Save your money for something good and enjoyable

The acting in this movie is really good.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Psychiatrist is called to an asylum for a job interview, finds the institute's staff as strange as the patients. Long-winded, slowly-mounted cycle of scary stories from horror-house Amicus Productions and the pen of original "Psycho" author Robert Bloch. Tales include an adulterous man and woman who become the target of revenge from his wife's dismembered corpse; a tailor who receives oddly specific instructions on the construction of a haunted suit; a disturbed girl (Charlotte Rampling, with freckles), either the victim of delusion or illusion, who is charged with a double-homicide that she says was committed by a woman who doesn't exist; and a patient who has made a robot doll in his own image and believes he can will it to life. Shuddery episodes of murder and insanity produce a few shivers, but no standout moments or performances. *1/2 from ****

I'm a sucker for an anthology film. More horror for less I guess. This one sounded pretty interesting, with a surprisingly effective wraparound story that is more than just filler.The first segment, "Frozen Fear", is a typical wronged spouse revenge story but with a nice beyond the grave twist. There are some creepy scenes involving animated body parts (creepy AND funny, I should say).The second, "The Weird Tailor, despite having Peter Cushing in it, is weaker than the first. It's mostly goofy and none too scary.The third, "Lucy Comes to Stay", is easily the best segment. It's about a woman with a split personality that manifests itself as another person, and while it's mostly a scenario that's been played out before, this one at least has good fun with it and never pretends the audience isn't in on the twist.The fourth, "Mannikins of Horror", actually evolves out of the wraparound segment in a neat little surprise. An absolutely baffling, but strangely compelling premise is completely undone by a poorly paced ending. Watching that mannikin walk around the hospital was some kind of torture (even the laughs subside long before the scene does).The wraparound keeps your interest and resolves like you expect, however it's effective for what it needs to do. This is a solid anthology film, with the usual ups and downs, but most of them right around the median.

Young Dr. Martin (Powell) arrives at his new job at a British insane asylum. He is told by Dr. Rutherford (Patrick Magee) the administrator in charge that the last doctor in his position went insane and is now a patient upstairs. Dr. Martin must figure out who the former doctor was in order to secure the job. This clever wrap around story from Amicus highlights one of their best anthology movies. The first story is "Frozen Fear" telling the story of an adulterous husband named Walter (Todd) who buys a freezer and installs it in his basement with the idea of chopping up his wife so he can be with his lover Bonnie (Barbara Parkins). Once the ghastly job is done, the parts wrapped in brown paper and tied off with rope come to life on their own with revenge in mind. This segment is the most chilling of them all with jump scares and truly horrifying moments, tense and scary. The second story is "The Weird Tailor" a slow moving but involving tale of a tailor (Barry Morse) named Bruno who is about to go bankrupt until Mr. Smith (Cushing) shows up at his shop. He wants Bruno to make a suit for his son made of special material. In need of money, Bruno accepts the bizarre job that requires him to work on the suit at odd hours. There is a great end twist that serves up the horror of this segment. This segment is slow paced but the payoff is worth it. The third story "Lucy comes to stay" tells of Barbara (Charlotte Rampling) who is recovering from a mental breakdown that had her split personality known as Lucy (Britt Ekland) take complete control. Lucy repays Barbara a visit and the murders start again. The final story "Mannikins of Horror" ties back into the wrap around story centering on a brilliant, but mad man named Byron (Lom) who is a patient in the hospital. He makes little robot mannikin's that have real human faces that he can control with his mind. This odd ending segment is creepy and has many enjoyable moments of terror. The final wrap around twist could be the best of all and is sure to catch the viewer off guard. This Amicus film benefited from having all the segments written by Robert Bloch of "Psycho" fame and they're great. Directed cleverly by Roy Ward Baker, this is certainly one of the best of the Amicus 1960's and 1970's horror anthologies. The stories have some grit and a decent amount of gore mixed with shocks, and suspense making this a must see film, especially for fans of anthology horror.

I've been told that you have to be a nut to treat a nut, so in this Macadamia Manor, one of the inmates is allegedly the head man, having gone berserk only recently and putting their assistant into a wheel chair. A new arrival at the facility has been promised a position if he can determine which one of the loony-tunes locked up is actually the head man (or woman). From there, this becomes an anthology like horror film where each of the mental patients stories are told. One is the mistress of a man who brutally slaughtered his wife with a surprising turn of events. Another is a tailor who made a special suit that has secret powers. Then, there is another with her own special friend whom her brother considers dangerous, and finally, by his own accounts, a mad doctor who has invented a Chuckie like doll that has real human organs and can kill on demand.As you go through each of these people's stories, the goal is not to guess who the doctor really is. You can instantly tell definitely who is not. The goal is to be spooked by these people who are not insane because of an imbalance in their brain but circumstances that somehow drove them insane. The stories are not gory in any manner, just silly fun with a few thrills here and there. (The crawling legs, arms, head and torso of one of the segments is both frightening and silly in spots.) A few well known performers (Peter Cushing, Herbert Lom, Charlotte Rampling to name a few) make extended cameos, taking their roles seriously, and keeping their tongue out of their cheek, which is impossible to do sometimes with ridiculous material. Considering the nasty gore we get in horror movies today, this one is classic by comparison.