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Dehydrator
04-16-2001, 10:40 PM
Damm, it's 4 in the morning and I still can't get no sleep ( Joey Ramone's Death still fucks me up ). That's why I'm posting this right now:

Anthology flicks have become a rare thing today, ( with the exeption of "Campfire Tales). A few of them were on TV this week, so here's a little information on those I've seen:

1.Tales from the Darkside

Some semi-hot Woman has a little boy trapped and intends to cook him. To gain time for a pretty silly finale, he tells her three stories from a book called "Tales from the Darkside":

First one :

Two students and one of their sisters ( one of them is Christian Slater ) have ripped off another one ( blaming him anonymous, as a thief ). The guy's an Egypt freak, so guess what he summons to take revenge. Not very creepy, but kinda entertaining with a cool twist in the end. On a scale from 1-10 I'd give this movie a 6.

Second one:

Some old rich asshole hires a professional killer to erase a cat from this planet. Thing is, the cat is pretty smart, pretty deadly, and I found her pretty cool. Easily the best of the stories, not creepy at all but a whole lot of fun. The killer's ramblings about the cat are hiliarious. From 1-10: 8.

Third one :

Some artist ( who looks like Slater, but I don't think he is Slater ) witnesses the killing of one of his friends commited by a Gargolye ( have these creatures some sort of a historic background? You know, like Werwolves or Vampires? ). The Gargolye spares his Life, but he must swear to tell nobody. The weakest story, kinda boring for most of the time. But the finale was pretty cool ( but very predictable as well ). From 1-10 I say 5.

The dumb-ass finale of this movie sucks hard, but it's an OK timewaster. It's not scary of frightening and doesn't take itself too serious. 6,5.

2.Twice-Told Tales:

Three stories as well, each one starring Vincent Price.

First : Two old men discover a substance that can make people younger. Soon enough, they try to ressurect the dead. They wish they hadn't. Typical Hammer-style horror, sllooow moving but entertaining enough. From 1-10: 6

Second : It's acient Italy and one guy falls in love with a chic he sees in a garden. Her father ( Price ) will do anything to keep them apart, mainly because due to his fault, his daughter is half-poison-plant (should have tried Weed)and half-girl. Weakest one here, boring and sllooow again. 5

Third : Price comes to New-England to seek a treasure. The treasure is supposed to be in a dark, old, scary house. Nobody wants to go there, everyone's afraid. Why becomes clear soon enough. Cool ghost-story, with Price at his slimiest. The best one here. 8

Enjoyable if you like early horror. If you like price, see it anyway. 7

3.Dr. Terror's House of Horrors

Five strangers meet in a train. Along comes Peter Cushing as Dr. Terror ( wow, that's a name ). He lets them do some Tarot and tells them their supernatural fate:

First : Guy goes to Hungary to the House were his ancestors lived. By inspecting the cellar he finds the casket of a well-known Werwolf. Very cool story, a completely unexpected twist at the end. 8

Second: Guy gets home from the holidays, soon he finds his house under sieged by a man-strangeling plant ( it's not Weed ). Pretty weak one, features the guy who played M in James Bond. 5

Third: Musican goes to the Antilles and messes with Voodoo. Another fun episode, nothing much to say here. 7.

Fourth : Christopher Lee is an art expert, and he his a big asshole as well. He makes fun out of bashing an artist, which makes the artist commit suicide. But, his hand was never found... Now I know where Stone ripped it off. My favorite here, Lee is cool as always. Kick ass ending too. 9

Fifth : A doctor discovers a Vampire were he would least expect one. Good story also, like almost every story in this flick, a pretty cool ending twist that got my evil smile.

The conclusion for this movie is pretty good and kind of scary. It makes sense. It could be this way in Reality, if Reality had names like Dr. Terror. 8 for this one.

4.Black Sabbath

My fav. Anthology ever. Scared me to Death as a child, and almost the same yesterday night. Bava's make up and desigin should is Oscar-Material. Karlhoff is the narrator and also stars in one episode.

