Although the stories definitely are dated in style and execution, there are some great ones here, especially the housewife, the painter and the street magicians. The other 2 range from silly and goofy to just plain bad.
Love my old school horror.
5 stories ranging from good to absurd and even sometimes silly, I can't really recommend it nowadays.. The last story with Tom Baker is the best... It's on YouTube as well apparently , so check there first..
Review by whitsbrainVIP 6BlockedParent2022-01-15T17:05:39Z
Another fun anthology effort from Amicus Productions. Five stories of uneven quality, with a relatively unsuccessful wraparound story, make up the runtime of this movie.
I really like a few of the stories, primarily "The Neat Job" which featured some very fun performances and some really silly gore. There was some decent gore throughout, which was a trend that seemed to pick up steam in the early '70s. "Bargain In Death" works being buried alive into its plot, but it somehow manages to make it funny. And "Drawn and Quartered", which seems to be the centerpiece, is full of evil vengeance. "This Trick'll Kill You" is also a cool tale with some interesting slow-motion choices during a "snake" attack. I think the slow-motion may have been done because the lead actor is so old, but for whatever the reason, it worked. The only stinker in the bunch was "Midnight Mass" which is about vampires and has a stupid ending.
As much as I liked "Vault of Horror", I couldn't help but notice how cheap it looked compared to the real horror classics of the period. While I'm sure this wasn't bankrolled to the extent of "The Exorcist" or "Rosemary's Baby", the low-rent look does distract from the stories somewhat. I'd equate its look to something along the lines of "Phantasm".