Why do we love portmanteau horror movies so much? I refer to those anthology films which always have three or four different stories framed by a main storyline.
In both the separate stories and the main story, there is always a twist at the end, which usually involves the murderer or similar miscreant meeting with a gruesome comeuppance at the end. And who doesn’t relish a tale with a good twist?
Good examples of such entertaining portmanteau movies are Tales From They Crypt (my all time favourite portmanteau movie) and The House That Dripped Blood. In the former, four people find themselves lost and trapped in a large crypt, and are each told by a mysterious robed figure (played superbly by Ralph Richardson) to view a horrifying event that appears to be in their future; in the latter, the main framing storyline revolves around a big old house which seems to have some sort of curse on it, as each person that takes up residence in the place meets with a grisly fate.
Amicus were especially famous for making these portmanteau chillers, and their tendency to regularly feature such legendary horror stars as Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee certainly did much to enhance the sheer quality of these productions.
If you wanted to go even further back in time to find a good portmanteau horror movie, then the 1945 chiller Dead of Night, from Ealing Studios, would instantly spring to mind as the first real film in this particular style. Though filmed in black and white, and with no blood and gore, this movie was just as scary as the later technicolor films of Amicus. Featuring such top British actors as Googie Withers and Mervyn Johns, the movie has the framing story of an architect who senses impending doom as his half-remembered recurring dream turns into reality. The guests at the country house encourage him to stay as they take turns telling supernatural tales, four in all. My own personal favourite story in Dead of Night is the one involving the creepy ventriloquist dummy that suddenly comes to life and menaces its owner in the jail cell. Without doubt, one of the most unsettling stories I’ve ever seen, and this demonic ventriloquist dummy scenario is still mirrored in modern horror movies like Magic and Triloquist.
The master of horror fiction himself, Stephen King, has even dipped his own literary fingers into the wonderful world of portmanteau movie horror, producing such titles as Creepshow and Cat’s Eye. He even makes a cameo appearance in the Creepshow episode “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill”.
A good, enjoyable portmanteau horror movies is certainly not easy to produce, for in addition to ensuring that you have a solid framing storyline, you also have to come up with some strong mini-stories to weave into the film, so that the viewer is quickly drawn into the movie as each tale unfolds, and ends up on the edge of their seat as the climax of the main story draws ever nearer. I have watched many portmanteau movies in my time, and I can honestly say that I have rarely been disappointed with any of them. The Amicus movies, in particular, have been totally flawless, unwaveringly excelling in their art of telling good, strong, gripping stories framed by equally compelling framing plots.
Often copied but never really satisfactorily emulated, for me the name Amicus was – and always will be – synonymous with the perfect portmanteau fright flick.
Source by Alan Toner
