I wish Hollywood had some balls, and would continue to release anthology movies in theatres today because they're just so much fun, and are made even better as a community experience. The 80's were good times for this! More chances were taken by studios, they were still concerned about money but at least the suits seemed to know how to enjoy the industry they were in, and were good humoured--must have been all the cocaine.
I love this flick. Simple as that! You get five horror stories written by Stephen King, directed by George A. Romero, and starring actors like Ed Harris, Leslie Nielsen, and Hal Holbrook; what more could you ask for?? The stories themselves are all quite pulpy, based on the types of plots you'd see within the colourful borders of a scary 50's comic book, which is absolutely where the inspiration came from. These guys clearly grew up reading that kind of stuff, and it shaped the kind of adults they would become.
The segments range from a father returning from the dead to avenge his death at the hands of his daughter, to a clean freak a-hole mogul that is invaded by hordes of cockroaches. A farmer who begins to transform into a plant-creature after discovering a meteorite on his land, to an affable couple terrorized by an older rich man with a penchant for murdering by drowning. Then of course there is my favourite story about a mysterious crate found in the basement of a university that contains a bloodthirsty beast, eviscerating its victims, and even aiding in a murderous marriage plot!
If that all sounds a tad ridiculous to you, well, that's kind of the point. This is not serious horror, it's something you put on close to Halloween to get you in the spirit, and make you gleefully grin in between handfuls of buttery popcorn. Who doesn't enjoy a movie like that? You laugh, you jump from a scare, and then you laugh again! We are definitely once more in need of something like this to get a mass theatrical release, it's been far, far too long.
I love this flick. Simple as that! You get five horror stories written by Stephen King, directed by George A. Romero, and starring actors like Ed Harris, Leslie Nielsen, and Hal Holbrook; what more could you ask for?? The stories themselves are all quite pulpy, based on the types of plots you'd see within the colourful borders of a scary 50's comic book, which is absolutely where the inspiration came from. These guys clearly grew up reading that kind of stuff, and it shaped the kind of adults they would become.
The segments range from a father returning from the dead to avenge his death at the hands of his daughter, to a clean freak a-hole mogul that is invaded by hordes of cockroaches. A farmer who begins to transform into a plant-creature after discovering a meteorite on his land, to an affable couple terrorized by an older rich man with a penchant for murdering by drowning. Then of course there is my favourite story about a mysterious crate found in the basement of a university that contains a bloodthirsty beast, eviscerating its victims, and even aiding in a murderous marriage plot!
If that all sounds a tad ridiculous to you, well, that's kind of the point. This is not serious horror, it's something you put on close to Halloween to get you in the spirit, and make you gleefully grin in between handfuls of buttery popcorn. Who doesn't enjoy a movie like that? You laugh, you jump from a scare, and then you laugh again! We are definitely once more in need of something like this to get a mass theatrical release, it's been far, far too long.
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