Customer Reviews

The Monster Club

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Back in the mid 60's to early 70's, Amicus Productions (The Studio That Dripped Blood) rivaled the famous Hammer Studios and its' horror films, and the releases from the two English studios were often confused as they often used many of the same actors and directors. Amicus Productions was most famous for its' creepy horror anthologies, including The House that Dripped Blood (1970), Tales from the Crypt (1972), Asylum (1972), The Vault of Horror (1974), and From Beyond the Grave (1975). Amicus, formed by a partnership between producers Milton Subotsky and Max J. Rosenberg, dissolved in the mid 70's, as did Amicus Productions. While many fans mourned the passing of this wonderful and short-lived institution, Subotosky did go on to form Sword and Sorcery Productions, which released The Monster Club (1980), bringing back some of the magic of a time since past.

Directed by Roy Ward Baker, who also did Asylum and The Vault of Horror, along with numerous Hammer films, The Monster Club, based on a book by famed and prolific author R. Chetwynd-Hayes boasts a plethora of stars including Vincent Price, John Carradine, Donald Pleasance, Britt Ekland, Stuart Whitman, and Patrick Magee, among others. There are three stories here, loosely tied together with a wrap-around story and a number of musical performances (B.A. Robertson is great performing 'Sucker for Your Love'), all wonderful in their own right.

The film starts off with the wrap-around story, as we meet a character named after the author of the book the film is based on, R. Chetwynd-Hayes (Carradine) being approached by a man looking for a bite, as he hasn't eaten in a couple of weeks. Chetwynd-Hayes offers assistance in the form of money, but the man, named Eramus (Price) isn't speaking of eating in the normal sense, as he's a vampire and takes some of Chetwynd-Hayes blood, but not to the point where he infects the author. Learning of the man's identity and feeling a debt of gratitude is due, Eramus offers to take Chetwynd-Hayes to a exclusive club, a sort of monster disco, where monsters reside, allowing for the author to gather new material for a future book. After some tongue-in-cheek humor, we are treated to three tales of varying degrees of horror.

The first tale involves couple, George and Angela, of dubious nature looking for their next scheme, and it comes in the form of a position cataloging antiquities for a odd looking man named Raven who rarely leaves his large and expansive estate. Angela applies, but soon balks as she has great apprehension about the man, given his strange appearance. George talks her into going back, and she assumes the position. He seems nice enough, despite his ghoulish appearance, and he certainly has a tempting amount of valuables ripe for the taking. Raven soon becomes enamored with Angela and proposes marriage, to which George sees as a perfect opportunity to have access to Raven's wealth. Well, things soon sour, and we learn Raven is much more than an odd-looking fellow, possessing an interesting method of dealing with those who anger him.

The second story deals with a shy, young boy and his parents, to which the father has a job that requires him to stay out all night, and sleep during the day. Also, the boy learns that he's descended from noble lineage, his father being a count. Can you guess where this is leading? Anyway, not to give too much away, the story deals with vampires and vampires hunters, and actually is the more humorous, despite its' dour beginnings, of the three tales, providing a couple of nice twists at the end. This story stars Britt Ekland and Donald Pleasance.

The third story tells a tale of a director named Sam (Whitman) scouting locations for a new horror film, looking for a village with lots and lots of atmosphere, which he finds, but soon regrets. The village, populated by ghouls, has plans for Sam, and they don't involve making a movie. Sam finds assistance in the form of a girl, and both take refuge in an abandoned church, where Sam learns the awful history of the village, and how it came to such a state that it's in now. Do Sam and the girl manage an escape? Maybe they do, maybe they don't...you'll just have to watch. This tale has the strongest horror element, and a really wonderful, thick, brooding sense of atmosphere. Reminds me a little of a film Vincent Price did back in the day called The Last Man on Earth (1964).

