Scream Show 2

A lot of the users responded poorly to the anthologies, judging by only the reviews, with many chastising Mr. Romero for such a poor crafting of a horror movie. And justifiably so, if only the actors, writers, directors, et al were experienced and knew their jobs inside and out. However, I am given, more and more, the impression that these segments feel like a finals project for film school. In that light, what with many people lacking mostly in experience, I am delighted with the results and look forward to seeing some names again far into the future. So, I am going with a seven out of ten, just to encourage some of these guys to keep at it and to make more (and increasingly better) horrors! And to keep George Romero at the odious job of seeking out raw and undeveloped talent from the masses attending art academies everywhere and giving them a leg up by the use of his name.

When I saw that George A. Romero was narrating this anthology, I must admit that I had my hopes up for what was to come.

However, my hopes were more than horribly cut down and left in pieces, as this anthology turned out to be a very poor excuse for a horror anthology.

There are three segments to the anthology; "The Gorge", "On Sabbath Hill" and "Dust".

The first segment was "The Gorge", which incidentally also turned out to be the worst of the three stories. This is a story about three young people spelunking in some underground cave system. When rocks fall down and dangerously smash one person's leg and trapping them underground, tensions grow high. Right, well the outlay of the storyline seemed adequate enough. But it quickly escalated downhill. Especially since they apparently had brought enough candles for close to a month, and not just burning one candle at a time but multiple. And when they turned to cannibalism it just went over the edge and had no chance of coming back on course.

This takes us to the second segment, "On Sabbath Hill", was the one that had the most potential and it was also the segment that turned out to be the most entertaining. It is about a married college teacher who is having an affair with one of his students. And as she gets pregnant, she can't cope with things anymore, and ends her own life in the middle of the classroom. The teacher become haunted by the young woman whose life he helped come to an abrupt halt. Alright, well it wasn't an outstanding story, but it proved to be the best of the three.

And the third and final segment is titled "Dust". This story is about a security guard working at a laboratory where they are working on an experimental drug to battle cancer. He manages to get his hand on some and administer it to his terminally ill wife at home. She miraculously gets better, but with her improving health comes an increased sex drive. Which the guy likes at first, but soon realize is too strenuous as his wife requires more and more sex and more and more of the drug. This segment, while better than the first segment, just was a bit too much. It wasn't really particularly fitting to a horror anthology.

Right, let's move on to the acting. I will say that I actually think that the people they had cast for the various roles were doing good enough jobs with their roles and characters, and taking the limitations of the script in mind as well. However, this is not a grand Shakespearian experience, mind you.

As for the effects, well bless them for trying. The effects were there, and were used to the best of their effectiveness in the given situations. However, it just wasn't something that made me go 'wow, now that's pretty impressive'. The effects were adequate enough, just don't expect to be blown away.

However, the overall experience of "Deadtime Stories 2" was just not impressive. There are far better horror anthologies available, even ones that are much older than this 2011 release.

All in all, my rating of "Deadtime Stories 2" is a mere three out of ten stars.

In general the movie was entertaining, but the first story made me puke, so that's a warning, but the rest of the stories were better, I have definitely seen better movies, but I've also seen a lot worse. If you are bored watching this may be entertaining.

***I'm not sure what's up with the listing on IMDb but this review is for the first film in the two part series. Why IMDb has this listed as the second is beyond me (and you'll notice this "sequel" listed has a release date two years before the first film).

Deadtime Stories (2011)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

George Romero "hosts" this anthology horror film, which is obviously just using him to try and get more viewers. In "Valley of the Shadows" a woman takes an expedition to a mysterious jungle where her husband vanished earlier and soon she learns why. Next up is "Wet" a fisherman finds a mysterious item, which leads to something beyond his wildest imagination. The third film comes from director Tom Savini, "Housecalls" has a doctor going out on a stormy night to help a sick boy who claims to have been bitten by a vampire. DEADTIME STORIES VOL. 1, like all anthology films, is quite uneven but I don't think there's any question that the first two stories are pretty bad and the third one is clearly the best thanks in large part to Savini's direction. Now, I'm not going to sit here and say that Savini is the next Scorsese but it's clear by watching the three films that he's a real director who can tell a story and add a bit of style as well. The biggest problem with the first two films is that the stories themselves are poorly executed and I'd also say that the screenplays really don't give us enough to keep us interested in what's going on. In the first film we learn that the husband goes missing but it would have been helpful had we known what he was doing out there and what "curse" this jungle has. By the time the film gives us this information it's pretty much over. With the second film, again, knowing more probably would have helped. Both go for big "twists" at the end but neither works. Savini's film at least features some nice performances and direction but the story too is fairly simple, although the twist does work. DEADTIME STORIES VOL. 1 is a pretty poor film and it's a shame Romero has to sell himself in this way. His introductions really aren't anything special and it's clear this was just a money thing.

IMDb still hasn't fixed this listing problem, and it's a shame that people aren't even sure which film to rate when they rate their very low score.

Since the other volume is listed as the first volume, it seems to have much of the information correct for the 2nd volume, so I will be putting my review here for volume 1.

Saw this on Netflix, and I must say, wow George.. this is awful, you look like a crazy old fart introducing these stories. you don't have the stage presence of Hitchcock or Rod Serling, so don't do any more of these okay?

1. "Valley of the Shadow"- My husband and I laughed a lot at this film for having such poor acting and directing. It felt like a high school film club project. Moments that were particularly amusing were was a splashing in the water shot that seemed to last way too long; a white guy that played an indigenous tribe member, the flashback love scene, a guy looking for signs of life with a dude standing like 4 feet just to his left but he can't see him, the explorers wasting their fresh water, and a tribesman watching the leading lady sleep... for no reason.

2. Wet- I must say, this was creepier and better acted than the first story, but the ending felt off, and confusing. The supposed trick for dealing with a naught mermaid was complicated but with no sense for reason, and I don't get why it had to be so complicated. And I don't get the remaining moments of character choices. The whole thing felt off.

3. House Call- It captured my attention probably the best but I kept noticing the old fashioned directing style being a little over the top. The story was about a mother dealing with her possible vampire son and asking for help from a doctor in town. It was directed by the famous Tom Savini, and I think he too has gone a little nuts over the years like Romero because these wasn't even very creepy. He did have a twist ending though.