 Thank you for checking out this no spoilers movie review. This is for the vault of horror It's a 1973 film and it's basically an anthology film Which there really aren't that many anthology films coming out anymore, and I think it's kind of a lost art I know it there's never been like a huge influx of them throughout time But I think we need more I think we need more and I think this one's executed pretty well By the way, it's currently streaming on the shutter streaming service when I'm doing this review And one of the things I really like is when you have one of these anthology films when the overarching story kind of putting all these stories together into one Makes sense, and I feel like in this film it actually makes sense They did a pretty good job of tying it all together So not really spoilers because it happens immediately and it's kind of implied by the poster art and in the description of it That the guys they're a bunch of guys coming together They're in the vault of a basement and they're all telling these reoccurring nightmares that they keep having They they're telling these stories to each other and those are the small stories in the in this anthology So immediately though, I think it's really cool how They show up in this vault and there's this really awesome Camera shot from top down and it's like this polygon shape that they're in and you see all the guys Kind of walking around the table, which by the way, what's my Sorry my leg and got weird Which by the way the table is like stock full of booze and that's one of the big things in this film overall Is there's booze pretty heavily featured whether which I think is just kind of like a thing for the 70s Especially this is a British film. So like in in Britain. It's kind of like people had night caps all the time In it's an yeah, actually, it's not really just in like Britain if you watch like the old invasion of the body snatchers People are drinking all the time and that everyone's like, oh time for a nightcap. Hey, how about we have a drink? Like it's it was way more of a socially accepted thing and it shows up quite a bit in this film But yeah, that camera angles like the top down Looks so good in the beginning and it's just a really cool way to kind of start things The other thing that really grabbed me at the very beginning of this films I was like whoa Tom Baker if people don't know who Tom Baker it is he is he was one of the doctors for Doctor Who I don't really watch a whole lot of Doctor Who I know there are a lot of people out there who are nuts about it My dad used to watch Doctor Who and Tom Baker was his doctor he always said he was the best Doctor Who ever and So I just knew Tom Baker as Doctor Who when I was growing up So I kind of have an affinity for the guy plus He is quite a good actor and I will say he by far was the best actor in the vault of horror I mean he really shown on that screen every time he was on it. He was kind of stealing it and I just wanted to see more of him in it. So it was really cool to see Tom Baker in it I think he was the fourth doctor for Doctor Who you can correct me in the comments if I'm wrong on that but Yeah, so the director who made this film his name is Roy Ward Baker So the film some of the films he's known for he did Dr. Jekyll and sister Hyde He did the vampire lovers and he did quarter mass and the pit The one of the writers there were two main writers for this Al Feldstein He did some stories for the 1970s tales from the crypt movie as well as a writer William Gaines Who also did some of the some of the story for that movie, but he also did it a bunch of episodes for the Tales from the Crypt TV show So very tied in and you see like the tie-in with this film because at one point one of the characters is reading a book And the book is tales from the crypt. So it's like there's the nut Yeah, they're really cool above the room shot, okay so I'm gonna go over the the the five individual stories and that's the thing they had five stories and in the interesting thing is like the very last one I believe was the longest by far it was actually my favorite one and I forget which like the fourth one. I think it was was actually pretty brief So the the run times on the you know on the different stories are very Disparate So the first story was fun overall But the one of my problems with it was very very easy to see where things were going it was also kind of like over the top kind of like almost It was over the top acting to a point where it made it kind of comedic And not comedic in like an awesome way, but I but like nowadays you can kind of look at it and be like Oh, I can laugh at that, but you know, it's not scary at all You can see where things are going, but it has kind of like a fun air to it. So it's pretty solid But I wrote down that actually actually ends up being a little bit cartoonish But the fact that this is supposed to be someone's reoccurring nightmare It kind of makes sense like I was watching I'm like, yeah, this seems a little But then I was like, oh, well, it's supposed to be this dude's nightmare So I guess it kind of makes sense because you know people's dreams people's nightmares They don't always seem real they can seem like over the top and that kind of happens in this So the second story had this like overly comedic English guy in it, which I found funny but a little bit distracting from the actual story that one I think was the least Serious it was a more like oh, this is kind of ridiculous Sometimes in intentionally it seemed and sometimes unintentionally So yeah, this guy is like over the top comedically English He talks like this and well, that was a terrible accent But he's very over the top like that and he's got like a I mean I have a bit of a gap between my two front teeth, but think about this time's like 10 He's got it like a huge gap between his front teeth and he's kind of like that funny Gap toothed English dude who's very high society and he was even wearing like an ascot or what jurors is like Oh my gosh, it's too much, but it's funny like I found some some interest in that The series events the series of events in this one are actually over the top Actually do a point of kind of hyperbole and I was actually laughing at it because there's a series of things that happen where you're just like The that series of things just cannot just happen like boom boom boom boom boom It's it's so over the top, but then once again like I was saying like these are nightmares, you know, it's not it's not like real You do pretty easily see where it's going once again much like in the first story But there's some extra stuff in it to make it like More interesting and funny and in particular the very end the very very end has something that's that you don't really see coming That's a kind of cool touch. We're just like, oh, that's pretty cool That's that's