The Monster Club
The Monster Club
NR | 27 May 1981 (USA)
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A vampire attacks a horror author on the street and then invites him to a nearby club as a gesture of gratitude, which turns out to be a meeting place for assorted creatures of the night. The vampire then regales him with three stories, each interspersed with musical performances at the club.

Reviews
Hellen

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

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Doomtomylo

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

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Married Baby

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

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Darin

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

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Johan Louwet

I'm not a big fan of horror anthologies. It is always going to contain one I find silly or bad and it's usually the middle story. With The Monster Club this is no exception. Best story by far is the first containing most drama and horror. The last story surely had potential but the monsters looked more human, even the Addams family like monsters from the Monster Club looked scarier. Still I liked the sequence in the church with the creepy images from the picture book. And except for the first story the movie is not to be taken really serious, more comedy than horror. That we have Vincent Price as the vampire storyteller and host is always a treat and the songs in between were entertaining with the stripping to the bone scene as a pretty cool event. However the only song I thought was memorable was "Sucker for your Love" which felt very eighties and easy to sing along. Heck I even played that song again a few times after the movie was over.

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Paul Andrews

The Monster Club starts late one night in London as famed horror author Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes (John Carradine) is attacked by a Vampire named Eramus (Vincent Price), afterwards Eramus invites Hayes back to a late night party at a club where he will get inspiration & material for some new books...First up Hayes is told the 'Shadmock Story' in which a odd looking & lonely man has a very powerful whistle...Then Hayes is told the 'Vampire Story' about a young boy named Linton (Warren Saire) & his Vampire father (Richard Johnson) who is being hunted by the 'Beenie Squad' & Chief Pickering (Donald Pleasence)...Finally the 'Humegoo Story' sees a horror film director (Stuart Whitman) trapped in a spooky village by Ghoul's & finds himself on the menu...This British production was directed by genre veteran Roy Ward Baker & was the final film produced by Amicus studios who at one point had specialized in these horror anthology films & made some of the best the genre has to offer including Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965), The House that Dripped Blood (1971), Tales from the Crypt (1972), Asylum (1972) & The Vault of Horror (1973). Based on stories from the book by the real Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes the script tries to be a little more light hearted than one might expect, it still has a few scares & some eerie moments but overall the tone is lighter than usual for Amicus, I assume The Monster Club was made with a younger audience in mind. I have to admit that I am a big fan of The Monster Club, call it a guilty pleasure or just that I have no discernible taste in films but I really enjoyed this from start to finish & is a real product of it's time that maybe hasn't dated that well but so what? At about 100 minutes long The Monster Club moves at a decent pace & none of three stories outstay their welcome & all three offer something different. The first Shadmock story is a little weird but has a few great moments including a twin shocking & touching twist ending that is well handled. The second Vampire story is probably my least favourite of the three stories & in my opinion is the weakest, it feels more like a Vampire sitcom with one of the worst twist endings around. However, it does a have a few funny comedic moments & the build-up of the story is also quite good but it's a shame it all falls apart at the end. The third Humegoo story is easy the best of the three as far as I am concerned, it is a genuinely eerie little story with a fantastic atmosphere that ends a little abruptly but I think suits the story very well.One reason why I think The Monster Club has a bad reputation is because of the framing parts set inside the monster club itself, while it's great to see veterans John Carradine & Vincent Price bounce one-liners off each other the disco dancing monster look awful with joke shop mask's of the lowest quality. Then there's the truly terrible soft rock pop musical numbers by the likes of The Viewers, B.A. Robertson, Night, The Pretty Things & the then unknown UB40. There is one cool moments though when a stripper does her thing to one of the songs & ends up taking her skin off in silhouette to reveal her skeleton, very amusing & a nice touch. The Monster Club drips atmosphere with the third Humegood story in particular being very creepy, I also loved the comic book style black and white storyboard interludes that represent the flashback, very stylish & an imaginative way to not spend much money! There's not much blood or gore here, a couple of Vampires are seen with stakes in their chest, there's a melted Cat & a woman's face is also melted but otherwise there's nothing graphic here.Apparently shot in Hertfordshire here in the UK this is well made with a nice feel to the production, it's just so odd that while the stories themselves are so atmospheric & well made the monster club parts are horrendously dated & camp. There's a great cast here, Carradine & Price are terrific ('where are your fangs' ask's Carradine to which Price replies 'their retractable when not in use'!) while Donald Pleasence, Britt Ekland, Patrick Mcgee & Stuart Whitman are also great although I did think Richard Johnson's comic accent made him sound Italian!The Monster Club is great entertainment for an old school horror anthology fan like myself, I love the performances & atmosphere & even find the disco dancing monster funny in a camp sort of way. What else can I say? I am probably flying against popular opinion again but screw it, I thought The Monster Club was terrific, funny, eerie & creepy in equal measure. They just don't make them like this anymore.

