167.253.98.28: /* Portmanteau horror films */

2025-11-02T08:49:02Z

Portmanteau horror films

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{{Short description|British film production company}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2013}}

'''Amicus Productions''' was a [[Cinema of the United Kingdom|British film production company]], based at [[Shepperton Studios]], England,<ref name=bfi>{{cite web|url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b9450874b|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716133047/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b9450874b|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-07-16|title=Amicus Productions|work=BFI}}</ref> active between 1962 and 1977. It was founded by American producers and screenwriters [[Milton Subotsky]] and [[Max Rosenberg]].<ref name=screen>{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/510992/|title=BFI Screenonline: Film Studios and Industry Bodies > Amicus Productions|work=screenonline.org.uk}}</ref>

==Films==
Prior to establishing Amicus, its two producers collaborated on the successful horror film ''[[The City of the Dead (film)|The City of the Dead]]'' (1960). Amicus's first two films were low-budget musicals for the teenage market, ''[[It's Trad, Dad!]]'' (1962) and ''[[Just for Fun (film)|Just for Fun]]'' (1963). Amicus is best remembered for making a series of [[Portmanteau film|portmanteau]] [[horror films|horror anthologies]], inspired by the [[Ealing Studios]] film ''[[Dead of Night]]'' (1945).{{sfn|Pirie|2008|p=133}} They also made some straight thriller films, often based on a gimmick.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://horrorpedia.com/2013/09/23/amicus-films/|title=Amicus Productions – film production company - HORRORPEDIA|work=HORRORPEDIA|date=23 September 2013 }}</ref>

Amicus's horror and thriller films are sometimes mistaken for the output of the better-known [[Hammer Film Productions]], due to the two companies' similar visual style and use of some of the same actors, including [[Peter Cushing]] and [[Christopher Lee]]. Unlike the period [[gothic novel|gothic]] Hammer films, Amicus productions were usually set in the present day.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.classichorrorfilmsguide.co.uk/amicus.html|title=Amicus Films|work=classichorrorfilmsguide.co.uk}}</ref>

Although not an Amicus Productions film, a film version of [[Harold Pinter]]'s play ''[[The Birthday Party (1968 film)|The Birthday Party]]'' (1968), directed by [[William Friedkin]], was produced by the team of Subotsky and Rosenberg for [[Palomar Pictures]] International.

===Portmanteau horror films===
Amicus released seven [[Anthology film|portmanteau]] films; ''[[Dr. Terror's House of Horrors]]'' (1965), ''[[Torture Garden (film)|Torture Garden]]'' (1967), ''[[The House That Dripped Blood]]'' (1971), ''[[Tales from the Crypt (film)|Tales from the Crypt]]'' (1972), ''[[Asylum (1972 horror film)|Asylum]]'' (1972), ''[[The Vault of Horror (film)|Vault of Horror]]'' (1973) and ''[[From Beyond the Grave]]'' (1974). 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.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H21BB8SZuyQC&q=amicus+portmanteau+films&pg=PA139|title=British Horror Cinema|isbn=9780415230032|last1=Chibnall|first1=Steve|last2=Petley|first2=Julian|year=2002|publisher=Psychology Press }}</ref>

The casts of these films are invariably composed of name actors, each of whom play a main part in one of the stories—a small proportion of the film as a whole. Along with genre stars like Cushing, Lee and [[Herbert Lom]], Amicus also drew its actors from the classical British stage ([[Patrick Magee (actor)|Patrick Magee]], [[Margaret Leighton]] and [[Ralph Richardson]]), rising younger actors ([[Donald Sutherland]], [[Robert Powell]] and [[Tom Baker]]), or former stars in decline ([[Richard Greene]], [[Robert Hutton (actor)|Robert Hutton]], and [[Terry-Thomas]]). Some, such as [[Joan Collins]], were in their mid-career doldrums when they worked with Amicus, while others such as [[Jon Pertwee]] and Tom Baker were at the height of their careers (with Pertwee starring as the [[Third Doctor|third]] incarnation of [[The Doctor (Doctor Who)|the Doctor]] in the science-fiction series ''[[Doctor Who]]'' at the time ''The House That Dripped Blood'' was released, and Baker debuting as the [[Fourth Doctor]] one year after his appearance in ''Vault of Horror'').<ref name=guardian>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/feb/13/british-horror-film-studio-amicus|title=Blood and gutsiness|last=Hodgkinson|first=Will|work=The Guardian|date=13 February 2009 }}</ref>