like very horror and I didn't see it coming and I like that The third story was actually pretty refreshing because this is the first one that takes a different setting It's a different country. I think it's in India is where it's supposed to be So they kind of change the music up they change up the scenery some of the actors so it's not just like straight English and This is the first of the stories that seems Fresh, you know, it's a much different idea. It's more original seeming and I really Enjoyed that the most as I was going through it. I hit one two three and I was like, oh now three The third one is the one that I'm really interested in There's something the main character does in this though that makes no logical sense But then like I was saying nightmare, but if you watch this see if you can catch that where you're just like That would that person would not do that It's it's this this crazy jump from point a to point B where you're like, no No, I don't think they would travel from here to here think they travel from here to here to here. It's Trust me The other thing is they use slow motion in this in this one and the slow motion looks awful But I also see the point of it because there there have been plenty of nightmares I've had where you're you feel like you're running away from something and You just can't move fast enough So I guess maybe that's what it was supposed to be playing on But in the context of just watching it as a film it looks terrible It does not work at all the slow motion just seems dumb and you're just like, what are we doing here? Like why? So that's just kind of like a little bit of problem. So the fourth story Is kind of more of like a normal setting like back in England. I assume it doesn't really specify But this one has some slapstick in it That seems really out of place that I didn't enjoy at all because it's it's a very serious tone And then it gets to a certain point where it's kind of too late to inject any sort of comedy And then they do and on top of that It's like the worst type of comedy to just randomly inject which is slapstick and you know, I was just kind of like Okay, this does not that's not working for me at all So it was it was weak like overall the fourth story was by far my least favorite I didn't like it. It was super weak. The premise was not all that original. I mean, it was okay, but Overall not a fan of that one Then we have the fifth story, which I did say in the beginning. This was my favorite one by far This is the one that featured Tom Baker and I didn't just love it because of Tom Baker Although I you know as I've been saying you can tell I really like Tom Baker This one also had a different setting this had a like really nice cool relaxed island setting At least in the beginning and then it does it kind of changes settings later But the scenery in this one is really cool and it keeps you engaged and it's It's a good time. It's by far the most original of all five of the stories, which is one of the reasons I think I really liked it It has oh the other thing is it has a lot of anticipation in it has good tension building You're anticipating a lot of things and they use drums like drum music Tribal like drum music to really good effect in this to kind of help build tension and and help you feel like the anticipation of like Something's coming like what's gonna happen next? So that was really nice too So yeah, so that was my favorite by far all the stories in general. They have this kind of air of extravagance to a sense it I don't know if that's quite the right word. It's more of like a high society feel to it and I don't know. It's kind of weird in that sense But it's kind of works at the same time. I don't know. It's just like all the guys are like well to do in a way So just an observation The other thing is you can tell that this film is firmly placed in the 1970s It looks very very 70s except for the ones where it's like in India or it's in Like like an island setting the ones that are actually like set in England You can tell it's very 70s, especially in like restaurant establishments or people's houses stuff like that And the other thing is you really have to just remember This is the 70s when you're watching it as far as the acting goes acting has come a very long ways since the 70s and Just keep that in mind because there's some stuff. That's really not well acted It's over the top or it's just fall short and you're like, oh, this person can't really act except Tom Baker Like I was saying did a great job So two of the stories takes take place in the other countries like I was talking about So this kind of plays to like the idea that shows up in horror from time to time of like exotic areas and unknown cultures Which is kind of this extra Aspect of mystery and fear because you know the fear of things you're not very familiar with the fear of things that are foreign It has like an air of xenophobia to it, which is a very real thing But I feel like in older film it was used a lot more at least a lot more than than is being used now Like xenophobia was like it kind of its own mode of horror. I mean think about things like Um I guess the only prime example I can think of off the top of my head is like the serpent and the rainbow You know having to do with like voodoo like that's a very like xenophobic type horror So it kind of harkens back to that type of stuff Um, like I said, they did they did a pretty good job of like tying all the stories together. I enjoyed that And uh, yeah, I just I guess the last thing I wrote down is that I want more of these types of films I like these just a bunch of little vignettes that are tied together and it's a good time Overall the directing was good. It wasn't like anything amazing to write home about cinematography was good I told you the acting was spotty Uh for the most part, but um, yeah, I mean, it's a fun film It's good to check out especially if you like anthologies and you like films from the 70s that look very 70s Uh, this one could be for you. Like I said, it's on shutter currently So uh going with my rating for this one, uh out of five stars with halves in play I'm going to give it a firm three stars. It is Better than halfway for me. I think I would recommend just checking it out if you have any sort of interest I enjoyed it. So, uh, thank you so much for checking this out. Please do me a favor hit that subscribe It really can help me out in the long run because I'm looking to get more interest get more interaction with people Which also reminds me put some comments down there. Have you seen this film? Do you want to see this film? What are your thoughts? Um, and just you know talk about horror in general you can give me some likes if you want But the big thing is the subscribe. I would appreciate that Anyway, thank you for checking this out until next time keep it brutal