Latin).

In 1965 Rosenberg & Subotsky made Dr Terror’s House of Horrors. Five men on a train have their fortunes told by a sixth with unfortunate results. Although made on a modest budget, Dr. Terror was able to enlist the services of Hammer’s two biggest stars Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee as well as a young up-and-coming actor by the name of Donald Sutherland. It was directed by Freddie Francis, a celebrated British cameraman who would go on to become a horror film auteur.

The success of Dr. Terror encouraged Amicus to continue to pursue the anthology format and there would be six more films ending with From Beyond the Grave in 1974. Those in the middle were Torture Garden (1967), The House That Dripped Blood (1970) and Asylum (1972) both written by Robert Bloch of Psycho fame, and Tales from the Crypt (1972) and Vault of Horror (1973) which were based on the subversive EC Horror Comics of the 1950s.

There were single story features as well including The Skull, two Doctor Who films, three science fiction films, and their one prestige production, Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party with Robert Shaw. They even took on Gothic Horror with And Now the Screaming Starts and I, Monster, an unauthorized version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde but they were not nearly as profitable as the anthology films.

While the Amicus films were successful, they were never quite as successful as the Hammer films with one notable exception. Tales from the Crypt, which boasted an all-star cast including Ralph Richardson, Peter Cushing, Richard Greene, and a pre-Dynasty Joan Collins (urban legend has it that it was her appearance in this film that got her the Dynasty gig), was a runaway hit in the U.K. and especially in America where it took in millions at the box office,

A quick follow-up, Vault of Horror which was also based on 1950s horror comics, did not do as well despite having a cast of bigger names including Curt Jurgens, Terry-Thomas, Glynis Johns, and a pre-Doctor Who Tom Baker. Tastes in horror films were changing thanks to the worldwide success of The Exorcist and Amicus’ old school approach of deliberate unreality presented in a theatrical manner with wit and style could not compete with the graphic reality and intensity of the new school.

After one last anthology film From Beyond the Grave (considered by many to be their finest), Amicus moved exclusively into single story movies and had modest successes with a series of Edgar Rice Burroughs prehistoric thrillers including The Land That Time Forgot which was noted for its camp value and deliberately cheesy special effects. Their last official horror film was The Beast Must Die (1974) about a werewolf in a Fantasy Island like setting.

In 1975 faced with declining revenues and a changing horror audience, Subotsky & Rosenberg decided to call it a day and Amicus Productions was disbanded after a 13 year run. Rosenberg continued to produce other types of movies but Subotsky stayed with horror retreating to Canada to make The Uncanny (1977) and then back to England for The Monster Club (1981). Both movies were pale imitations of the original Amicus anthologies.

Yet like any good horror protagonist, Amicus refused to die. Thanks to TV showings in the 1980s and the emergence of home video, their films are still out there to be enjoyed. Now the film that started it all, Dr Terror’s House of Horrors, is 50 years old and about to be released on Blu-Ray on October 27^th joining Tales from the Crypt and Vault of Horror. I cut my critical teeth on the Amicus movies and am happy to see them alive and well in the 21^st century.