Preparing for a dinner party, a witch starts to cook a young boy for the party, and when is told what will happen to him, decides to stall for time by telling her three stories while a local priest searches for a way to stop the whole thing.
The Good Stor(ies): Lot 249-Receiving a special package, a professor enlists several friends to open his newest prize, lot 249 from a special auction that contains the remains of an ancient Egyptian mummy, and becomes obsessed with trying to bring it to life using the magical scrolls sent along with it. Went a string of murders around their college campus appears to have them befuddled, they learn the secret of why the lot was bid on and try to get away from it. This is a light and breezy tale, mostly centered around the mummy's antics, as the few killings are quite eerie and creepy. The attack in the dorm, which includes the graphic killing where it removes the brain with a wire hanger through the nose, and a later one inside a living room is really great. The special effects on the mummy are great, making it look effectively rotten and crumbling, and it's destruction scene is great, playing that off as well. It ends predictably, but that's a minor after-thought here.
The Bad Stor(ies): Cat from Hell-Summoned to a giant mansion, a hit-man finds that his charge wants him to kill a cat. Surprising and a little befuddled over the request, he explains that the creature has had a long-standing habit of killing those in its path, including the former inhabitants of the house. Left alone to deal with it, he finds that killing the cat isn't the easiest assignment of his career. This here had a lot of potential, with an intriguing story and some really inspired ideas, notably the idea of the cat's motive for coming back. The flashback scenes are good fun, and the fact that a major attack sequence is shot through the cat's POV is really great. The main thing that stops this one is that it's way too long. The majority of the segment consists of the two talking about what the cats' done to deserve the punishment, taking a lot of drama out of the chase. The conclusion is also foretold from the beginning, which all of the stories consists of and makes it feel really uninspired.
Lover's Vow-Trying to create new artwork, a struggling artist is told by his agent that his work can no longer be represented through his agency. Walking through an alley, he runs into a strange woman out alone in the night and offers help. Becoming obsessed with a strange creature he saw that spared his life for the secrecy of its existence, he allows it to become his sole desire to his own detriment. What really hurts this one is the inordinate amount of cheese on display. The design of the gargoyle, with the large eyes, big mouth and intricate designs on the side of his head, make it more cute than fearsome. The easily determinable rubber used for the creation makes it another strike. There's also the fact that it takes way too long to get to its really good parts, concentrating on the romance angle way too much, and the way they get together also is a little unbelievable. As with the others, the ending is way too predictable and doesn't really get the chance to become the possible shock it could've had.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Brief Nudity and children-in-jeopardy.
