Made by Amicus Productions, it is one of producer Milton Subotsky's trademark "portmanteau" films, an omnibus of short stories (in this case all by Psycho author Robert Bloch, who adapted his own work for the screenplay) linked by a single narrative.

As they congratulate each other for their acting, it is then revealed that Palance's character had not run off like the others, and he too commends their performance, sharing a brief exchange with Diabolo and lighting a cigarette for him before leaving (using the same lighter he borrowed in his vision, implying that the events actually happened).

[2] Monthly Film Bulletin wrote:Robert Bloch has here concocted a lusty and highly enjoyable Gothic exercise, sparked with something of the same truculent wit as Psycho; and Freddie Francis has seized the opportunity to do his best work since The Psychopath with his gently prowling camera creating four clever variations in style, from the Grand Guignol of the cat who likes eating human heads to the moody atmospherics of the possessive piano.

Less interesting, although undeniably effective as a straightforward shocker (Bloch's original story, "Enoch", was much subtler), is the opening episode with a distraught Michael Bryant locked in his cell, waiting for a visit from the cat when he is ravenous enough to come looking for a convenient head.

The film, in fact, gets steadily better as it goes on, eventually achieving a subtlety and wit which one is not led to expect by the cheerful bluster of the opening as Burgess Meredith's sneering Mephistopheles vaunts the attractions of his luridly rococo torture garden; and the ambiguous ending, with its suggestion that the Poe collector has seen in the future something that has already happened in the past, is perhaps the nicest touch of all.

Robert (Psycho) Bloch's skilful script, which includes cannibal cats, haunted pianos, eternal Hollywood life and the reincarnation of Edgar Allan Poe, gives director Freddie Francis imaginative opportunities to indulge in stylish camerawork for maximum gothic effect.