''Torture Garden'', ''The House That Dripped Blood'' and ''Asylum'' were written by [[Robert Bloch]], based upon his own stories. An exception was the "Waxworks" segment of ''The House That Dripped Blood'', which was scripted (uncredited) by Russ Jones, based on Bloch's story. ''Tales from the Crypt'' and ''The Vault of Horror'' were based on stories from [[EC horror comics]] from the 1950s.<ref name=guardian /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britishhorrorfilms.co.uk/drippedblood.shtml|title=The House That Dripped Blood - 1970|work=britishhorrorfilms.co.uk}}</ref>

===Other horror films===
Amicus also produced some conventional chillers, such as ''[[The Skull (film)|The Skull]]'' (1965), ''[[The Psychopath (1966 film)|The Psychopath]]'' (1966), ''[[Scream and Scream Again]]'' (1970), ''[[I, Monster]]'' (1971), ''[[And Now the Screaming Starts!]]'' (1973), and ''[[The Beast Must Die (1974 film)|The Beast Must Die]]'' (1974). ''The Skull'' was also based on a Bloch story (though scripted by Milton Subotsky). Bloch was also the screenwriter of ''The Psychopath'' (1966), and wrote the original adaptation of ''[[The Deadly Bees]]'' (based upon H. F. Heard's ''A Taste for Honey'').<ref name=bfi /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b76d11211|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120804063833/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b76d11211|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-08-04|title=The Skull|work=BFI}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2baba04713|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806062512/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2baba04713|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-08-06|title=H.F. Heard|work=BFI}}</ref>

===Science fiction, espionage, drama===
In the mid-1960s, Amicus also produced two films based on ''[[Doctor Who]]'' which had debuted on television in 1963. The films, ''[[Dr. Who and the Daleks]]'' (1965) and ''[[Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.]]'' (1966), are the only theatrical film adaptations of the series. In these films, Peter Cushing played "Dr. Who", a human scientist rather than an alien, with ''Who'' as his actual surname, disregarding the then-nebulous [[backstory]] of the TV series.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1273075/|title=BFI Screenonline: Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965)|work=screenonline.org.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.petercushing.co.uk/historydrwho.htm|title=THE HISTORY OF THE DR|work=petercushing.co.uk}}</ref>

Amicus also funded and produced films of other genres. ''[[Danger Route]]'' (1967) was a film version of [[Christopher Nicole]]'s (writing as Andrew York) 1966 spy novel ''The Eliminator'', directed by [[Seth Holt]], the only film of the Jonas Wilde series of novels to have been filmed.

[[Margaret Drabble]]'s adaptation of her novel ''The Millstone'' (1965) was filmed as ''[[A Touch of Love (1969 film)|A Touch of Love]]'' (1969), and [[Laurence Moody]]'s novel ''The Ruthless Ones'' (1969) was filmed as ''[[What Became of Jack and Jill?]]'' (1972)<ref name=screen /><ref name=guardian /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britmovie.co.uk/films/What-Became-of-Jack-and-Jill/listType/alpha|title=What Became of Jack and Jill - Britmovie - Home of British Films|work=britmovie.co.uk|access-date=17 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217191303/http://www.britmovie.co.uk/films/What-Became-of-Jack-and-Jill/listType/alpha|archive-date=17 February 2015|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Amicus Productions produced a few [[science fiction]] films, including a 1967 [[double bill]] of ''[[The Terrornauts]]'' and ''[[They Came from Beyond Space]]'' that were produced when [[Joseph E. Levine]], who Rosenberg had previously worked with, told Rosenberg that if Amicus could produce two films for £200,000, [[Embassy Pictures]] would finance and release both of them.<ref>p. 292 Senn, Bryan ''“Twice the Thrills! Twice the Chills!”: Horror and Science Fiction Double Features, 1955–1974'' McFarland; Illustrated edition (30 April 2019)</ref>

Amicus later produced a trilogy of adaptations of the works of [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]], including ''[[The Land That Time Forgot (1974 film)|The Land That Time Forgot]]'' (1974), ''[[At the Earth's Core (film)|At the Earth's Core]]'' (1976), and ''[[The People That Time Forgot (film)|The People That Time Forgot]]'' (1977).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/amicus-and-art-film-poster|title=Amicus and the art of the film poster|work=British Film Institute|date=4 July 2012 }}</ref>