First: (called WURDELAK): A classic Vampire tale, I remember reading a short story by a russian writer somewhere, that could be the basic for this story. Karlhoff is great and the set desigins...SEE IT! 9

Second: (called A DROP OF WATER): Great story about post-mortem Revenge. features the scariest, most nightmare-inducing sequence I've ever seen. Ever. Make-Up is wonderful on this one, I had nightmares for two years. 10

Third: (called TELEPHONE ) : not bad, but a bit of a letdown, rather X-Factor-style but still offers some suspense. Kind of hard to descripe, so I won't even try. 6

If for nothing else, see it for A DROP OF WATER. But if you dig classic horror, you'll like the rest as well. Overall, 9 ( a damm near personal classic ).

So that's it. Maybe this is of interest for someone, maybe it's not. I hope I can sleep now but the 3 Ramones CDs in my Player won't make it easier. I for one, would love to see some Anthology movies in this millenium.

the night watchman
04-17-2001, 12:03 AM
Joey R's death shook me up too, D.

Anyway, good list, especially "Black Sabbath" and "Twice-Told Tales." My favorite anthology movie is "Creepshow." My all-time favorite Stephen King movie. "The Crate" is the best of the five, followed by "They're Creeping Up On You" (EG Marshall delivering Stephen King dialogue - can't be beat), "Something To Tide You Over" (the funniest one), "The Lonesome Death Of Jordy Verrill" (where else you gonna see Big Steve himself turn into a giant weed?), and finally "Father's Day", a pretty routine vengence from the grave story enlivened by a great performance by Viveca Lindfors and some genuinely startling jump scares.

I just saw an anthology flick called "Terror Tracts" with John Ritter (?!), a real estate agent desperately trying to sell some houses with unpleasant pasts. There are three stories in all. The first is repetative and routine, but has a neat (if too obvious) twist. The second is the best, but goes absolutely nowhere. The third is good, but again, doesn't really seem to have much of an ending. The ending of the movie itself is absolutely hilarious, and almost worth sitting through the entire running time. Almost, but not quite.

Horror Hippie
04-17-2001, 06:49 PM
Once AGAIN, I agree with Watchman, Creepshow IMO is the best anthology movie. "Father's Day" was freaky and cool though, "Death of whatshisname" was funny for a bit. The Crate was really good too. "The Roach One" (paraphrased title, heh) was hilarious and "Something to Tide You Over" was decent except for Leslie Nielsen who did good as a psycho getting his "what goes around comes around" come uppance.

Another good one is "Trilogy of Terror". Who forgot this one? The first story isn't anything to write home about, but the second one is fairly good with a weird ending, but the last story, with the Zuni hunter doll ruled! Nothing like being attacked by a little sharp toothed menace with a pointy stick for a good time.

falconfilms
04-18-2001, 10:47 AM
Twilight Zone: The Movie was pretty hit and miss. The intro with Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks (want to see something really scary???) was great.

John Landis's segment with the late Vic Morrow (who died during shooting) playing a racist jerk who learns the harsh realities of discrimination was pretty good.

Spielberg's segment (Kick the Can) was Spielberg at his worst. Annoyingly sweet and over the top.

Joe Dante's segment about a little boy who could make anything he imagined into reality was kind of cool stylistically (he had trapped his "family" in a house he had created based on cartoon houses...but not very good storywise.

And the last story, Directed by George Miller, stars a freaked out John Lithgow as the only passenger who can see an airborne beasty that is tearing apart the plane's engine in flight...Sheer brilliance.

Creepshow was good, Creepshow 2 was lame.

