Screamtime - Die unheimlich verrückte Videostunde

Whilst far from perfect, this is a very good anthology of horror stories.

There is very little gore, but the stories build up a good atmosphere, and the acting is always of at least an acceptable level, and in the cases of Robin Bailey,Jean Anderson and Dora Bryan, it is actually quite excellent.

In the middle story involving people moving into a house, I actually felt quite creeped out, something that hasn't happened for years to me.

I would love to know the story as to how three short English tales ended up juxtaposed with the wrap around story of thieves stealing the tapes from a store, but whatever, it doesn't detract from the stories themselves.

The copy I have seen has washed out colours which somehow added to the bleakness, and this is shot on film it would appear, doesn't look cheap and nasty at all.

If you are a fan of brit horror, you must see this it's definitely a bit of a lost gem as far as I'm concerned.

My brother and I rented this years ago. From the picture on the video box, we thought it was a ral bad, cheap thrills slasher film. Instead it turned out to be a suprisingly good anthology of British horror stories. Good british horror, very creepy and scary without being gory or violent, kind of 'quiet horror'. "Punch and Judy" is only okay, but the other two stories will give you some serious chills! THe only complaint I have about this film is the story-within-a-story concept about the friends renting this video and watching it, and seriously regretting it at the end of the videos. That was unnecessary and stupid. Good luck finding this film, though, I think it is pretty rare.

"Screamtime" is one of those anthology films, like "Creepshow," and while it's not as good as the George A. Romero classic, it's effective.

The plot is about two guys who steal three videos from a video store. They go back to one of their girlfriend's apartment to watch them.

The first video is about a "Punch and Judy" puppeteer whose family wants him to get out of the puppeteering business since it doesn't make much money for the family. Then his stepson burns down his puppet show stage and soon after is murdered on the beach, seemingly by the Mr. Punch puppet. Then later at his house his wife is also murdered. Has Mr. Punch come to life, or is someone else to blame?

The second video is about a married couple moving into a new house. The wife begins to see grisly visions of a murder that seems to have been committed there. But is the house really haunted?

The third video is about a guy who competes in dirtbike races, but needs some money. So he gets a job working odd jobs at the house of two elderly women. They tell him about the fairies that guard the house and the garden gnomes that work for them. He dismisses what they say, but takes an interest in the money, gold, jewels, and other valuables around the house. So he gets two of his friends to help him rob the place that night. But the fairies and garden gnomes really are alive and attack the intruders.

Finally, the video tape thieves and one of their girlfriends get attacked by elements of the three videos they stole.

If you give this low budget movie a chance you may be pleasantly surprised by it. The three films were shot in England with the connecting device about the video tape thieves shot in New York City. The puppets in the first video are creepy looking. The ending of the second video will shock you. The third movie gets a little spooky in the dark house; tiny floating lights fly by the camera unseen by the burglars, a room is suddenly full of garden gnomes, etc. This movie is perfect for horror movie connoisseur.

This was a decent horror anthology movie. Two New Yorkers steal some videos from a video store, and take them to a female friend's apartment to watch.

In the first one, an old man loves doing Punch & Judy shows for kids, and takes meticulous care of his puppets at home. His wife is fed up with it; they don't make enough money, and she wants him to burn them and move with his stepson to Canada for reliable work. We then see his family being attacked by a wooden board. Has Punch come to life, or has the old man gone nuts? This one wasn't all that good, but it wasn't terrible.

In the second one, a couple move into a house their father was unable to sell. The wife sees a boy bicycling in the yard that no one else notices. She hears noises, and sees blood in the bathtub, then on a knife in the kitchen, then on the bannister. She starts seeing other people in the house, and then starts seeing those people bloody or dead. This one was quite a bit better.

In the last segment, a young man races motorcycles, and works at a clothing store. He needs more money, which his boss offers to loan him. He takes a job gardening for a pair of old ladies to make the money he needs to pay his boss back. They're quite eccentric, believing in fairies and gnomes, and a pact their 16th century ancestor had with the fairies to help conceal her affairs from her husband. The young man discovers the old ladies have a chest full of money, and he decides to rob them with the help of his younger brother and a friend. This one was pretty good too.

Finally, the wraparound segment brings everything together.

"Do you believe in fairies?" the elderly woman in the television set queried. If you now what's good for you, Jeff (or Jeff-ette), you will after taking a gander at this videotape-within-a-videotape-within-a-videotape-within-a-videotape (unless you own the DVD edition.) The movie does not star so much as feature a cast of actors put to the test as they watch video after video after video, and we watch them watching. Then they die (9 out of 10 viewers of Screamtime did not die after watching it, and those who did died of natural causes.) The phrase, "you get what you pay for," is given new meaning as two hooligans steal three videos (thus not "paying for" them), and are then murdered by them, fortunately after viewing them all the way through. These hepcats probably weren't even kind enough to rewind. At least there were no late charges, just late patrons.

As in dead!!!