Petits cauchemars avant la nuit

Movie-buffs (and perhaps horror fanatics in particular) are strange and unpredictable beings, aren't they? Most of the time we're extremely skeptical and criticize ambitious new projects, yet sometimes we're easily pleased and highly enthusiast about something that is completely derivative, mundane and unoriginal. "Body Bags" is the perfect example to illustrate that: it's a horror omnibus existing of three incredibly prototypic segments and a repetitive type of wraparound story, yet I personally enjoyed it immensely. This is a good old-fashioned "sit back, relax and switch off all brain functions" type of anthology with a nice diversity in suspense, comedy, splatter and absurdity. Yet, the undeniable strongpoint of "Body Bags" is the all-star horror cast and crew, with legendary actors and even directors of the genre appearing in fun supportive roles and insignificant cameos. No less than John Carpenter directs two out of three stories and even stars as the host in the wraparound story. Clearly inspired by "Tales from the Crypt", Carpenter plays the witty and morbid morgue employee exactly like the infamous Crypt Keeper; though with still a little more flesh around the bones (though not too much). The first story was the most effective one! Regardless of how clichéd, repetitive and predictable "The Gas Station" is, it's a genuine horror entertainment. With the landmark "Halloween", Carpenter obviously proved he's the undeniable master of stalk-and-slash movies, and "The Gas Station" ideally fits the pattern. During her first night working in a remote gas station, Anne receives a visit from the maniacal killer who's been terrorizing the area since weeks. It's a highly segment with cool red herrings, dumb decisions, some good gore and a neatly uncanny atmosphere. The remaining two stories are slightly less overpowering, mainly because they revolve on sillier topics. "Hair" introduces an aging playboy who cannot accept his hairline becoming thinner. He desperately starts seeking for a hair-growing method that works and finds the incredibly treatment of the slightly odd Dr. Lock. Needless to say Richard's new hairdo begins to lead its own life with terrible consequences. "Hair" is obviously the most blackly comical chapter of the three. This story isn't gory or tense, but it's a very likable satire about vanity. Finally, "Eye" centers on a successful and happily married athlete who loses his eye in a tragic car accident. He spontaneously volunteers for a brand new and risky eye-transplant procedure and slowly begins to carry on with his life. Shortly after, he begins to suffer from horrific visions and learns the eye's previous owner was a sadistic serial killer. "Eye" starts off a little slow and dull, but gradually turns into an exciting and gruesome little shock-story. With a bit of imagination, you could even interpret this segment as some sort of predecessor for the more famous Asian ghost story "The Eye". Admittedly none of the stories are extraordinary brilliant or innovating, but they're definitely traditional and enthusiastically made. And, as said already, if you don't care about the actual stories, you can always yourself entertain by playing "spot-the-horror-star". "Body Bags" boosts an amazing cast including John Carpenter ("Halloween"), Tobe Hooper ("The Texas Chainsaw Massacre"), Sam Raimi ("The Evil Dead"), Roger Corman ("Pit and the Pendulum"), Wes Craven ("Nightmare on Elm Street"), Robert Carradine ("Orca"), David Naughton ("American Werewolf in London"), George Buck Flower ("The Fog"), Stacy Keach ("Mountain of the Cannibal God"), David Warner ("The Omen"), Mark Hamill ("Star Wars"), Twiggy ("The Doctor and the Devils"), Deborah Harry ("Videodrome") and Charles Napier ("Supervixens").

Three short stories in the horror genre: The first about a serial killer. The second about a hair transplant going wrong. The third about a base ball player who receives a questionable eye transplant.

The sad truth is that giving this film as high a rating as I did really comes down to one thing: the endless supply of guest stars from the horror genre (and beyond). Who can dislike a film with Wes Craven, Sam Raimi, John Carpenter, Tobe Hooper and more? That is incredible.

As for the film itself, it is about average. The acting and directing are fine, and the gore really starts to add up in the third segment. But the script was really nothing special, and I am not shocked that Showtime declined to turn this into a regular series (any given episode of "Masters of Horror" is better).

The disc from Scream Factory makes this average film a little something more, with plenty of insight from Stacy Keach, John Carpenter and producer Sandy King. Horror fans may think the movie is average, but you are bound to learn a few things from the commentary.

Three stories courtesy of John Carpenter and Tobe Hooper, sounds like it can't miss, right? The results are mixed, but pretty interesting all the same.

The Gas Station is vintage Carpenter. Here he maximizes the effect from a truly simple premise and creates a genuinely scary story. It's simple, but the final minutes are riddled with tension and general uneasiness. The best of the bunch.

Hair is a truly funny story with a terrific performance by Stacy Keach. It goes way over the top towards the end, but still, it's highly amusing for the most part.

Eye, the weakest of the three, due to it's complete and utter predictability and complete failure of generating any real chills. It's fun to see Hamill and it's pretty gory but that's about it.

One terrific story, one pretty good and one pretty bad, all in all, it's worth watching but it's nothing spectacular.