AntonioDelLago
04-19-2001, 11:09 AM
CAMPFIRE TALES (1997) Directed by Matt Cooper, Martin Kunert and David Semel. Anthology horror film featuring five short stories based upon real-life urban legends. Christopher Masterson (from TV's "Malcolm In The Middle") and Jay R. Ferguson star as two studs who tell the title tales to their girlfriends while stranded along a roadside after a rock concert. These horrific tales of yore include: (1) "The Hook", in which the makeout session of two young lovers is interrupted by an escaped lunatic. James Marsden of "Disturbing Behavior" stars in this segment; (2) "The Honeymoon" tells the tale of two newlyweds traveling in a camper who are terrorized by cannibals; (3) "People Can Lick, Too" concerns two teen sisters (Alex McKenna, Devon Odessa) stalked by an Internet pedophile; (4) "The Locket", in which Glenn Quinn meets an otherworldy woman; and (5) the afore-mentioned prelude "The Campfire", which provides the film's most startling twist. Christine Taylor of "The Brady Bunch Movie" co-stars. "The Campfire", "The Hook", and "People Can Lick, Too" are easily the best of these tales. Fast forward through "The Honeymoon" and "The Locket". My overall grade: B-

DEAD OF NIGHT (1945) Directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer. Classic horror anthology centering around a group of people gathered together in a country estate, each of whom tells an eerie tale. These fine segments of terror include stories involving: a phantom hearse; the ghost of a murdered child; a haunted mirror; a ghost on a golf course; and the best and most famous of these tales...a demented ventriloquist (Michael Redgrave) who is convinced that his dummy is alive (which predated the Anthony Hopkins fright fest "Magic" by several decades). This is by far the best anthology horror film ever. My overall grade: B+

NIGHTMARES (1983) Directed by Joseph Sargent. A tetrology of horror stories involving: (1) A housewife (Christina Raines) menaced by a psycho during a blackout in "Terror In Topanga"; (2) "The Bishop of Battle", which concerns a young Emilio Estevez as a teen obsessed with an evil video game; (3) Lance Henriksen as a priest whose faith is tested by a Satanic truck (shades of "Duel") in "The Benediction"; (4) and Richard Masur and Veronica Cartwright an an unhappy couple whose suburban home is terrorized by a giant rodent in "Night Of The Rat". The first tale is the best. All downhill from there. My overall grade: B-


[This message has been edited by AntonioDelLago (edited 04-19-2001).]

AntonioDelLago
05-04-2001, 01:45 PM
TWILIGHT ZONE-THE MOVIE (1983) Directed by Steven Spielberg, John Landis, Joe Dante and George Miller. A quartet of stories adapted from the classic Rod Serling TV series, featuring an excellent prologue and epilogue involving Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks as traveling buddies who sing theme songs from old television series, and attempt to one-up each other by showing the other "something really scary". All downhill from there. The first story centers around a bigot (Vic Mirrow, who was killed in a helicopter crash during production) projected into situations where he is targeted by Nazis, the KKK and black American soldiers in Vietnam. The second story, "Kick The Can", is a whimsical Spielberg fable, with Scatman Crothers as a traveling magician who transforms a group of elderly people living in a retirement home back to their younger years. The third story, "It's A Good Life!", concerns a young boy (Jeremy Licht), who traps a group of pseudo-family members in his house (among them...Kevin McCarthy, William Schallert, Patricia Barry and the voice of Bart Simpson herself...Nancy Cartwright). Kathleen Quinlan portrays a wayward traveler who stumbles upon this nightmare. The fourth, and best story, "Nightmare At 20,000 Feet", centers around a neurotic man (John Lithgow) with a fear of flying who spots a gremlin on the wing of the plane he's traveling on. Burgess Meredith narrates, taking the reins from series creator Serling. My overall grade: B

CREEPSHOW (1982) Directed by George Romero from a screenplay (based on the classic E.C. horror comics) by Stephen King. An all-star cast, which includes Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, Fritz Weaver, Leslie Nielsen, E.G. Marshall, Viveca Lindfors, Ed Harris, Stephen King, Carrie Nye and Ted Danson...portray various characters in five tales of terror (featuring an excellent prologue and epilogue concerning a father-son rivalry). These tales include: a murdered patriarch seeking revenge from the grave to claim his "Father's Day" cake; a dimwitted farmer turning into a beanstalk following a meteor crash; a vengeful man drowning his unfaithful wife and her lover in a most terrifying manner; a hen-pecked college professor using the ferocious contents of an ancient crate to dispose of his shrewish wife; and an eccentric, germ-phobic billionaire who battles millions of cockroaches during a New York City blackout. The only weak link in the film is the meteor crash-inspired fungus frenzy (which stars King). The rest are knockouts. My overall grade: B

