The Amicus Collection (Asylum / And Now The Screaming Starts / The Beast Must Die)

"Asylum" has always been one of my favorites about a psychiatrist who visits an asylum and is challenged to pick who the real doctor is from a group of patients. They all seem nutty but the stories they tell are scary and fun to watch.

Asylum is your classic short story anthology that ties together at the end. The Beast Must Die is a different take on the werewolf subject. It also features a cool black lead actor (Calvin Lockhart). And Now The Screaming Starts has the haunted house/ancestral curse/evil spirit thing going on. The great Peter Cushing is in all 3 films. I cant put my finger on it, but Amicus came off more edgy than Hammer. Producers Max Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky did a mighty fine job. I had the good fortune to see Asylum and The Screaming, at the drive-in about 40 years ago. Both those flicks directed by Roy Ward Baker. For a lot of todays instant gratification or torture porn fans, old movies like this may seem too slow or mild. It was a simpler and better time.

Bought this DVD because I had never seen Asylum and I wanted to see And Now The Screaming Starts again. Asylum is marvelously entertaining. And Now The Screaming Starts is well executed, but as I had remembered, for me it was disappointing--the problem is with the ending. However, the story until then is good and the actors do a wonderful job. The Beast Must Die is full of good performances, and I'm a sucker for a werewolf tale.

Peter Cushing is my favorite actor, and his presence (whether top-billed or merely as a supporting player) elevates these films beyond their humble origins to the level of solid entertainment. The transfers for "Asylum" and "And Now..." look very good on my 720p projection screen, and while the transfer of "The Beast..." isn't quite up to par, it is a welcome improvement over the Image disc released a decade ago. The commentaries give a nuts-and-bolts view of British film-making of the 1970s without becoming too dry or technical for the uninitiated, and for that reason are not to be missed by the true cinephile. If you know and care who Peter Cushing and Amicus were, then don't dally-- order this at once!

Im a big HAMMER and Peter Cushing fan. So i was excited to pick this up for a decent price. Sadly, among the three movies here ASYLUM is the only horror anthology here. There are some extras etc. But the two films the beast must die and Now the screaming starts are very weak full length films. Full length films were not AMICUS studios strong suite.