==2000s==
In 2003, [[Anchor Bay Entertainment]] released a five disc [[DVD]] box-set of Amicus films in a coffin-shaped container in the UK.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://film.thedigitalfix.com/content/id/6254/the-amicus-collection.html|title=The Amicus Collection|work=Film @ The Digital Fix}}</ref> In 2005, Amicus was revived to produce homages to the old titles as well as original horror fare. Their first production was [[Stuart Gordon]]'s ''[[Stuck (2007 film)|Stuck]]'' (2007).<ref name=guardian />

==Resurrection of Amicus==
In 2023 it was announced that Amicus would recommence film production, led by [[Lawrie Brewster]], Sarah Daly and Megan Tremethick, with support from the Subotsky family. Amicus would produce the upcoming film ''In the Grip of Terror''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Heritage |first=Stuart |date=2023-08-16 |title=Short sharp shocks: the glorious return of the Amicus portmanteau horror film |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/aug/16/return-of-portmanteau-horror-films-amicus |access-date=2023-10-18 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> ''Variety'' reported "The filmmaker (Brewster) and his team are also starting a crowdfunding campaign to facilitate the initial stages of the project. Their goal is far more ambitious than just one film. 'Our aim is to re-establish Amicus Productions as a beacon of independent British horror', Brewster said."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ramachandran |first=Naman |date=2023-08-15 |title=British Horror Label Amicus Resurrects With Anthology Film 'In the Grip of Terror' |url=https://variety.com/2023/film/global/amicus-horror-label-in-the-grip-of-terror-1235696606/ |access-date=2023-10-18 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Filmography==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* ''[[It's Trad, Dad!]]'' (1962)
* ''[[Just for Fun (film)|Just for Fun]]'' (1963)
* ''[[Dr. Terror's House of Horrors]]'' (1965)
* ''[[Dr. Who and the Daleks]]'' (1965)
* ''[[The Skull (film)|The Skull]]'' (1965)
* ''[[The Psychopath (1966 film)|The Psychopath]]'' (1966)
* ''[[Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.]]'' (1966)
* ''[[The Deadly Bees]]'' (1967)
* ''[[The Terrornauts]]'' (1967)
* ''[[They Came from Beyond Space]]'' (1967)
* ''[[Torture Garden (film)|Torture Garden]]'' (1967)
* ''[[Danger Route]]'' (1967)
* ''[[A Touch of Love (1969 film)|A Touch of Love]]'' (1969)
* ''[[Scream and Scream Again]]'' (1970)
* ''[[The Mind of Mr. Soames]]'' (1970)
* ''[[The House That Dripped Blood]]'' (1971)
* ''[[I, Monster]]'' (1971)
* ''[[Tales from the Crypt (film)|Tales from the Crypt]]'' (1972)
* ''[[What Became of Jack and Jill?]]'' (1972)
* ''[[Asylum (1972 horror film)|''Asylum'']]'' (1972)
* ''[[The Vault of Horror (film)|The Vault of Horror]]'' (1973)
* ''[[And Now the Screaming Starts!]]'' (1973)
* ''[[From Beyond the Grave]]'' (1974)
* ''[[Madhouse (1974 film)|Madhouse]]'' (1974)
* ''[[The Beast Must Die (1974 film)|The Beast Must Die]]'' (1974)
* ''[[The Land That Time Forgot (1974 film)|The Land That Time Forgot]]'' (1974)
* ''[[At the Earth's Core (film)|At the Earth's Core]]'' (1976)
* ''[[The People That Time Forgot (film)|The People That Time Forgot]]'' (1977)
* ''[[In the Grip of Terror (film)|In the Grip of Terror]]'' (2025)
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |editor=Allan Bryce |title=Amicus: the Studio that Dripped Blood}} Liskeard: Stray Cat, 2000 {{ISBN|0953326136}} 163 pp.
* {{cite book |last=Pirie |first=David | author-link = David Pirie |title=A New Heritage of Horror: The English Gothic Cinema |location=[[London]] |publisher=I. B. Tauris |year=2008 }}
* {{cite book |author=Bruce G. Hallenbeck |title=British Cult Cinema: The Amicus Anthology}} Bristol: Hemlock Books, 2014 {{ISBN|978-0-9576762-8-2}} 239 pp.
* {{cite book |author=David Harkin |title=British Cult Cinema:Amicus to Zardoz}} Matador, 2022 {{ISBN|978-1803135366}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20231018120451/https://www.amicusproductions.film/ Official website] (archived)

{{Amicus Productions}}
{{Cinema of the United Kingdom}}

[[Category:Film production companies of the United Kingdom]]

Amicus Productions - Revision history

167.253.98.28: /* Portmanteau horror films */