Boogeymen II: Masters of Horror (2002)
*** (out of 4)
Bruce Campbell hosts this documentary that takes a look at the films of some of the biggest horror filmmakers in the world. John Carpenter, Guillermo del Toro, Wes Craven, George Romero, Tobe Hooper, Rick Baker, Stuart Gordon, Robert Englund, Dario Argento and John Landis are just a few of the people interviewed about what influenced their movies. The horror genre has given us so many different documentaries with the greats of it that it's hard to find one that offers up something you haven't already seen. BOOGEYMEN II is a pretty good film but at the same time it really doesn't offer too much that a die-hard fan isn't already going to know or have seen somewhere else. What we basically have is each filmmaker talking about one or two of his movies and then we hear what influenced them. I'm sure most people have heard Craven talk about A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET but the highlight here is when he discusses THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW and the various issues that happened with that movie. Landis and Baker talk about their working relationship and how it led to AN American WEREWOLF IN London. Argento talks about his dark dreams and discovering the work of Poe as a child. Overall these stories are good but I think the real highlight here is when the artists talk about the other's work. This is especially true when Carpenter talks about his love of Argento's work. I thought the film would have been much better had it followed this instead of giving us the same old stories but if you're new to the genre and don't know about these men, then this here will certainly be of good use.
