- Directed by Roy Ward Baker
- Written by Robert Bloch
- Stars Peter Cushing, Britt Ekland, Herbert Lom
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 28 Minutes
Synopsis
Wraparound Story
Dr. Martin comes to the asylum as a new doctor and meets with Dr. Rutherford. He’s not the doctor that Martin expected to be in charge. “Dr. Starr is a patient,” Rutherford explains. Rutherford challenges Martin to talk to four prisoners upstairs, and Martin he can figure out which one is Dr. Star, he’ll be considered qualified for the job.
Martin is not amused by the excessively long shots of the cartoon drawings on the wall of the staircase.
“Frozen Fear”
The first patient is Bonnie. In a flashback, we see her talking to Walter about their “plan.” Everything is set to go. His wife, Ruth, is learning about Voodoo from an expert, and Walter doesn’t appreciate it. Ruth asks about Bonnie, and Walter says that’s all over with. “I will never give you a divorce,” she taunts.
As a gift, he bought her a new freezer. Within a few seconds, she’s inside the freezer, dead. He cuts her into nice, today chunks, all wrapped in butcher’s paper and puts her back in the freezer. “Rest in pieces,” he quips.
Later, Bonnie calls and says she’ll be over later. Before long, Walter finds Ruth’s wrapped head on the floor— or did he imagine it? He hears someone in the basement, and Walter follows. A hand reaches up and pulls him into the freezer. Bonnie arrives and goes down there too; of course, she looks in the freezer. Then the various pieces of Ruth start to chase her, and goes mad.
“The Weird Tailor”
The next patient is Bruno, a tailor. We flashback to see him in his shop when Mr. Stebbins comes in for the rent. Stebbins gives him until Saturday to pay the rent or start packing. Bruno tells his wife Anna all the problems. Just then, Mr. Smith comes in, asking for the proprietor.
Smith wants Bruno to make his son a suit, and he brought his own material. It’s a strange, glowing fabric for Smith’s son. Smith gives him very specific instructions and wants to pay him 200 pounds. There’s even specific times that Bruno can work on the suit, “I happen to believe in astrology,” Smith says.
It’s too much money, and Anna thinks it’s going to bring them trouble. At one point, he sticks himself with a needle and the blood just vanishes on the cloth. Still, Bruno follows his instructions to the letter, and soon the suit is finished.
He goes to Smith’s home to deliver the suit, but Smith has no money right now. He’s spent his fortune on his studies. He gave it all up for his son, who is lying in the next room, dead and mummified. The suit is for him. He points a gun at Bruno and demands the suit. The men struggle, and Smith gets shot.
Bruno gives the suit to Anna and tells her to burn it. He does however, have Smith’s valuable book. The book explains that the suit will bring back the dead. He goes upstairs to find that Anna has put the suit on their mannequin. Bruno and Anna fight, and the mannequin comes to life and attacks him.
“Lucy Comes to Stay”
Barbara is patient number three. George and Barbara are on their way home. Barbara thinks she saw Lucy peeking out he window. George says she’s not to speak of Lucy any more— she doesn’t want to go back to the hospital, does she? He’s even hired a nurse to look after her.
Nurse Higgins’ mother has an accident, and she has to leave. Barbara gets up and goes straight for her hidden stash of drugs. She then finds Lucy standing behind her. Lucy convinces Barbara that George is trying to get her committed, and he gets everything.
When George returns, Lucy drugs his tea. Once George pass out, Lucy steals his car keys and wakes Barbara up to leave. Lucy yells at Barbara when she catches her taking the drugs. Lucy throws the pills at her and then vanishes.
Barbara finds George stabbed to death with scissors, and Mrs. Higgins can’t call the police because the wires have been cut; before long, she ends up dead too. Lucy says Barbara is free, but the police say there is no Lucy, and never has been.
“Mannikins of Horror”
The final patient is Dr. Byron. He makes ugly little dolls. He explains that each one has a functioning brain. He’s been trying to bring one of them to life. “Through the power of concentration, I will transfer my mind into this doll,” he claims.
Wraparound Story
“So, which one is it,” asks Rutherford. Rutherford wants to do a lobotomy on Byron, but Martin thinks it’s reprehensible. Meanwhile, Byron stares deeply into one of his dolls. The doll walks away and sneaks into the elevator. Rutherford orders tea, and the nurse brings it in on a cart, with little Byron hiding beneath. Byron stabs Rutherford with a scalpel from behind. Martin stomps on the doll and squishes his little guts out all over the floor.
Then we find out who Dr. Star really is…
Commentary
The weird tailor story is kind of fun and original, but the other two are very generic and predictable. The fourth patient had barely three minutes of screen time.
The music is almost entirely borrowed from other films and classical tunes. It’s all good stuff, but it’s clearly not original.
The whole mystery about who Dr. Star is is actually a bit of a cheat, but I have to say I didn’t see it coming. Overall, it’s a decent, but fairly generic, anthology.