A Scotland Yard investigator looks into four mysterious cases involving an unoccupied house and its tragic previous tenants: 1. A hack novelist encounters a strangler who’s the villain of his books, leading his wife to question his sanity, 2. Two men are obsessed with a wax figure of a woman from their past, 3. A little girl with a stern, widowed father displays an interest in witchcraft, and 4. An arrogant horror film actor purchases a black cloak which gives him a vampire’s powers.
Production Details
An Amicus Production
Produced at Shepperton Studios
102 Mins
Stills from film
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Hammer Connections
Crew | Name | Age at Release | Birth | Hidden | Death | Age | Hammer Productions |
Camera Operator | Gerry Anstiss | 43 | 31 Dec 1927 | 20 Feb 1999 | 71 | 1 | |
Continuity | Phyllis Townshend | 1 | |||||
Director | Peter Duffell | 48 | 9 Jul 1922 | 12 Dec 2017 | 95 | 1 | |
Hair Stylist | Joyce James | 2 | |||||
Writer | Robert Bloch | 53 | 4 Apr 1917 | 23 Sep 1994 | 77 | 2 | |
Cast | Name | Age at Release | Birth | Hidden | Death | Age | Hammer Productions |
Carla | Ingrid Pitt | 33 | 20 Nov 1937 | 23 Nov 2010 | 73 | 3 | |
Charles | Denholm Elliott | 48 | 3 May 1922 | 5 Oct 1992 | 70 | 2 | |
Dominick | Tom Adams | 32 | 8 Mar 1938 | 11 Dec 2014 | 76 | 2 | |
Film Crew Girl | Joanna Lumley | 24 | 3 Apr 1946 | 03.04.1946 | 78 | 1 | |
Paul | Jon Pertwee | 51 | 6 Jul 1919 | 20 May 1996 | 76 | 1 | |
Philip | Peter Cushing | 57 | 23 May 1913 | 11 Aug 1994 | 81 | 25 | |
Psychiatrist | Robert Lang | 36 | 23 Sep 1934 | 6 Nov 2004 | 70 | 1 | |
Reid | Christopher Lee | 48 | 22 May 1922 | 7 Jun 2015 | 93 | 22 | |
Rogers | Joss Ackland | 42 | 29 Feb 1928 | 19 Nov 2023 | 95 | 2 | |
Von Hartmann | Geoffrey Bayldon | 47 | 6 Jan 1924 | 20 May 2017 | 93 | 3 | |
Waxworks Proprietor | Wolfe Morris | 46 | 4 Jan 1925 | 21 Jul 1996 | 71 | 5 |
Original Poster
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Footnotes
Despite the title, not one drop of blood is seen in the entire film.
On the initial U.K. release, the British censor wanted to give it an A rating (equivalent to PG) because of its lack of gore. Fearing that this would harm box-office returns, the distributors asked for it to be re-rated X or they wouldn’t release it. The censor concurred.
The photograph of the actress in the segment “Waxwork” is Nicola Pagett who played Talia in Hammer’s The Viking Queen (1967).