There is certainly no shortage of anthologies in the horror genre and, typically, the problem with the average entry is the lack of consistent qualities in the works. While some may be great, the bad ones leaving you walking away with the feeling that the overall product is mediocre and forgettable. Such was the case with the first installment in this series, though it may have been more memorable for its' questionable taste decisions, including a brutal cat murder, a miscarriage and child molestation, not to mention the overload of bad animation.
They seem to have learned lessons on multiple fronts with this one, as there was little objectionable material that would turn off the average horror fan and the quality of the shorts seems to have improved quite a bit as well. As a frequenter of this site, I generally don't like "those reviews" that break down each segment, but you know what. The heck with it. I'm writing one of those now...
CREAM OF THE CROP - CAPITAL PUNISHMENT was a well-constructed little story with some top notch grue - Jesus may be the best of the bunch with a story about revenge from the grave and the horrors that often accompany religious fanaticism - ROULETTE is a tight mini-thriller that is well-paced and riveting - SPLIT seemed to be going into cliché territory until the final reveal showed it to be something more
THE GOOD - AMATEUR was an amusing story of a hit gone wrong - BADGER may not be for everyone, but I found it charming fun - INVINCIBLE steals some from the cake zombie segment in CREEPSHOW but feature good effects and a good story - MASTICATE is a well-shot short film with a funny little ending - NEXUS by Larry Fessenden is one of those stories where the strands meet in the end. It says something that the short works even though you see that finale coming beforehand - OCHLOCRACY is a zombie film done from the "other perspective"
THE AVERAGE - DELOUSED is the first of the animated shorts and reminded me much of an old Tool video - FALLING is an arab/jew story with not much happening - KNELL is a Lovecraftian sci-fi short with an enigmatic finale - QUESTIONAIRE takes a predicable premise and ruins it more with bad effects - UTOPIA has strong images but its' too short to convey its' message successfully, one that's done to death in sci-fi anyways - VACATION would fit into the VHS series well - WISH started off with promise, using the idea of being sucked into an old 80s toy commercial and what the world really may have been like, but ultimately ends up feeling like a student project - XYLOPHONE ends well, but is far too predictable - YOUTH is a bizarre Asian short with no real hook
THE BAD - EQUILIBRIUM is a cheesy little short that attempts to be funny - GRANDDAD suffers from the same fate of trying to mix odd humor with bad horror - HEAD GAMES is a pointless Plympton cartoon - LEGACY may be out of my cultural experience to understand but feels like Gwar attacking an African village - PPP SCARY would have been bad for a high school talent show skit and deserves no spot here. Probably the worst of the bunch - TORTURE PORN is the Soska sisters being lazy to bash us in the had with a message - ZYGOTE is the type of stupid ass premise that gives indie horror a bad name
They seem to have learned lessons on multiple fronts with this one, as there was little objectionable material that would turn off the average horror fan and the quality of the shorts seems to have improved quite a bit as well. As a frequenter of this site, I generally don't like "those reviews" that break down each segment, but you know what. The heck with it. I'm writing one of those now...
CREAM OF THE CROP - CAPITAL PUNISHMENT was a well-constructed little story with some top notch grue - Jesus may be the best of the bunch with a story about revenge from the grave and the horrors that often accompany religious fanaticism - ROULETTE is a tight mini-thriller that is well-paced and riveting - SPLIT seemed to be going into cliché territory until the final reveal showed it to be something more
THE GOOD - AMATEUR was an amusing story of a hit gone wrong - BADGER may not be for everyone, but I found it charming fun - INVINCIBLE steals some from the cake zombie segment in CREEPSHOW but feature good effects and a good story - MASTICATE is a well-shot short film with a funny little ending - NEXUS by Larry Fessenden is one of those stories where the strands meet in the end. It says something that the short works even though you see that finale coming beforehand - OCHLOCRACY is a zombie film done from the "other perspective"
THE AVERAGE - DELOUSED is the first of the animated shorts and reminded me much of an old Tool video - FALLING is an arab/jew story with not much happening - KNELL is a Lovecraftian sci-fi short with an enigmatic finale - QUESTIONAIRE takes a predicable premise and ruins it more with bad effects - UTOPIA has strong images but its' too short to convey its' message successfully, one that's done to death in sci-fi anyways - VACATION would fit into the VHS series well - WISH started off with promise, using the idea of being sucked into an old 80s toy commercial and what the world really may have been like, but ultimately ends up feeling like a student project - XYLOPHONE ends well, but is far too predictable - YOUTH is a bizarre Asian short with no real hook
THE BAD - EQUILIBRIUM is a cheesy little short that attempts to be funny - GRANDDAD suffers from the same fate of trying to mix odd humor with bad horror - HEAD GAMES is a pointless Plympton cartoon - LEGACY may be out of my cultural experience to understand but feels like Gwar attacking an African village - PPP SCARY would have been bad for a high school talent show skit and deserves no spot here. Probably the worst of the bunch - TORTURE PORN is the Soska sisters being lazy to bash us in the had with a message - ZYGOTE is the type of stupid ass premise that gives indie horror a bad name