1. REVISED 2012

3. Amicus is perhaps best known for Subotsky's own trademark
portmanteau horror anthologies, including Dr. Terror's House of
Horrors (1964), directed by genre stalwart Freddie Francis,Torture
Garden(1967), The House That Dripped Blood (1970), Tales from the
Crypt and Vault of Horror. The last two were based on stories from
EC horror comics from the 1950s. These films, typically feature four
or sometimes five short horror stories, linked by an overarching plot
featuring a narrator and those listening to his story.
The casts of these films are invariably comprised of name
actors, each of whom play small parts in the various stories. Along
with the expected genre stars, such as Peter Cushing, Christopher
Lee and Herbert Lom, Amicus also drew its actors from the classical
British stage (Patrick Magee, Margaret Leighton and even Sir Ralph
Richardson), up-and-comers (Donald Sutherland, Robert Powell
and Tom Baker), or former stars on the way down (Richard
Greene, Robert Hutton, and Terry-Thomas). Some, such as Joan
Collins, were in their mid-career doldrums when they signed on with
Amicus.

6. Amicus films are often mistaken for the output of the
better-known Hammer Films, to which they are similar in
visual style, and with which they share many stars,
including Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Unlike the
period gothic Hammer films, however, Amicus productions
were usually set in the present day.
They now enjoy a considerable cult following of their own.
Although the '60s British horror film is most closely
identified with Hammer, other companies including Amicus
were involved in the genre. The firm was set up by two
Americans, producer/writer Milton Subotsky and Max J.
Rosenberg, and was based at Shepperton Studios.

10. Amicus did make films in other genres including the
musical It's Trad, Dad! (d. Richard Lester, 1962),
but the company specialised in the horror film,
beginning in 1960 with City of the Dead (d. John
Llewellyn Moxey).
Many of Hammer's personnel worked for AMICUS
including Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, and
director Freddie Francis, and Robert Bloch, author
of Psycho, wrote a number of their films. The
studio's distinctive contribution to the genre was
the anthology film such as Dr Terror's House of
Horrors(d. Freddie Francis, 1964), The House that
Dripped Blood (d. Peter Duffell, 1970), and Tales
from the Crypt (d. Francis, 1972).

12. • Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1964)
• The Skull (1965)
• The Psychopath (1966)
• The Deadly Bees (1966)
• Torture Garden (1967)
• Danger Route (1967)
• They Came from Beyond Space (1967)
• The Terrornauts (1967)
• A Touch of Love (1969)
• The Mind of Mr. Soames (1969)
• The House That Dripped Blood (1970)
• I, Monster (1971)
• What Became of Jack and Jill? (1971)
• Asylum (1972)
• Tales from the Crypt (1972)
• The Vault of Horror (1973)
• From Beyond the Grave (1973)
• And Now the Screaming Starts! (1973)
• The Beast Must Die (1974)
• Madhouse (1974)
• The Monster Club (1980)