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catfish-er

Throughout the mid 60s and early 70s Amicus Productions churned out a series of wonderful horror anthologies including: DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS (1965), TORTURE GARDEN (1967), THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD (1970), ASYLUM (1972), THE VAULT OF HORROR (1973, second best of the bunch), FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE (1973), and TALES FROM THE CRYPT (1972, which is my all-time favorite horror anthology!) THE MONSTER CLUB features the legendary actors Vincent Price, John Carradine, Donald Pleasence, and the dazzling Britt Ekland.The film begins as Vincent Price, as vampire Eramus puts the bite on fiction writer R. Chetwynd-Hayes (played by John Carradine). Price is in top-form, as usual. He is, without a doubt the best horror actor of all time. I have all but one of his horror films on DVD.However, MONSTER CLUB is an anthology, comprised of only three stories plus a wraparound (the wraparound is the 'in-between' story that ties the rest together). I love anthologies; both for the hits and the misses… my general feeling is that about half of the stories work; and, the others not so well. This is truly an exception to that rule! The Shadmock Story involves a couple looking for their next big score. It comes in the form of Angela taking a position of cataloging antiqes for an odd-looking man, who rarely leaves his large estate. He seems nice enough, despite his ghoulish appearance; and, he has a tempting amount of valuables ripe for the taking. The man becomes enamored with Angela; and, proposes marriage. Things soon sour during the engagement party, as we learn that the odd-looking fellow possesses an interesting method of dealing with those who anger him.The Vampire Story deals with a shy, young boy and his parents. His father has a job that requires him to stay out all night, and sleep during the day. The boy learns that his father is a count who fled another country under distressed circumstances. Obviously, the story deals with vampires and vampires hunters; but, with a surprise twist! The Humgoo Story tells a tale of a director scouting locations for a horror film. Sporting about the countryside in his Porsche 911 SC Targa. He is looking for a village with lots of atmosphere. It turns out that the village he finds is populated by ghouls. And, they have plans for him. The notes from the long-deceased village pastor offer an amazing means of telling the story of how the town was besieged by ghouls. It's a wonderful tale… The wraparound story takes place in the Monster Club itself. It features entertaining dialogue between Vincent Price and John Carradine, as a lead in for the stories. The new wave 1980s rock music is great. There are terrific special effects during the second or third act, which features a stripper. When you see the stripper's act, you will be flabbergasted.For me, Amicus really defined the horror anthology. Overall the stories in MONSTER CLUB are an absolute hoot. I cannot better describe the movie, except to paraphrase Winston Churchill. It is a comedy, wrapped in a horror anthology, wrapped in the enigma of low-budget cinema.

