Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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152 of 156 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good selection for horror fans, March 27, 2007
After reading several of the reviews posted for this product, I noticed that many people rate it simply because of the price, and fewer for the actual films contained in the set. Since my wife manages the local Blockbuster, we were fortunate enough to be able to watch all seven of these films for free before they were released to the public.
And I have to say, even though I have already seen them for free, I still forked over the 100+ dollars to own the set. Why?
Every fan of horror films knows the unfathomable despair one sinks into when they bring home the latest direct-to-video flick, slide it into their DVD player, curl up on the sofa with some popcorn and beer, only to be subjected to the worst piece of filth ever to call itself a film. And Lion's Gate is guilty of producing such garbage on many occasions.
Not this time, however. I thoroughly enjoyed each of the films in the set -- ranging from creepy ghost stories, to unique twists on the vampire and zombie genres, to a classic slasher/body-count flick. All of the films exhibted a quality of filmmaking that is definitely a cut above the average low-budget fair. Not one film, in my opinion, was plagued with unbelievable actors and horrible plot structures -- something that is all too common in the genre. In fact, the only criticism I could muster about any of these is that most of them are a little too slow-paced for my liking. They all have massive story build-ups that make you wonder how, exactly, there's going to be room for actual scares.
But eventually, each of the films delivers, in its own way.
"Unrest" is the story of a med student who learns that the body her student group is supposed to dissect may actually be cursed. The highlight of this one, according to the trailer, is that it is the first horror film ever to use real dead bodies. Maybe this is where the "too shocking for general audiences" comes in? I didn't know this when I first watched the film, and was in awe at how realistic the bodies actually were.
"Penny Dreadful" is the tale of a young girl who has a phobia of cars. Throw in a lunatic who learns this, and you have a film that takes place almost entirely in a car, where Penny is trapped by said loony and is subjected to his horrific games. This film is higher on tension than scares, and fans of Hitchcock should get into it (if they can handle the blood, that is).
"The Hamiltons" takes us into the home of a group of young adults who are trying to make it after the deaths of both parents. Think of the old TV show "Party of Five". Only, added to the five are the young girls these people have chained up under the house. I don't know what else to say without giving the story away -- but the internal conflict with the one Hamilton son as he grapples with the twisted nature of his siblings makes for some refreshing drama that horror rarely explores.
"The Gravedancers" follows along the same theme as "Unrest": that is, don't disrespect the dead. When a group of old friends get together at the funeral of one of their departed comrades, they engage in a little drunken grave dancing -- which, of course, upsets the souls beneath. Truly frightening ghosts and some neat special effects highlight this tale -- but, as I said before, it is a little slow-moving, and the main male character is oddly cast. He's like an ex-body builder/deadpan surfer -- and we're supposed to believe he's an attorney?
"Wicked Little Things" has us follow a family of three who, after the father passes away, inherits a house in the mountainous backwoods. Unfortunately, the area is haunted by a group of flesh-eating kids whose deaths in a mining accident in the early 1900's were never resolved. The setting is definitely creepy (old house in the woods near an older, abondoned haunted mansion? Who could ask for more?), and the kids, with their blood-stained lips and beady, black eyes are -- well -- if you think kids are kind of spooky anyway, these will really mess with your head.
The slasher fare comes in with "Dark Ride". It centers around an old horror ride, one where you get in the cart and ride along the tracks to see all the creepy attractions. Only, this particular ride delivers what everyone secretly fears when getting on one of these things: the ride stops, and you are hunted by some crazy killer. Throw in a group of brainless college students, a killer whose face is actually quite disturbing, and let the good times roll. There are some truly memorable scenes here, and the film is quite gory. But, slashers aren't really my thing. Even so, this is one of the better ones.
Finally, "Reincarnation" is another installment by Takashi Shimizu (creator of "The Grudge" series). This film was my least favorite of the bunch. I'm not really a fan of "The Grudge", basically because the plot jumps around so much and the story does little to help the viewer easily follow along. "Reincarnation" is more of the same here. Fans of J-Horror will find little that is new, and may actually be bored at how repetitive it is. But, it has a neat ending -- one that actually makes up for how boring the beginning is. I don't want to do a plot synopsis out of fear of giving something away (and revealing that I know very little about what actually happened in the movie!) Basically, if you like J-Horror, you'll probably like this one.
Okay, that's it! Hope this was helpful to some. The 4-stars have nothing to do with the price. I think you get a variety of decent films that are entertaining and unique enough to satisfy almost anyone.
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21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Reconsidering the After Dark Horrorfest movies now all out on DVD, July 2, 2007
Although it is not part of this set, with "The Abandoned" finally being released all of the "8 Films 2 Die 4" from last year's initial After Dark Horrorfest are now out on DVD. I watched all of them in the theater back in November and now I have watched them all again on DVD and figured it was time to reconsider the whole experience. Here are the eight films in the order I first saw them:
"Reincarnation" is a Japanese ghost story from the director of "Ju-On" having to do with a film being made about a sensation mass murder at a hotel that took place a couple of decades earlier. I really like the ending(s) of this film as past and present merge with film and reality. I am so often disappointed by the way most horror films end that the artistry of this one stands out for me (Ranked #1, 4.5 stars).