This review is for the standard DVD edition of "The Amicus Collection" released by MPI Home Video in 2007. You get 3 movies. The 3 discs are: 1 )Asylum 2) And Now The Screaming Starts 3) The Beast Must Die PLOT/SUMMARY: A synopsis of each movie is as follows: ASYLUM: This is an anthology movie that is broken in to 4 parts (sort of) with a framing story. The fourth part is incorporated into the framing story while the first 3 parts have a person telling a story. Dr. Martin arrives at an asylum. He is there for a job interview. He has come looking for Dr. Starr, head of the asylum. When he arrives, Dr. Rutherford (Patrick Magee) tells him that Dr. Starr is now one of the patients. He says that Dr. Starr attacked him and that is the reason he is now in a wheelchair. Dr. Rutherford tells Dr. Martin that pressing a button on his desk is the only way to get into or out of the area where the patients are kept. Both doctors agree that some people in this world so convincingly change their identities that it becomes very difficult to tell the difference from their real identity. This seems to be the case with Dr. Starr. He tells Dr. Martin that he will be hired if he can figure out which of the patients that are in the cell block is Dr. Starr. Dr. Martin agrees to the challenge. He sends Dr. Martin up to the cell area and instructs the orderly to give absolutely no information about the patients to Dr. Martin. Dr. Martin attempts to pull information out of him but the orderly is of no help. Dr. Martin visits 4 patients and there stories are as follows: 1) Frozen Fear: Bonnie is the mistress of Walter. Walter has married into wealth and the two have conspired to kill Walter's wife, Ruth. 2) The Weird Taylor: Bruno is an old tailor and is about to be evicted from his store for non-payment of rent. A mysterious customer (Peter Cushing) comes into his store with very specific instructions on how to make the suit and brings his own material. The instructions allow for the tailor to make the suit only in the late evening hours. He offers a large sum of money, more than enough for Bruno to pay his rent. 3) Lucy Comes to Stay: Barbara (Charlotte Rampling) is returning home from an asylum. She was sent away because of a drug addiction that caused her to hallucinate and create an imaginary friend, Lucy (Britt Ekland). Upon returning home she seeks out her hidden drugs and takes them. 4) Mannikins of Horror: This story takes place in the room of Dr. Byron (Herbert Lom). He makes mini-robots with the faces of people he knows. He tells Dr. Martin that they are alive and have the souls of the people they depict. After his fourth interview, Dr. Martin heads downstairs and tells Dr. Rutherford that he is disgusted with the conditions of the asylum. Dr. Rutherford asks Dr. Martin for his choice. AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS: In the 1700's, Charles Fengriffin (Ian Ogilvy) brings home his new bride, Catherine (Stephaine Beacham). She immediately begins having visions of a bloody hand and an eyeless head. She gets pregnant shortly thereafter. Dr. Whittle (Patrick Magee) wants them to move away. Charles refuses. We don't know it yet but there has been a curse placed on the family by a woodsman. Silas is the son of another woodsman also named Silas. Silas has inherited the land from Charles' grandfather. Despite her efforts, nobody in the house will reveal to Catherine their reservations. People start dying and Catherine is losing her mind. She is afraid for her unborn child. She knows there is something amiss with Silas. Charles attempts to buy out Silas but he refuses. Charles calls for a psychiatrist, Dr.Pope (Peter Cushing). Cushing attempts to help Catherine but is stifled by the house servants and Charles himself. Finally, after Dr. Whittle's death, Charles relents and tells Dr. Pope about why Silas is on the land and refuses to leave. Catherine is due shortly to have their child. THE BEAST MUST DIE: The movie opens with a black man, Tom Newcliffe being chased through woods (or a jungle). He appears to be being hunted by white men dressed in black outfits. We see a helicopter following him and we see camera's and microphones throughout the woods. Several times, Tom is caught but released. Finally he comes upon a mansion with a tea party going on outside. Tom is then shot by soldiers in front of the guests. They come rushing to his aid. Tom is in fact, not dead. He is a wealthy person who has contracted a company to build him a top notch security system that surrounds his property. He was merely testing the system. He has invited 5 guests to stay with him and his wife Caroline for a few days to figure out who is a werewolf. He is a hunter looking for the ultimate prize. Tom believes he has the 3 days of the full moon to figure out who is the werewolf. The 5 guests are: 1) Arthur Bennington - a diplomat 2,3) Jan and Davina - A pianist and his wife 4) Paul Foote - an artist 5) Professor Lundgren (Peter Cushing) - an archaeologist who knows a lot about werewolves. Also there is Pavel (Anton Diffring), head of the security team They all join for dinner and Professor Lundgren gives a scientific explanation for werewolves along with the reason for silver being harmful. The hunt is on. Near the end of the movie, there is a break in which you have to decide who you think is the werewolf. COMMENTS/PRODUCTION: ASYLUM: This is my favorite of the 3 movies. "Asylum" is written by famous author and screenwriter Robert Bloch of "Psycho" fame. 'Asylum' is also know as 'House of Crazies.' The opening and end credits use the famous classical music, 'Night on Bald Mountain.' All 4 patients had names starting with the letter 'B'(Barbara, Bruno, Bonnie, Byron). I'm not sure if this had any significance. AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS: This was possibly the most expensive movie that Amicus ever made. I felt that it is well done and felt that it was decent. It felt like a 'Hammer' movie to me. The ending was interesting but overall the movie was a bit sluggish. I thought that they waited too long to tell the story of the 'curse'. Peter Cushing gets top billing but doesn't show up until the second half of the movie. Herbert Lom is in basically one scene and gets second billing. Third star Patrick Magee is only in the first half of the movie. The main stars Stephanie Beacham and Ian Oglivy only get fourth billing! This was in keeping with Amicus' practice of hiring name stars for a short period of time. Oakley House, the mansion used in this movie was used many times by Hammer productions. THE BEAST MUST DIE: This movie moves quite slowly at times. I found it lacking. The movie does not seem to have budgeted much for special effects. While viewing the extra's, I learned that one of the producers, Milton Subotsky, decided to spend more money on 'name' actors. He felt paying more for a good actor for a few days was more beneficial to his movies than anything else. The werewolf itself doesn't use any real make up. He is either a dog in disguise or a real life wolf. The open of the movie invites you to try and figure out who is the werewolf. This adds a bit of interest and was clearly inspired by the marketing gimmicks of William Castle. The director was not thrilled with this. Milton Subotsky felt that this was a very poor movie and added the gimmick to try and save the movie. I wasn't quite sure how Tom knew that one of his guests were a werewolf. He gives his reasons for each guest as to why they could be a werewolf. Why couldn't more than 1 be a werewolf? How did he get them to come to his house? These questions may have been answered, I just didn't pick up on it. The movie attempts to give a scientific reason for the existence of werewolves. It even tries to give an explanation for 'silver' being fatal to werewolves. This is merely a trope that was invented by the writer of Universal's 'The Werewolf' and not a legendary device that has been passed down through the ages. Robert Quarry (Count Yorga) was initally considered for the part of 'Tom' but was under contract to AIP. They decided to go with Calvin Lockhart, a black actor who was known for 'Blaxploitation' films. As a result this movie has also been released as 'Black Werewolf' but without the break to decide who is werewolf. Michael Gambon who would go on to play Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series plays Jan, the pianist. RECOMMENDATIONS: Whether or not you purchase this collection depends a lot upon whether you are a fan of the time period and the price. This collection is obviously meant for fans of Amicus films who most likely are fans of Hammer Productions. There are numerous extra's that focus on the productions at Amicus. My ratings for each of the plots of the movies are as follows, Asylum - 4 stars, The Beast Must Die, 2 1/2 stars, And Now the Screaming Starts, 3 1/2 stars. Overall I'm giving it 4 stars.

I love everything made by Amicus. This set is a great addition to my collection!!

OMG......I saw all three when I in my teens. I hadn't seen these collection in along time...I love watching old movies like this back in day...I'm old school....Finally got these collections of DVD in my b horror in my many many collection....So I promise anyone and everyone to get them....dark sky films Thank you once again