Tales That Witness Madness

Tales That Witness Madness

Release Date:  10/31/1973
Country of Release:  USA
Length:  90 minutes
MPAA:  R
Medium:  Video
Genre:  COM HOR MYS ANT
Release Message:  In the second story, Penny Farthing, antique dealer Timothy (Peter McEnery) is left an old penny farthing cycle and a photograph with ill-defined magical powers - when Timothy sits aboard the cycle and pedals, he rides straight into Victorian London.
Description:  A psychiatrist tells stories of four special cases to a colleague. In Penny Farthing, antique dealer Timothy is left a huge pile of bric-a-brac by his late Aunt Kate. Included in the haul are an old penny farthing cycle and a photograph of the sinister Uncle Albert, a portrait that appears to have a life of its own. It also has ill-defined magical powers - when Timothy sits aboard the cycle and pedals, he rides straight into Victorian London where he falls in love with Beatrice, the spitting image of his girlfriend Ann. He's also stalked by his disfigured Uncle Albert. Dr Tremayne is an enigmatic Psychiatrist running a Futuristic asylum housing four very special cases. Visited by colleague Nicholas, Tremayne explains his amazing and controversial theories as to why each of the four patients went mad... cue four distinct tales each with a different set of characters: 'Mr Tiger' tells of Paul, the sensitive and troubled young son of prosperous but constantly bickering and unlovely parents, and the boy's 'imaginary' friend, a tiger. 'Penny Farthing' tells of Timothy, an antique store owner propelled backwards in time by a penny-farthing bicycle in his shop, all the while being watched over by the constantly changing photograph of Uncle Albert, which endangers the lives of both Timothy and his beautiful wife, Ann. 'Mel' tells of Brian, a man who brings home an old dead tree and prominently displays it in his living room as a work of art. His fiery wife Bella soon becomes jealous of the tree, which the husband has lovingly named Mel, and it seems to be developing a will of its own. 'Luau' tells of Auriol, a flamboyant and ambitious literary agent who will do anything to impress her sinister new client, though he seems more interested in Auriol's beautiful and precocious young daughter Ginny. Ginny sneaks off on holiday while Auriol plans a sumptuous feast for her client.