Pathfinder Home Entertainment provides a pretty good wide screen, non-anamorphic print here, which does show minor speckling and occasional murkiness, to which we learn that this was the only print available to them with a on-screen note prior to the beginning of the film. As far as special features go, there are a ton of them. There's a complete musical soundtrack, with the ability to listen to any song from the movie, and there's a lot, with artists like The Pretty Things, UB40, B.A. Robertson, and The Viewers, to name a few. There's also a separate commentary by film critics Luke Y. Thompson and Gregory Weinkauf, a theatrical trailer for the film, detailed biographies of most of the films stars, extensive production notes, original press notes, a photo still gallery, essays by film critic George Reis and, a bit by Vincent Price and his views on horror movies in general, and even a hidden feature accessed by clicking on the doctor's stomach in the special features menu. All in all, this is a great little horror anthology infused with a good dose of silly humor, one that fans of the long gone but not forgotten Amicus films will enjoy. But be warned, as the real horror doesn't come until the end, when Vincent Price and John Carradine proceed to get 'jiggy' with it on the dance floor.

Cookieman108

I cannot recommend this disc enough. The picture and sound quality are fantastic for a film of its age and the extras are spot on as well, including the films soundtrack as a stand alone audio is a nice touch.

The only slight glich is the commentary from Beavis and Butthead (the actual people who released the dvd) who try there best to slag the film off in the most horror film nerd cliches of all time.

A brilliant budget disc that i have been waiting on for years.

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah its cornball nonsense i know but.....

MONSTERS RULE OK!

Curious horror anthology is loosely based on the works of horror novelist R. Chetwynd-Hayes, portrayed by John Carradine as an active partaker in his own tales. The author is invited by a smooth vampire (the fabulous Vincent Price) to go with him to The Monster Club, where he bears witness to the secret social customs of various monsters, which evidently include drinking, dancing, and watching undead stripping Go Go Ghouls. He is also educated to the mating patterns of these creatures, whose tendency to inter-breed creates such new strains of monsters. All of this is interjected by short stories featuring campy yet fun monsters running amok. A fun side note is that the movie features music by pop-reggae band UB40. Have no sense of humor? Avoid this film. Love campy fun? Don't miss out.

Being a huge fan of Elvira, I originally bought the VHS of THE MONSTER CLUB in the 80s when she hosted the film on her "ThrillerVideo" collection. I remeber seeing for the first time and loving all three stories in the trilogy, the great performances by Price and Carradine, the atmosphere and monster "Make-up" (i.e. cheap rubber masks) and even the over-the-top musical numbers (especially "The Stripper," complete with a woman stripping down to her skeleton in animation). Since then I've watched the film every halloween.
I was thrilled to see the film was finally on DVD. The film is in widescreen with a pretty decent transfer--but what MOST inpressed me was the Special Features. The gallery (featuring posters, adslicks, lobby cards, etc.) PLUS the FULL SOUNDTRACK of TMC (score AND songs), plus an Easter Egg featuring an interview with the "Slingshot Ghoul" in the Humgoo story.
The DVD is a treat and highly recommended.

I'm not going to review the film, since others have done an excellent job of that already. I will say that it is a classic horror comedy well worth watching. The main reason for this short review is to point out that the stand alone soundtrack included on the DVD, in a jukebox format where you can click on the song and listen to it, is flawed. The problem concerns the original LP used by Pathfinder Entertainment to record the tunes. All of the instrumentals, four tracks worth from the B side of the record, are full of pops and crackles. Now, wouldn't you have thought that the folks converting these tunes would take the time to clean them up? Took me forever to do it myself for a separate MP3 soundtrack. Seems they didn't bother to even listen to them after recording, otherwise a good sound editor would have taken the time to clear away the noise. Anyway, I just wanted to warn anyone purchasing this DVD for the soundtrack that the instrumentals have problems. Other than that, the DVD is excellent.

Any fan of campy horror flicks will love this series of vignettes told by an aging vamp (Vincent Price) to a curious writer--his guest--at the local "Monster Club". frequented by the town vamps, werewolves, ghouls, etc.The vignettes range from scary to funny to rather sad, but they all make for a most entertaimning video!

Ah, "The Monster Club". This crazy little masterpiece is one of my all-time favorite movies. A sort of combination horror anthology/variety show, we're treated to three unusual short stories (all of them good, but very different in tone from one another), each one sandwiched between a musical number by a long-forgotten, early Eighties British New Wave band.