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manchester_england2004

THE MONSTER CLUB is the final movie from the excellent British movie production company, Amicus.Although the movie is an anthology, opinion is divided as to whether or not it forms part of the Amicus anthology canon.I see THE MONSTER CLUB as a separate movie from the remainder of the Amicus anthologies. However, it is a highly entertaining final movie from Amicus. I'm truly puzzled as to why the movie was not successful financially.The single greatest idea behind THE MONSTER CLUB is the combination of three elements - traditional British horror Amicus is famous for, the darkest of dark humour and a collection of fine examples of 1980s disco music.There are only three stories in this compendium, rather than the usual four or five seen in Amicus movies. However the stories, along with the linking story, are so entertaining that this is easily overlooked.The linking story sees Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes, a character based on a real horror story author of the same name, who is attacked in the street by a sinister character named Eramus. When he wakes up after a vampire bite, the author discovers Eramus is a vampire. Ermaus promises to repay him by inviting him to a disco known as The Monster Club, where he assures him there will be plenty of material for a new book of horror stories. Vincent Price and John Carradine are on top form in their roles as Eramus and Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes respectively.The Monster Club is full of famous horror creations of various types including vampires, werewolves and ghouls. Disco music blends well with the setting, with almost all songs having a horror theme to them. The costumes are unbelievably cheesy but this is easily overlooked by the uplifting feeling of the disco atmosphere. As an added bonus, the movie brings something unique here - a monster genealogical chart.The first story sees Barbara Kellerman and Simon Ward as a pair of opportunists looking to take some rich person for all he or she is worth. Eventually Kellerman's character comes into contact with an eccentric man who lives in a large Gothic house. Without revealing spoilers, I can say that he turns out to be a shadmock, a hybrid of various creatures including vampires, werewolves and ghouls. James Laurenson gives a supreme performance as the shadmock, a kindly and gentle creature, who is simply uncomfortable with being outside his house. Predictably, the tale becomes a tragic love story that is so emotionally moving I was actually in tears when the ending came.The second story takes a different course to the first with more dark humour. Richard Johnson has a great time playing the vampire father of a young boy, Lintom. He goes out at night hunting for blood, whilst telling his son that he is "working". Britt Ekland plays Lintom's mother but she has very little to do here. Lintom finds himself being bullied at school because he is quiet and shy. He is rescued from torment by a priest, played by Donald Pleasance in another of his superb performances. I will give away no further details. But I'll say that this story was highly enjoyable due to its tongue-in-cheek approach not only to vampire clichés but to clichés of another genre as well. Look out for Anthony Valentine and Neil McCarthy having fun as a pair of vampire hunters dressed up as undertakers who carry violin cases! The final story is easily the darkest and best of the three. Stuart Whitman is cast perfectly as an impatient movie director looking for a remote location to make an atmospheric horror movie. His impatience with his crew leads him to seek out the location himself. We get to see some of the beautiful English countryside as he drives down a country lane hoping to find a remote village at the end. What he finds in reality is a very strange foggy place with only an old crumbling inn, a church and a graveyard. There is more to this atmospheric location than meets the eye. I will spoil no more of this story as this is one you'll want to see for yourself without warnings. But I will say a few things about the characters. The innkeeper is a very sinister character, played perfectly by the always great Patrick Magee. Lesley Dunlop deserves credit for her superb performance early in her career as the innkeeper's daughter, a hybrid of a human and a ghoul.Roy Ward Baker directs Amicus's final movie perfectly. He demonstrates a clear understanding of the various subject matters - Gothic horror, dark humour and 1980s disco entertainment, directing each element accordingly. As a result, he guarantees the three blend well enough to produce a highly entertaining piece of entertainment worthy of a final movie for such a great horror production company.Douglas Gamley, an Amicus veteran, produces some excellent background music to the movie including an excellent score. His choice of music in the first story blends perfectly with the Gothic setting and the tragic love story theme.As was the case with previous Amicus movies, this one makes excellent use of classical music. These blend perfectly with the settings.Kudos to the music bands - The Viewers, Night and The Pretty Things - whose catchy tunes make this movie worth watching by virtue of their presence alone. Special kudos as well to 1980s singer, B.A. Robertson, whose song - Sucker For Your Love - performed after the first story is easily the best of his career.Overall, THE MONSTER CLUB is a highly entertaining final movie from Amicus and a must-see for all fans of movies made by this great movie production company. I especially recommend it for fans of Vincent Price and John Carradine who have a superb time in this late stage of their careers.

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