Torture Garden

Carnival barker Dr. Diablo (Burgess Meredith) invites patrons to witness a glimpse of their possible futures in this anthology tale.

There is one reason, and one reason alone, to watch Torture Garden: to see Peter Cushing and Jack Palance as a pair of obsessed Edgar Allen Poe collectors in a segment written by Robert Bloch and directed by Freddie Francis. Never mind that Palance isn’t really right for the part, for fans of 60s horror films, this is a combination too good to pass up.

That said, while the Palance-Cushing pairing doesn’t disappoint, it doesn’t wow either. Palance works best when he’s giving off his trademark icy cool, but here he escalates to a giddy madness that feels forced. Cushing, fortunately, is perfect opposite him, and the script they’re working from is solid and entertaining.

The same can’t be said for the rest of the film’s segments, however. While none of them are outright awful, much of the menace is derived from the atmosphere rather than the actual menace. Telepathic cats, robot actors and haunted pianos just aren’t that scary, but Francis makes the best of it.

So, while Torture Garden’s casting may prove irresistible to horror aficionados, those not so enthralled won’t be missing much by skipping it.