When a gentlemanly vampire by the name of Eramus (the one and only Vincent Price) doesn't realize that the man he just attacked was in fact his favorite writer (John Carradine), he attempts to amend the situation by bringing him as his special guest to a nightclub where no humans -- only monsters -- are allowed. During the course of his evening there, Carradine is told a trio of frightening tales, and this (together with the music and dancing) provides the basic idea behind the film (I have no idea how closely this movie resembles the book on which it was apparently based). Of the stories, I liked the third one best, for all its great atmosphere (a dreary village where everything is blue and gray and shrouded in never-lifting fog), unsettling thoughts and occurrences (I shudder every time the girl says the words, "good eating"), and fantastic artwork (the black-and-white still images we see as we learn the village's back-story, which are just gorgeous). Nevertheless, the first two stories are enjoyable too ... while the first is so sad and sweet and stylishly put together, the lighthearted second (which stars Donald Pleasance, for fans of "Halloween") makes an attempt at a more humorous storytelling style.

But what really makes me smile with "TMC" are the linking pieces of narration, set in the nightclub ... in an anthology film such as this, the framework tends more often, I've found to be the weakest part fo the movie ... but not here. WE're treated with some great music (my favorite has to be vampire singer B.A. Robertson's "I'm Just a Sucker for Your Love", mainly for the song's goofy bounce, terrible pun-filled lyrics, the wacky way the camera the single camera used to film the performance moves while Mr. Robertson does his thing), and the overall enthusiastic silliness of the whole sequence. But I really should say that I enjoyed all four of the songs we get to hear, and that I often put the disc in just to view the performances and enjoy the music.

But really, Price is the true star of the movie, clearly enjoying every second he's allowed to spend before the camera. From his first meeting with Carradine to his explanation of monster genealogy to his lecture on why humans are truly the greatest monsters of all,, Price really makes TMC his own from start to finish and is definitely the best thing about the whole film. If there's any reason to see this movie at all, it's to watch the man at work. Price is (was) one of my very favorite actors, and in this film he certainly doesn't disappoint. Plus, we get to see him boogie down with a monster on the dance floor as the final musical number plays ... and who could refuse a chance to see that?

The folks at Pathfinder have released TMC in an edition that include a number of special features (mostly in the form of highly interesting reading material), the complete soundtrack of the film (for my money the best special feature of all, as these are the original soundtrack album versions, and not the live ones we hear in the movie), and really quite a bit more. There's an Easter Egg too, on the special features menu, if you can find it. I must say that I would have loved to have heard director Roy Ward Baker on the commentary track, but the one included hear, by a pair of Generation X movie critics, is an entertaining listen even without him.

I will conclude by saying that with a goofy, fun and yet still-creepy horror film full of great music and memorable performances, together with enough bonus material to keep you busy for quite a while after the movie's over, "The Monster Club" is a movie you just shouldn't turn down if a copy manages to come your way. So before October 31 rolls around grab a copy for yourself, and make it a double feature with 1970's "The House that Dripped Blood", a classic horror anthology from the golden age of the genre. Then turn out the lights, pop some popcorn, and get ready to have some fun.

Carry on Carry on,

MN

John Carradine, Vincent Price, a camp 80's monters new wave club in London, what else you can say?
This is a collection of 3 stories of monsters, narrated by Mr. Price to Mr. Carradine, who happens to be an a american horror writer.

In between stories are monsters go-go dancers, new wave rock acts witch in itself are classics.

Pay attention to the lineage of monsters Vincent explain , is for me the most original thing of the movie I won't spoil the fun by telling what are the 3 stories, see it for your self and enjoy the acid -monster trip this movie is,...." Monsters you're OK"

I THINK THIS MOVIE WAS FUN, CREEPY AND WELL ACTED. THERE IS NO HIGH PURPOSE TO THIS FILM EXCEPT TO ENTERTAIN YOUNG BOYS AND IT SUCCEEDS BEYOND THIS IN THAT IT ENTERTAINED ME DECADES PAST MY TEENS. DON'T EXPECT ANYTHING DEEP OR DISTURBING BUT RATHER IT IS MORE LIKE GOING TO A HALLOWEEN PARTY. SPOOKY BUT NOTHING SERIOUS.

Come on, if you're a fan of Classic Horror movies, you've seen this at least once.

I know people that don't like it because it makes the monsters human and isn't scarey.

THEY'RE NOT MEANT TO BE!!!!

What is so hard to understand about this? It is meant to be a spoof movie, it's not meant to be serious.

And the striping Woman at the end?? If you need a reason to watch this movie this alone is the best reason. BTW It's not what you expect....there's no nudity.......trust me on this one.

GET THIS MOVE.