Ronald Chetwynd Hayes is a very underrated author . His horror stories often feature a twist ending mixed in with lots of black humour . I read his Tales Of Fear And Fantasy short story collection as a sixteen year old and can fondly remember the stories featured . Hardcore horror fans who enjoy gore will probably consider his stories quaint but as an entertaining read I recommend him . Unfortunately I find it difficult to recommend THE MONSTER CLUB to anyone
John Carradine plays the author who goes to a club only to find it populated by monsters and meets a vampire called Eramus who describes different types of bloodlines of monsters and relates three short stories . There's two serious problems with the film
1 ) Director Roy Ward Baker doesn't know whether to make the film serious or amusing and decides on embarrassing camp
2 ) The stories themselves are pretty dire .
Baker can defend himself in that he doesn't have much of a budget and much of the make-up is dire , especially the werewolf in the NHS glasses . That said however it's the way the werewolf is played that leaves a lot to be desired . Baker however does pull out a chilling sequence done via drawings where a vicar relates how he found a ghoul in a graveyard . The sequence is very well done but seems completely at odds with the rest of the film which is a badly judged jokey , camp affair . And the revelation that the human race is the worst type of monster isn't a revelation at all