Why do we love trunk horror movies so much? I mean those anthology movies that always have three or four different stories framed by one main plot line.
In both the separate stories and the main story, there is always a twist at the end, usually involving the murderer or similar scoundrel meeting a gruesome comeuppance at the end. And who doesn’t love a story with a twist?
Good examples of these types of entertaining movies are Tales From They Crypt (my favorite movie of all time) and The House That Dripped Blood. In the first, four people find themselves lost and trapped in a large crypt, and a mysterious robed figure (played superbly by Ralph Richardson) tells each to watch a horrible event that seems to be in her future; in the latter, the main plot revolves around a large old house that seems to have some kind of curse, as each person who settles in the place meets an eerie fate.
Amicus was especially famous for making these trunk coolers, and his tendency to regularly feature legendary horror stars like Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee certainly did much to improve the quality of these productions.
If you wanted to go even further back in time to find a good horror film, then Ealing Studios’ chilling 1945 Dead of Night would instantly come to mind as the first real film in this particular style. Although shot in black and white, and without blood or gore, this film was every bit as terrifying as Amicus’ later Technicolor films. Starring such prominent British actors as Googie Withers and Mervyn Johns, the film tells the story of an architect who senses impending doom when his recurring half-remembered dream comes true. The lodge guests encourage him to stay as they take turns telling supernatural stories, four in all. My personal favorite story in Dead of Night is the one involving the creepy ventriloquist dummy suddenly coming to life and threatening its owner in the jail cell. Hands down one of the most haunting stories I’ve ever seen, and this fictional demonic ventriloquist setting is still reflected 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 trunk horror movies, producing titles like Creepshow and Cat’s Eye. He even makes a cameo appearance in the Creepshow episode “The Lonely Death of Jordy Verrill.”
A good and enjoyable mix of horror movies is certainly not easy to produce, as in addition to making sure you have a solid plot, you also have to come up with some solid mini-stories to weave into the film, so that the viewer is quickly drawn to it. the movie as each story unfolds, ending up on the edge of their seat as the climax of the main story draws ever closer. I’ve seen a lot of trunk movies in my time, and I can honestly say I’ve rarely been disappointed by any of them. Amicus’ films, in particular, have been totally flawless, unswervingly excelling at their art of telling good, strong, gripping stories framed by equally compelling plots.
Often copied but never satisfactorily emulated, for me the name Amicus was, and always will be, synonymous with the perfect horror movie.