"Unrest - After Dark Horror Fest" reminds me why I never wanted to go to medical school, and that is without the joys of stripping down to my underwear to jump into a tank of formaldehyde filled with dissected corpses. The back story gets a bit complicated and the plot requires a certain amount of stupidity on behalf of the characters, but a film that swears it has "real dead bodies" will have its moments (Ranked #6, 3.5 stars).
"Dark Ride - After Dark Horror Fest" is the median for the Horrorfest because it is a solid example of a 1970s splatter flick. There are a couple of familiar faces here and it sure looks a lot better than "Fun House," its obvious cinematic ancestor. It also has a memorable example of sex getting your killed in a horror film (Ranked #5, 3.8 stars).
"The Gravedancers" is the film that most relies on special effects for the ghosts raised by the titular crime. It has the most familiar faces with Dominic Purcell, Clare Kramer, and Tchéky Karyo and some of the best looking sequences. But things get a bit out of hand at the end because usually in the end it is not the unbelievers who get really stupid (Ranked #4, 3.9).
"The Abandoned" is a ghost story that takes place in Russia and has a 40-year-old woman as the lead, so there are a couple of interesting differences from most horror films right there. I suppose this film earned its release because it has the most disturbing images of any of these movies. (Ranked #3, 4.1).
"Penny Dreadful" is the film that I thought was the most ingenious simply because I did not think they could get as much out of trapping a terrified girl in a car wedged between two trees, so I was more impressed than most people. It also does not end the way you would think it has to, although the victims lose points for refusing to drive to safety on one rim (Ranked #2, 4.2).
"Wicked Little Things" takes place in an abandoned coal mine is the mountains of Pennsylvania where a widow and her two daughters contend with a pack of children zombies killed in a mine explosion long ago. That is right: this movie has minor miner zombies and Ben Cross wondering what happened to his film career. At least the people in this movie are willing to drive on the rims (Ranked #7, 3.2).
"The Hamiltons" is a low-budget film about a twisted little "Party of Five"-type family with more than their share of dark secrets. This film has the worst acting but the highest "sicko" factor of any of the films, even though we are talking a third-rate "Hostel"-type film (Ranked #8, 3.1).
That means what I have ended up thinking was the best film of the bunch was actually the first one we saw on Friday afternoon. But the big question is whether Horrorfest was a good deal and with six of the eight ending up with 4 star ratings (rounding up is a wonderful thing) and nothing below 3 stars, I would contend that qualifies as being pretty good. Yes, the trailer for Horrorfest was cooler than any of the actual movies. Yes, I could put together a better octet of horror films culled from that same period, and I am sure you could too, even without including the well-known flicks like "The Hills Have Eyes" and "The Descent." Heck, there are lots of horror films that might be even better choices, such as "Blood and Cuts, "Dark Nigh" and "Desert of Blood," that might be better candidates, but they are not even available on DVD, so who knows? But these films are out on DVD and are definitely above average rentals, ergo the 4-star rating.
These were all horror films that were going to go the direct-to-video route and were reprieved by Horrorfest. So I decided to compare these eight films to the last eight horror films I checked out on DVD that were either direct-to-video or at least never showed up on a movie screen in my neck of the woods (we only have 20 screens at two theaters in the Zenith City and you can subtract from that title because "big" films end up at both theaters and sometimes on multiple screens). Anyhow, the idea is that these are films that were out there at roughly the same time, although some might be a bit older. Of the eight, six of them I rated three stars: "Room 6," "Dead Silence," "In a Dark Place," "Chicago Massacre: The Richard Speck Story," "The Hunt," and "The Tooth Faerie." I rated "Wes Craven Presents The Breed" 2-stars and was so offended by "The Tomb" purporting to be a H.P. Lovecraft story that I gave it one star, which rounds out to 2.6. Consequently, I have no problem saying the Horrorfest films are at least a whole star better than those eight since they average 3.7.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The AFTER DARK horrorfest, March 21, 2007
When the After dark horrorfest came to my city, I was hyper, hyper excited, and really, I was not too much disappointed by the result.
The only ones I missed were Hood of Horrors and The Tripper (not in this package anyway).
I agree that these movies were originally over-hyped as "too graphic" or whatever.
While by and large these are indie horror movies, they were a departure from all the hollywood horror I see, and I personally thought there was a wide enough range to make the festival appealing.
Each one is totally different, which is a plus.
My favorites were Reincarnation (japanese horror), Penny Dreadful, Unrest.
About the price, it's a bit too high, even if the packaging is cool. If they are individually on sale at 14.99, the box set should probably be a little cheaper. it would be nice if was maybe around 90 bucks.
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