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what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Just like their main rival Hammer Films, British production company Amicus Productions was attempting to conquer the lucrative horror market in the 1960s and 70s. While Hammer found success with their literary properties such as Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolf Man, Amicus found a niche in portmanteau films; anthology tales containing multiple stories, with each featuring one of the hapless chumps gathered together for the opening scenes. The first was Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, directed by Freddie Francis and starring Peter Cushing, and Terror's moderate success led to Torture Garden, with both director and star returning. We open at a fairground sideshow, where showman Dr. Diablo (Burgess Meredith) is inviting customers into his tent for some cheap thrills. When the group fail to be impressed by Diablo's shtick, he dares them behind the curtain where more terrifying revelations await them. It will cost them an extra five bob though.Naturally, the group's curiosity gets the better of them, and they proceed behind the curtain. Awaiting them is a motionless fortune teller (Clytie Jessop) holding a pair of shears. Stare into the shears, Diablo tells them, and their destiny will appear before them. First up is Colin (Michael Bryant), who holds back his rich uncle's (Maurice Denham) medicine as he lays dying in the hope of finding out where his dough is hidden. The uncle dies however, so Colin searches for the loot. What he stumbles upon is a demonic cat who demands murder in exchange for gold coins. Next is Carla (Beverly Adams), a Hollywood up-and-comer who steals her best friend's date for the night, and winds up at the table of big time producer Eddie Storm (John Phillips) and heartthrob actor Bruce Benton (Robert Hutton). Benton has been around for years but hasn't seemed to have aged a day. She soon discovers his secret and the reason why stars of the silver screen maintain their youthful beauty. The third story, seen through the eyes of Dorothy (Barbara Ewing), tells of her doomed romance with concert pianist Leo (John Standing), and how their relationship comes under threat when Leo's piano becomes jealous with murderous rage.Torture Garden saves the best story for last, and features two screen heavyweights in Jack Palance and Peter Cushing. In The Man Who Collected Poe, Palance plays Poe enthusiast Ronald, who visits renowned Poe collector and the possessor of the greatest screen name ever, Lancelot Canning. Canning has collected everything from the great writer's possessions to his actual manuscripts, but Ronald notices that some of these unpublished writings have been scribbled on 1966 paper. Like all anthology films, some stories work better than others. The first three segments range from passable to downright terrible, with the third part, Mr. Steinway, proving the most ridiculous and forgettable. Amicus would go on to make more, such as The House That Dripped Blood, Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror, and Torture Garden may just be the most disposable of the bunch. It's worth seeing for Palance and Cushing trying to out-ham each other in what is the only truly engrossing story of the bunch, and Burgess Meredith has fun in what is essentially a re-hash of his Penguin character from the Adam West Batman television series. As a complete film, it's both too camp to be scary and not camp enough to be charming.

Burgess Meredith is Dr. Diabolo. When we are first introduced to him he's reminiscent of his role as The Penguin in the 1960s Batman TV Show. But soon he takes off some of the excessive clothing to reveal a more sinister looking Dr. Diabolo.It's pretty good horror anthology.Segment 1 "Enoch" A greedy man that is taking advantage of his uncle is faced with a man-eating cat.Segment 2 "Terror Over Hollywood" A woman finds her co-workers are androids.Segment 3 "Mr. Steinway" A possessed piano named Euterpe is jealous over it's owners new lovers.Segment 4 "The Man Who Collected Poe" A man that collects Poe murders another collector of Poe over an unseen Poe collectible. It turns out to be Poe himself.I like 1 and 4 the best.6/10

I'm a big fan of the horror anthology film in general. I'm an especially big fan of the ones made by Amicus. This is the second of their portmanteau films, following Dr. Terror's House of Horrors. This isn't their best but it's still entertaining. It's written by Robert Bloch and directed by Freddie Francis. There are four stories plus the linking/wraparound story. The first story is "Enoch," about a no-account who causes the death of his uncle while trying to extort money from him. Later he discovers the bizarre source of his uncle's wealth: a telepathic cat named Balthazar with a peculiar appetite. A weird but unique tale. The next story, "Terror Over Hollywood," is the weakest. An ambitious (and unlikable) actress discovers the secret of how movie stars stay so youthful-looking. Lame. The third story is "Mr. Steinway," about a reporter who becomes involved with a concert pianist. Too bad his piano is the jealous type! A little silly but fun. Finally, there's "The Man Who Collected Poe," which is about two Edgar Allan Poe collectors (Jack Palance, Peter Cushing) and the extremes they go to for the sake of their obsession. This is my favorite story in the film.The linking story has a sideshow showman named Dr. Diablo (Burgess Meredith) taking five people into a back room where they get to see their future. This leads into the other stories and finishes the movie with the expected twist about Diablo that, while amusing, will surely surprise no one. The best stories are the first and the last but the linking story is fun in its way, due to Burgess Meredith's performance. As I said, this isn't one of Amicus' better horror anthologies but it isn't bad either. The segments are interesting and feel fresh, not just rehashes of older stories. It's a good time-passer.

This is a horror anthology and it has a very interesting premise binding the various episodes together. The film begins in some sort of sideshow tent. Burgess Meredith is dressed in a somewhat demonic looking outfit and is showing the crowd a trick involving an electric chair. It's all pretty cheesy, but he promises the crowd REALLY INTENSE thrills in the next room--if they are willing to pay the very steep admission price. They agree and at first are disappointed. However, one by one, he reveals to them their future--what COULD be if they do not heed his warning. In a creepy touch, he privately burns their money--and so it's obvious he's not in it to get rich. What ARE his motivations and who is this weirdo?! The first story involves a man who is greedy and can't wait for his rich uncle to die. In fact, he expedites matters when he withholds his sick uncle's medicine--as he coldly watches the sad man die. But the nasty nephew has no idea where the old guy's stash of gold coins lie--and he spends much of his time searching. However, when an other-worldly cat shows up, you learn the truth (and it creeped me out, as the cat looked like both of my cats!)--and it's naturally a nasty one! The next involves a passive-aggressive lady. You see that this is the case when she deliberately scorches her roommate's dress and claims it is an accident. It appears that the nasty lady is an aspiring actress and she did this in order to steal the roommate's date--some big-wig in the movie industry. And, when on this date, she dumps this guy in favor of another Hollywood player--someone with more power to make her famous. Talk about a conniver! But where this goes next is REALLY weird--and you've just gotta see this one! The third is about a lady who is a reporter who has come to interview a famous concert pianist. He is an odd-ball, as he has named his piano 'Euterpe' and talks to it like it's alive. And, eventually the piano tells him to have nothing to do with her--she is getting in the way of their art. It's pretty goofy and much weaker than the previous wonderful vignettes.The next story features two big-name actors--Jack Palance and Peter Cushing (famous for his many horror film appearances). Both are book collectors who love the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Cushing invites Palance to visit his home--a place that is a shrine to the great writer. It's filled with various valuable Poe artifacts (including a hand-written unpublished story) and the place looks a bit like a spook house. Unfortunately for Palance, he's WAYYY too curious and ends up learning too much about Cushing's collection as well as Poe.The final person is unwilling to learn about his future--mostly because he seems scared of what he'll see. Instead, he attacks Meredith and scares most the patrons off--as they run in horror. Then the twist...All in all, it's a fun and somewhat silly sort of anthology. The first two were clearly the best but even the worst one was worth seeing. Too bad Meredith didn't make a follow-up film!