26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Um, read the title of the collection...uh..., July 7, 2005
This review is from: Horrible Horrors Collection, Vol. 1 (DVD)
First of all, what slays me is when people buy these multi-pack horror sets and go into it expecting them to all be B-movie classics. Of course most of them are gonna suck! Why do you think they're cheap? And why would Rhino actually NAME THE COLLECTION Horrible Horrors??? Quoting from the box: "Eight of the weirdest, most horrible horror films from the 1970's and 1980's!"
As for the quality of the transfers here, I'm no expert when it comes to bit technology, and I don't have a 1000" plasma screen with Lucasfilm surround sound to where I notice every flaw. Considering the relative cheapness of all the films featured here, and the fact that Rhino probably didn't invest in a full digital clean-up of the prints (something reserved for the more "quality" B-pictures perhaps?), I thought every movie was pretty clear and sharp. Compare this to the Brentwood/BCI Eclipse multi-movie sets, where occasional tracking lines make it obvious that you're watching a DVD transfer from video, and I give Horrible Horrors a thumbs up.
This review is for those who enjoy gutter Z-films, anyone who would gladly watch Mystery Science Theatre movies without the added commentary. In other words, fans of cinematic cheese, like meself.
Horror High, AKA Twisted Brain: One of the weaker movies on the set in my opinion. Victimized high school kid drinks his special formula to turn himself into a monster, attacks tormentors, etc. Basically some cheap high school laughs (jocks vs. nerd) but the last half is pretty darned slow going. The highlight for me was Austin Stoker, the black hero from the original Assault on Precinct 13, showing up to save the day as a cop to the accompaniment of 70's "Shaft" wah-wah music.
Point of Terror: Not a horror movie by any means, but a hilarious, exaggeratedly acted "thriller" with some of the most unintentionally funny dialogue of all time. You know you're in for a "royale with cheese" when the opening credits roll, and the lead actor is doing a terrible musical number dressed in a fringe pantsuit with flares. Co-starring the incredible Dyanne Thorne, who played the lead in the Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS movies.
Satan's Slave: Probably my favorite movie of the bunch. It's one of two in the set directed by the British Norman J. Warren, who started out doing softcore sex films. After her parents are killed in a car accident, she is taken under her uncle's wing who turns out to worship, um...well..not God to give you a hint. It's bloody, and has nudity. Thumbs up.
Terror: The other film in the set directed by Warren. After a film crew makes a movie in a haunted house, bad things start to happen. It was pretty slow. Warren gets self-referential when he shows the director in the movie filming a softcore sex scene in a bathtub, a funny yet tame moment. Star Wars buffs will appreciate Peter "Chewbacca" Mayhew in a brief yet memorable part.
Prime Evil: One of two in the set directed by Roberta Findlay, who started out with her husband in the 60's making "roughie" sexploitation flicks. FX by Ed French, but either it was a cut version or there wasn't much in the way of blood and gore. Again, pretty slow but some funny bad acting and 80's madness: the girl working out on the treadmill while eating Cheetos was pretty classic stuff.
Fleshburn: Again, not a horror movie, but a good thriller. As far as acting and overall quality, I'd say this was the best of all the movies here. A Native American who killed some guys in the desert is found to be insane by a team of psychiatrists. Years later, he escapes, rounds up the psychiatrists, and dumps them in the middle of the desert where he plays a game of cat-and-mouse with them. If you like survival movies, for example, Alive or Open Water, check this low-budget sleeper out.
Lurkers: The second Roberta Findlay movie in the set. It was better and weirder than Prime Evil. A girl sees apparitions as a child prior to a brutal murder/suicide; years later weird things are still happening. Little did she know, her fiance is involved. It's bad (of course) but has some good twists and has a weird party scene near the end. Other than the fact that a few scenes were way too dark to make out much, Findlay made good use of the real NYC locations in this one.
The Hearse. Since this is the only PG-rated movie on here, you can't expect much blood and sleaze. What you can expect is a pretty decent ghost story, starring Trish Van Devere who was also in 1981's classic ghost story The Changeling. The ending was a real letdown, unfortunately.
So if you're a fan of low-budget filmmaking, I'd say to give Horrible Horrors, Vol. 1 a shot. I thought picture quality on all these releases was crisp enough to please all but the digitally anal-retentive.
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26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good deal, but without much effort behind the presentation, October 7, 2004
This review is from: Horrible Horrors Collection, Vol. 1 (DVD)
No attempt will be made to discuss the merit of the movies themselves, this is just a few quick notes on their presentation.
This is a 2-disc set of double-sided discs with two movies on each side. That means 8 movies. :) Here are the details and a comment or two...
Disc 1, side 1, movie 1: The Hearse (1980), 99 minutes. Presented in anamorphic widescreen, with picture quality a bit worse than the previous standalone Rhino release of the title. I rate the picture quality at 6/10 (PQ:6) (Your common new release blockbuster DVD typically rates 8 to 10.)
Disc 1, side 1, movie 2: Prime Evil (1988), 83 minutes. Full frame. PQ:7
Disc 1, side 2, movie 1: Terror (1978), 94 minutes. Full frame. PQ:6 (There is a PAL VHS widescreen release of this movie.)
Disc 1, side 2, movie 2: Lurkers (1988), 84 minutes. Full frame. PQ:6
Disc 2, side 1, movie 1: Fleshburn (1984), 90 minutes. Full frame. PQ:6
Disc 2, side 1, movie 2: Satan's Slave (1976), 90 minutes. Full frame. PQ:6 (There is a PAL VHS widescreen release of this movie.)
Disc 2, side 2, movie 1: Twisted Brain (1974), 91 minutes. Full frame. PQ:4 (Worst quality of all the movies in the package)
Disc 2, side 2, movie 2: Point of Terror (1971), 87 minutes. Full frame. PQ:7
As you can see, the only movie presented in widescreen is "The Hearse", all the others are full frame (some are definitely pan & scan, some might be open matte, I don't know). Picture quality varies from "passable/OK" to "rather poor". All of the movies have been encoded at an average bitrate of 5.6 mb/s (except "Twisted Brain" at 5.7 mb/s). The major difference between this and most of the other "million movies for ten bucks" packages out there is that I don't think these titles are in the public domain, so this may be the only way we'll see them. Whether that's important or not is up to you. :)
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1 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Yep!, October 21, 2007
Roberta Findlay a famous Porn Director from the 70's
tried her hand in HORROR in the 80's and well the results
were.... This movie has Moore as a girl haunted by her
mom's death and various evil spirits out to claim her
for SATAN! Badly acted,written,and directed with an
ending that is about 90min. too far from the beginning!
Avoid this at all cost and Roberta..Stick to porn!
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