Product Details

• Actors: George A. Romero, Ian Harding, Patrick Jordan, Adrienne Wehr, Bjorn Ahlstedt
• Directors: Various
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Millennium Media
• DVD Release Date: July 12, 2011
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B004L51D10
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #80,792 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Synopsis:
Item Type: DVD Movie
Item Rating: NR
Street Date: 07/12/11
Wide Screen: no
Director Cut: no
Special Edition: no
LanguageENGLISH
Foreign Film: no
Subtitlesno
Dubbed: no
Full Frame: no
Re-Release: no
Packaging: Sleeve Please note: This supplier will be closed on 11/24, 11/25, 12/26, 1/2 for the holidays. The shipping cut off is 12/10 to try and have the products delivered by Christmas.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars One decent story, one awful story, and a mediocre story for a finale., July 17, 2011

By 

David J. Brown - See all my reviews
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This review is from: George A. Romero Presents: Deadtime Stories Vol. 1 (DVD)

I've been looking forward to this series of anthology films for the last three months. Fangoria has been advertising for it fairly heavily. George Romero produces and hosts three short films in the style of EC or his own Creepshow(which in itself was inspired by EC comics). Unfortunately, the best parts of this anthology series(thus far, as there are more volumes of three on the way) is the George Romero prologues. He introduces each short with rhymes and a ghoulish EC-like delight. That's it. This is real low rent stuff that's not as witty or well written enough to pass.

The first story is about a trek to uncover a missing husband. A trek that leads to a run in with many(although only one is briefly seen) jungle cannibals. It's really poorly acted, flatly lit, and boring in how the story unfolds. There's nothing grabbing the viewer into this first tale WHATSOEVER. It's dullsville and ends with a 'twist' of sorts. It's just lame and not funny or creepy. I think there's some stuff in the story about the investors also looking to capitalize on the land and some sort of weird fruit with blue goop that does something. Either I was bored and missed it or just didn't care.

The second story, called WeT(it's the only tale that I actually remembered the title of), is pretty good. Not great but good. It's actually got some suspense and capable acting. It's stylishly directed with shadows and dense mood. The story manages to take a trope of old time sea-faring fears and makes it original, gruesome, and at the end tragic. I would tell you more of what it's about but that would ruin it.

The third story I had the highest hopes for, as it was directed by long time Romero collaborator Tom Savini(directed the best episodes of Tales from the Darkside, remake of Night of the Living Dead, and of course revolutionized gore effects on films such as Dawn of the Dead, Friday the 13TH, The Prowler, The Burning, and Creepshow among others). While this one, again, is stylishly directed as a period piece wtih the aspect ratio of an old time film camera, it's that style that becomes frustrating and eye wincing. Also, the style of camera aspect ratio seems to be there simply to make up for the fact that this tale is mostly a talking heads affair that ends with a twist that could barely be called a twist. There's no set up for it or reason. It just happens and when it does you'll hask yourself why so much conversation had to happen for a certain character to reveal their true nature. Kind of boring with an anticlimax. Not very good, but not horrible, rather mediocre.

None of these shorts were directed by Romero or written by him. They were all written by this guy called Monahan. I congragulate him on getting the dough together for this production by pulling Romero's name in, but he doesn't seem to have the chops to make things worth while beyond that. I don't want to sound mean, but he's not a very good writer. His directorial effort, the first story, is the worst of acting, visuals, and editing of the three as well. Maybe he's a friend or ex-collaborator or Romero, but I don't see, with the talent displayed on these three films, how he got funding or a green light to make them.

The dvd is bare bones. No special features at all. I would've liked to see at least an interview with Romero regarding this film. He hasn't done the anthology thing since the last season of Tales from the Darkside. Now Darkside isn't as classic as Tales from the Crypt, Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Outer Limits(old and new), or even Night Gallery, but it was good and had a lot of hits that worth remembering. I'll give this thing one more chance with Volume Two on the basis of the second short WeT, but if that's a total let down or a trip into mediocrity like this then there will be no Volume Three in my direct future.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Two out of Three are bad, July 16, 2011

By 

Alex Faber (Northern NJ United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: George A. Romero Presents: Deadtime Stories Vol. 1 (DVD)

Anyone remember the 2002 horror flick They? Nah, me either. But from what I've read, it was a substandard horror movie that was made by a couple of unknown people, but the studio paid Wes Craven to put his name on it as a producer, in hopes that this would be enough of a draw due to the movie pretty much being a stinker.

At least Deadtime Stories Vol. 1 does feature George Romero as a talking head introducing each story for a minute or so. But make no mistake about it, this is not his movie, but was instead written by a dude named Jeff Monahan and directed by Monahan and two others. Props to Monahan for snagging Romero to put his name on the movie, given that the film is noticeably low-budget, but Romero didn't write or direct this movie. Right ... moving on.

There are three shorts here, about 25 minutes each (adding up to a total running time of 76 minutes, so it falls just shy of feature-length), and since all three shorts were written by Monahan, they all follow a similar pattern: 1. There is little to no opening hook to grab the audience; 2. The characters engage in a significant amount of dialogue to pad the running time, with a minimum of action due to the lack of budget; 3. There's a twist, and the majority of special effects occur at the end.

The first story, about an attractive woman who organizes a team to look for her missing husband in the jungle, is reminiscent of the junglesploitation flicks coming out of Italy in the 70s, but has none of their charm, message, uniqueness, or anything else, really. This story is a snoozer, there are loose ends to the plot, and the twist is just terrible.

Skipping the second for now, the third story boasts the directorial eye of Tom Savini, but while it features a unique shooting style (that frankly irritated me), it's also bogged down by the formula of talk-talk-talk-twist! that just creates a soporific effect and ultimately forces the movie to limp to the ultimately forgettable finish line.

However, it wouldn't be fair to just unilaterally excoriate the movie as a failure of an anthology, as the second story, "WeT," does do its darndest to redeem the remainder of the flick. While it is bound by the same formula, this segment capitalizes on the simplicity of the story structure and forces it into intimacy, relying on cloistered settings and the dialogue of two characters to propel most of it. The acting here is surprisingly solid (though not great), and the directing here is stark and beautiful at times, taking a beach setting and making it by turns gorgeous and terrifying. Even the spare piano music adds to the lushness of the viewing experience. There is a twist in this story as well, but the ending boasts more than that, including a truly captivating and sorrowful finish.

I swear I didn't direct "WeT," but this story alone makes this worth seeing at least once. And if you do go in for buying the movie, be aware that it is available right now in a standard DVD case with a lenticular cover card (like the first run of Let The Right One In and re-released movies like Killer Klowns from Outer Space. The lenticular card allows the front image to switch from the skeleton pictured to a dead body, still fully intact. So, if you're a packaging fiend like I am, you'll want to pick this up before this card is discontinued.

Thanks for reading.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very Disappointing, July 22, 2011

By 

Amanda Young "Erotic Romance Author" (Virginia) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: George A. Romero Presents: Deadtime Stories Vol. 1 (DVD)

As a huge Romero fan, I had been looking forward to this DVD for a while. I even pre-ordered it, which I rarely do. Anyway, the flick was so boring it literally put me to sleep. The acting was atrocious, the special FX were cheesy, and the plots were so slow and dull. I'd like to say I'm holding out more hope for the second DVD, but I think I'll wait for a few reviews before I buy volume two.