This time it's Burgess Meredith's turn to compere a compendium of four horror stories set around his fairground attraction. He charges each of four people £5 for entry to a secret part of his exhibit where he promises them something portentous that they will never forget. Behind the curtain lies what appears to be a life-size doll - the Fate Atropos - and each learns of a tale that tears down their façade of respectability that these two men and two women have hitherto presented. The segments themselves are short, sweet and though maybe all just a bit predicable (usually the way when there's some moralising afoot) there are still some decent performances from the likes of Peter Cushing, Jack Palance and John Standing to keep these character assessments - and just desserts - interesting. My favourite was the first segment with a brief appearance from Maurice Denham's "Uncle Roger" and an "Azazel" style, malevolent, cat - but the others all have their foreboding messages to deliver too. The production is all standard fayre, it's a bit over-scored and there is certainly a surfeit of dialogue at times, but it's still quite a fun 'Tales of the Unexpected" style series of mysteries that I did quite enjoy.
Nerdy Walter Paisley, a maladroit busboy at a beatnik café who doesn't fit in with the cool scene around him, attempts to woo his beautiful co-worker, Carla, by making a bust of her. When his klutziness results in the death of his landlady's cat, he panics and hides its body under a layer of plaster. But when Carla and her friends enthuse over the resulting artwork, Walter decides to create some bigger and more elaborate pieces using the same artistic process.
A jealous woman plots revenge after her former beau returns to their hometown with a pretty new girlfriend.
Rival newspaper reporters Pat Morgan and Ted Rand find themselves unraveling the mystery behind the death of a millionaire philanthropist who fell from his penthouse balcony. When it is discovered that the plunge was not an accident, the building's residents come under suspicion. Soon, the body count begins to mount as three more murders occur by strangulation.
The Seamstress was brought into being by the desperate curse of an innocent woman being tortured to death by a vigilante mob. Voracious for blood, the hideously-mutilated specter hunts a small group of friends who become trapped on the island where she died.
Two couples are on a boating trip when they come across an uncharted island. The four investigate and find themselves in the clutches of Dr. Albert Balleau, whose hobby is hunting both animals and humans… The group tries to escape only to be thwarted by Dr. Balleau and his henchmen.
A photographer and his models go to an old, abandoned castle for a photo shoot. Unbeknownst to them, the castle is inhabited by a lunatic who believes himself to be the reincarnated spirit of a 17th-century executioner whose job it is to protect the castle against intruders.
In seventeenth century England Lord Whitman wages unending war on what he sees as the ever-present scourge of witchcraft, and many local villagers have suffered at his hands. But one victim uses her occult powers to curse his family, enlisting unknowing help from one of the household.
Caught in a bizarre and terrifying time warp, college student Tree finds herself repeatedly reliving the day of her murder, ultimately realizing that she must identify the killer and the reason for her death before her chances of survival run out.
A house by the sea has stood vacant for many years, after misfortune befell several owners, which an artist painting the house explains to a passergy. A cross-editing of principal material from two Chilean films, LA CASA ESTA VACIA and LA DAMA DE LA MUERTE, with the addition of new American-made footage, to create a single story.
Four stories where an app will open the doors to horror. A young woman in the hands of a sinister network dedicated to the online transmission of abuse for high spheres of power. A voyeur will discover that his neighbors are hiding dark secrets that he wishes he had never heard. A little boy, used by his father to find dates online, will discover an enormous power within himself. A group of friends on their way to a beautiful cabin rented online, will fall into the hands of a sinister occult group.