By Lee Pfeiffer
BearManor Media is a niche market publishing company that backs unusual subject matters, largely related to the celebration of cult movies. The company has just released a reprint of writer John Burke's novelization of the 1965 horror film Dr. Terror's House of Horrors. The movie was produced by Amicus Films, which sought (with success) to emerge as a rival to Hammer Films. Amicus head honchos Max J. Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky even "stole" Hammer's two signature stars on occasion: Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, both of whom starred in Dr. Terror's House of Horrors and provided an impressive supporting cast that included Donald Sutherland, Roy Castle, Neil McCallum, Michael Gough, Bernard Lee and Jeremy Kemp. The less-than-subtle title doesn't do justice to an entertaining and film about a group of strangers who encounter an ominous and mysterious man (Cushing) on a long rail journey. In the course of their travels, the man terrifies his travel companions by predicting a very morbid future for each of them. The idea of an anthology built around a horror movie presence was not new at the time, having been successfully employed twenty years earlier with the British film Dead of Night. However, Amicus successfully dusted off the premise and the response to this film was so positive that the studio would utilize the same format time and again with films like Tales From the Crypt and The House That Dripped Blood.
BearManor's reprint of the tie-in paperback novelization features a stunning poster reproduction on the cover as well as B&W film stills peppered throughout. The novel was originally only available in England through Pan Books, so this marks the book's first appearance in the American market. As the movie is not officially available on DVD in the States, this book will whet the appetites of those might be inspired to order the British Region 2 edition. Writer and film historian Richard A. Ekstedt provides an informative and entertaining foreword that gives a history of the film and novelization (although he curiously spells the title Doctor Terror's House of Horrors throughout his article instead of the movie's actual title, which is spelled Dr. Terror's House of Horrors.) The book is part of "Philip J. Riley's Nightmare Series". Despite its modest production values, this volume is most welcome for all of us who have fond memories of seeing the movie many years ago. Now if an American release DVD will only follow....
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