Body Bags is a horror anthology film that was intended as a pilot for a Tales from the Crypt knock-off TV series. Thankfully, that series never came to pass. Now it serves as a curiosity for fans of the two big directors attached, John Carpenter and Tobe Hooper. Both Carpenter and Hooper were past their primes by the time this film aired, though Carpenter had substantially more gas left in the tank than Hooper. Body Bags provides further proof of this fact. It features three stories; the first two directed by Carpenter, the last directed by Hooper.

Right from the start, the obvious attempt to mimic Tales from the Crypt is evident as we are greeted by a ghoulish-looking coroner who presents the film's stories. The coroner is played by John Carpenter himself, who tries his cackling best to emulate the Cryptkeeper from Tales. Carpenter's acting here is atrocious and it would come as no surprise to me if the TV execs who watched this pilot turned it off within minutes due to this opening.

"The Gas Station" is about a new attendant (Alex Datcher) on the night shift at a gas station who is stalked by a escaped killer. The second story, "Hair," is about a man (Stacy Keach) obsessed with his thinning hair. So obsessed he is willing to try an experimental treatment. It works too well, however, as his hair won't stop growing. The last story is called "Eye." It's about a baseball player (Mark Hamill) who loses his eye in a car accident. He's given a new eye in an experimental surgery and, you guessed it, the eye belonged to a murderer. And what's this? Now the killer's spirit is taking over his whole body and making him want to kill! This was such an original story....in the 1920s or '30s. The film ends but not before Carpenter does some more schtick as the coroner character, including a bad twist.

The first story is easily the best and has touches of classic Carpenter. The second story is passable despite the lame twist ending that is telegraphed early on. The third story is another derivative Hands of Orlac story. It was done many times before 1993 and at least a few times since. Hooper seems more concerned with shock scenes and gore than building any kind of suspense. Truly a mess. The movie's only merits are in the Carpenter segments. Good score, tense direction, fun cameos from the likes of Wes Craven. The best I can say about the Hooper segment is that Mark Hamill did a decent job. Overall, it's a mixed bag film that gets worse as it goes along.

John Carpenter presents "Body Bags", in which it reads true as he plays very-well looking coroner (well he might not be as what he seems) late at night fooling around in a morgue, while spitting out macabre jokes (visual and verbal) and then introducing us to three buoyant little stories. They range from horrific, humorous and simply bizarre with a "Tales from the Crypt" spin to them. In this low-budget TV production Carpenter would direct the first two; "The Gas Station" and "Hair", but the third story "The Eye" would be fronted by director Tobe Hopper. Carpenter and Hooper wouldn't be the only recognizable names, as the cast line-up is rather mouth-watering. You got Stacy Keach, David Warner, Mark Hamill, David Naughton, Robert Carradine, Deborah Harry, Twiggy, George Buck Flower, Charles Napier, John Agar, Roger Corman and a minor cameo from Tom Arnold. Also some horror participants have tiny parts; Sam Ramini, Wes Craven, Tobe Hooper and make-up/special effects maestro Gregory Nicotero.

The first story; "The Gas Station" starring Alex Datcher, Robert Carrdine and David Naughton is probably my favourite of the lot. It's the most straight-forward, but effectively atmospheric (very well photographed with its encroaching angles) and suspenseful, which sees a lady on her first day of the job looking over an isolated gas station late one-night night, where she becomes a target of a satanic serial killer. Quite high-tempo with its grounded cat-and-mouse layout. You really do feel the growing unease displayed by Datcher's character and the tension that unfolds from its eerily forlorn backdrop, but this exercise into familiarity just works. Some fruity characters also helps, and it's not without its parodying humour either to balance it out.

"Hair" the second story, starts off with a natural fear before becoming quite an offbeat and quirky entry which sees Stacy Keach being plagued by the fear of losing his hair. After trying everything to combat it, he seeks treatment from a specialist doctor. It works --- lovely long hair, but at what cost. Keach is a blast in the lead and he shares terrific on-screen chemistry with the likes of Sheena Easton, David Warner and a colourful Debbie Harry. Witty dialogues and a nice sense of wicked cruelty in a revelation that's just plain crazy.

Finally we end off with Hooper's "The Eye". A brooding supernatural tale that has Mark Hamill an up-and coming baseball player in a terrible car accident, where he loses his right eye. However a doctor offers him the chance to get that sight back in an eye transplant but there's no guarantee it will work. However it does, but soon he's plagued by headaches and visions --- dark and disturbing ones. This one takes on a more serious approach compared with the previous outings with an excellently confident Mark Hamill with good support by Twiggy. The story might be predictable, but it's well-paced where the inflicted transformation of our edgy central character is suitably pitched. Some ghastly shocks moments show up too.

Joining it up is the enjoyably warped wrap-around segment with Carpenter (where Rick Baker did the make-up for) and this sees the cameo turns of Hooper and Arnold at the end. The dialogues might be what you most remember, but some of the decors on show in this segment are amusingly executed.

As a whole it's a complete package with the stories perfectly complementing each other. They might not be spectacular, but I liked the three.

Good, fun comic horror anthology opus by Carpenter and co.