From Deseret News archives:

Halloween horror flicks new to DVD this week

Published: Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007 12:24 a.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
The Halloween collections continue, with an extremely mixed bag of horror flicks in a box set and some campy B-movie double-features, as well as many other films new to DVD this week.

Horror films

"TWISTED TERROR COLLECTION" (Warner, 1973-92, R/PG, six discs, $49.92). This set has a pair of goodies, but mostly it's take-out-the-trash time. However, since each film is sold separately, my recommendation is to get "From Beyond the Grave" and "Someone's Watching Me!" and forget the rest.

"From Beyond the Grave" (1973, PG) is one of those fun '70s anthologies, with four stories (five if you count the wraparound) with "Twilight Zone"-style twists. Most are a bit predictable but get some juice from the cast of British veterans — David Warner, Ian Bannen, Ian Carmichael, Diana Dors, Donald Pleasence and newcomer Lesley-Anne Down. Peter Cushing is especially good as the shopkeeper whose antiques set off each story, and Margaret Leighton steals the show as a very funny clairvoyant.

Story continues below
"Someone's Watching Me!" (1978, not rated) is a TV movie, John Carpenter's third directing effort (which he also wrote). He went directly from this one to film history with "Halloween." The story is familiar — an L.A. voyeur stalks a TV director (Lauren Hutton) — but Carpenter borrows heavily from Hitchcock (with specific nods to "Rear Window," "Strangers on a Train" and "Marnie") to ratchet up suspense. Adrienne Barbeau and David Birney lend solid support.

"The Hand" (1981; R for violence, sex, nudity, language) is the second film directed by Oliver Stone, with Michael Caine as a cartoonist whose hand is cut off and takes on a lethal life of its own. Or does it?

"Eyes of a Stranger" (1981; R for violence, sex, nudity, language) marks Jennifer Jason Leigh's film debut, as a deaf and blind mute whose TV anchorwoman sister (Lauren Tewes, of "The Love Boat") is stalked by a rapist/killer. Unpleasant.

Comments

You can be the first to comment on this story.

previousnext

Latest comments

Palin book goes platinum

The Republican Party is in a quandry. All of the Southern States, south of...

UNLV earns ranking before BYU

How can the polls mean anything at this point if the season? It will...

Trailers spoil the movie plots

My wife and I went to see The Blind Side the other day and we saw the very...

killer at home, have a great coach, will be tough to beat with all our tools....

Adoption agencies have to do this to keep afloat. There is often a division...

31% of the board voted for the other guy. Looks like Brems won.

Max will be remembered in one of two ways...some will remember him for being...

Prep boys basketball top 20

like i said delgado do work on wasatch!!!

Thank God my wife is Japanese and we can return to Japan and participate in...

I have followed the Utah/BYU rivalry since I was a boy back in the 1950s....

Advertisements