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Torture Garden

Torture Garden

Horror · 1967

A special sideshow torture exhibit has the power, according to showman Dr Diabolo, to warn people of foreseeable evil. One by one, skeptics stand before the Fate Atropos to preview the greed and violence hiding behind their respectable façades.

Movie details

Torture Garden

“Do You Dare See What Dr. Diabolo Sees?”

1967 Horror 1h 40m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.2 / 10

Community rating

A special sideshow torture exhibit has the power, according to showman Dr Diabolo, to warn people of foreseeable evil. One by one, skeptics stand before the Fate Atropos to preview the greed and violence hiding behind their respectable façades.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Torture Garden?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Freddie Francis

Written by

Robert Bloch

Burgess Meredith

Burgess Meredith

Dr. Diabolo (Framing Story)

Jack Palance

Jack Palance

Ronald Wyatt (segment 4 "The Man Who Collected Poe")

Beverly Adams

Beverly Adams

Carla Hayes (segment 2 "Terror Over Hollywood")

Peter Cushing

Peter Cushing

Lancelot Canning (segment 4 "The Man Who Collected Poe")

Maurice Denham

Maurice Denham

Uncle Roger (segment 1 "Enoch")

Barbara Ewing

Barbara Ewing

Dorothy Endicott (segment 3 "Mr. Steinway")

Michael Bryant

Michael Bryant

Colin Williams (segment 1 "Enoch")

Court is in session

Put Torture Garden on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Arthouse Gremlin

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Prestige Tourist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.