[This message has been edited by AntonioDelLago (edited 05-04-2001).]

the night watchman
05-04-2001, 05:02 PM
Actually, even though "Creepshow" is my favorite anthology, the gremlin episode in "Twilight Zone - The Movie" is my favorite segment. Great monster, great acting, great direction, editing, photography, and score. Your heart will race during this episode no matter how many times you've seen it.

AntonioDelLago
06-20-2001, 01:28 AM
Would THE COMPANY OF WOLVES be considered a quasi-anthology flick, since it featured many stories within its main story?

CAPTAIN BLAKE
06-20-2001, 02:27 AM
Good to see someone else is aware of the wonderfully creepy DEAD OF NIGHT! Any fan of classic ghost stories should immediately see this movie...er, no, wait. Anchor Bay is releasing it on DVD soon, so I'd say hold out for that edition...but get it when it comes out. My other favorite anthology films are KWAIDAN, BLACK SABBATH, CREEPSHOW, TRILOGY OF TERROR, the Corman/Poe TALES OF TERROR, and ASYLUM. And yeah, I would consider THE COMPANY OF WOLVES to be a quasi-anthology, as it features several vignettes held together by a wrap-around story. Very Amicus. On a related note, did you know that Carpenter had plans to turn THE FOG into an anthology formatted TV show? That was before SHOWTIME approached him to do a direct sequel...Too bad these ideas never panned out, both could have been interesting.

AntonioDelLago
06-20-2001, 02:40 AM
BLAKE, very interesting ideas on THE FOG. I never thought that your namesake Blake and his ghastly friends were finished with Antonio Bay, thus the ending warranted a sequel. An anthology series would have been equally impressive, since there weren't many of those in the early 80's (the FRIDAY THE 13TH series and WEREWOLF didn't rear their ugly heads until the late 80's).

Is ASYLUM worth renting? It is on my "list", but there are many other flicks that I want to see before I check that one out.

jgjavi
06-20-2001, 12:18 PM
let us not forget the underrated "tales from the hood", a great combination of horror and the hood...
anybody ever see "dead time stories" or "cat's eye"?

Dehydrator
06-20-2001, 05:59 PM
ANTONIO : I'd rather disagree with COW being an anthology flick. Yes, this film contains a lot of stories ( and is basically one big story/dream ), but all of them serve a purpose that becomes clear in the end.

SPOILERS: I think all the stories that Grandma tells Rosaline portray the wolf/humans/wolves-within-humans as intorable, evil and just plain assholes. As we know, Rosaline finds out that they aren't all that evil and runs away with one of them. I think this is some kind of a methaphor for "growing up" or "losing innocence". It might as well be a methaphor for somebody's first night out. The more I think of it, even the Grandma's stories don't show the wolves as REALLY evil. ( I think of the one that gets pissed when he finds out his wife shaggeling that other guy - I mean, he was away for a couple of years but who wouldn't get pissed? ) Grandma's trying to basically frighten Rosaline to death but doesn't succeed as her interest for wolves only gets bigger.

Rosaline herself comes up with a story also (that one with the girl and the priest) and she's speaking of forgiveness and tolerance.
That shows that she's willing to judge on the wolves for herself, even if they breakfasted her older sister. ( BTW: That sister is portrait in the beginning of the film as being a real bitch! I mean she's knocking at Rosalines room and telling her that she's "the pest", despite her having done anything to her. Would you cry? )


Also these stories are pretty short, I wonder if the part with the devil (which is the only story that doesn't fit in my interpretation) was even 2 minutes long, so nobody that looks for anthologies will find them here. I love this movie but I wouldn't quite call it an anthology.