Il villaggio delle streghe

We're all friends here at IMDb--one big happy movie watching community. So, I feel I can be honest with you all. I really liked this anthology. I liked it more than "Twilight Zone: The Movie," more than "Creepshow" and "Creepshow 2." The four vignettes in "From a Whisper to a Scream" were all imaginative and unique. The first one had an excellent surprise at the end. The second one had a great twist of fate. The third was stranger but still good. And the last one was some Children of the Corn/Lord of the Flies stuff.

All of the stories took place in Oldfield, TN. The incomparable Vincent Price narrated four stories to a reporter with each story going further back into the history of Oldfield. Each story was brilliant, so kudos to the writers. They were sadistic, supernatural, and satisfying. I want more.

1986's "From a Whisper to a Scream" (theatrically issued as "The Offspring" before returning to its original moniker) was an ambitious anthology for young filmmakers with more talent than money, director Jeff Burr carving out a niche in horror sequels over the following years. Shooting lasted 24 days in Burr's hometown of Dalton, Georgia, representing the Tennessee town of Oldfield, home of executed murderess Katherine White (Martine Beswick), whose uncle Julian (Vincent Price) receives a visit from reporter Beth Chandler (Susan Tyrrell), curious about how his niece could have begun her murder spree while still a child. Julian shows her records about several past incidents to prove that Oldfield itself has been a harbinger of evil since its inception during the Civil War. "Stanley," played by Clu Gulager, is by all appearances a harmless old coot, taking care of a chronically ill sister (played by his real life wife, Miriam Byrd-Nethery) who displays incestuous feelings for her brother and talks of nothing but the old days with their long dead father. Stanley's obsessive longing for a coworker (Megan McFarland) finds him sending her flowers from a 'secret admirer,' and she incredibly agrees to a date just to pacify the nerd. When she rebuffs his advances he strangles her and leaves the corpse to be found in the road, feigning innocence when the murder is revealed the next day. After breaking into the funeral home to molest the corpse, the killer spends the next 9 months enjoying the fruits of an unsolved crime, finally tiring of the ice water baths required to cool down his sister to strangle her as well, only to receive his just desserts from a most unexpected visitor. "On the Run" centers on lowlife Jesse Hardwick (Terry Kiser), badly wounded after an encounter with two hoodlums, stumbling into the swamp where he is found by an old man, Felder Evans (Harry Caesar), who nurses him back to health. Seemingly pleased to have some company in his isolated shack, Felder is unaware of his new tenant's overly inquisitive nature and murderous demeanor, uncovering evidence that his benefactor may be over 100 years old. His nightly voodoo chants help to produce an elixir that may be responsible for his longevity, agreeing to share it with Jesse if he works hard enough, but the ingrate turns on Felder to his everlasting regret. "Lovecraft's Traveling Amusements" is a carnival sideshow owned by the mysterious Snakewoman (Rosalind Cash), all the performers slaves to her will, especially the handsome glass eater, Steven Arden (Ron Brooks), whose forbidden love for local girl Amarillis (Didi Lanier) may prove to be his undoing. "Four Soldiers" headlines Cameron Mitchell as Sgt. Gallen, leader of a quartet of deserting Union soldiers who delight in their continued reign of terror over the Confederates even after learning the Civil War is over. A field covered in landmines quickly puts them out of commission to allow easy capture by a band of crippled and mutilated children, all orphaned during battle, keeping the spirits of their fallen parents alive by torturing any soldiers they find. One is stabbed in the crotch, another has an eye gouged out, while Gallen callously murders a little girl who freed him because he looked like her father; his fate is preordained no matter how he tries to escape. Julian's chronicles do not convince his unmoved visitor, who soon reveals her own past history with Oldfield much to the old man's horror. The four segments had already been completed when Jeff Burr called at the home of Vincent Price, script in hand (and a bottle of wine), to offer him the lead role, and to his unabashed delight, the actor accepted as a final farewell to the genre he loved. Cameron Mitchell stands out as the despicable sergeant, and Bela Lugosi costar Angelo Rossitto enjoys a fine role as a sympathetic sideshow barker. During the decade of "Creepshow" this omnibus rarely received its just due, but in tackling taboo subjects like dismemberment, necrophilia, and incest certainly didn't shirk on its ability to shock.

Horror movie set in a small Tennesse town calle Oldfield dealing with four stories of past evils and the teller Vincent Price reveals his hometown can force folks to murder. Welcome to Oldfield, Tennesse, population : deadly!. Stop in for a night of pure terror!

An antology movie in Hammer, Amicus and Tigon style that during the 60s and 70s made a lot of these horrifying kinds of stories . This morbid film with strong yunk factor is formed by four creepy tales with acceptable cast, such as Susan Tyrell, Martine Beswick, Clu Gulager, Rosalind Cash, Terry Kiser, Angelo Rossito, Rosalind Cash, Lawrence Tierney, Cameron Mitchell, among others . And Vincent Price is pretty well, as always. Vincent Price gives a nice but short acting in his usual style, he's considered to be one of the best horror myths including classic terror films as The Fly, The Tingler, Tales of terror, Pit and the pendulum, The Haunted Palace, The Raven, The masque of the Red Death, The tomb of Ligeia, Witchfinder General, The abominable Dr Phibes, Theatre of Blood, Madhouse, The Monster Club, among others . However isn't the usual Price material due to contain cannibalism, dismemberment, excessive gore, and necrophilia. The first tale concerns an elderly man : Clu Gulager falls for a job colleague, but the romance ends in killing, necrophilia and a terrifying revenge. The second one concerns an injured debtor : Terry Kiser mercilessly chased by creditors, on the run he meets a hermit : Harry Caesar who heals him, however Kiser attempts to steal him the secret of eternal life, then a grisly vengeance takes place. The third chapter dealing with a circus attraction, there a glass-eating carny showman pays a definitive price for seeking love outside the claws of a voodoo woman : Rosalind Cash. Final episode regards The Corn Children with a group of soldiers led by Seargent Cameron Mitchell from American Civil War, they are held captive, mistreated, tortured by a household of waifs wth fateful intentions.

The motion picture was shot in medium budget and professionally made by Jeff Burr, though it has some flaws and failures. He is an expert on terror movies and sequels, such as Night of the Scarecrow, Pupkinhead 2 wing blood , Puppet master 5 the final chapter , Puppet master 4, Stefather 2 make room for daddy , Leatherface 3 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre , and this Offspring, among others. Rating : 6/10. The film will appeal to horror fans and Vincent Price completists

Following his niece's execution, a librarian recalls several horror stories of the town's past to a skeptical reporter.

The Good Stor(ies): Story 1-Madly in love with his boss, a grocery store clerk attempts to court her only to find his advances spurned to the point that he kills her. Attempting to hide the crime, he eventually finds that not only has he gotten away with it but his passion burns beyond the grave. This here wasn't all that bad of an effort. As it revels nicely in the utter dementia of his obsession and what he wants to do to her from the beginning, this one sets the revenge to come later on quite nicely as this generates some solid moments throughout here. The final revelation is a bit predictable and there's a few too many plot-points to go through but it has enough fun that there's plenty to like here.

Story 2-When his past catches up to him, a wounded fugitive in the Louisiana bayou comes across a voodoo healer who restores his health. Overcome by greed, he demands to know its secrets which begins to spiral out of his control and gets more than he bargained for. This was undoubtedly the highlight of the series with a lot to like about it. The simple story and the predictable setup give this a truly appropriate anthology feel that gets worked over nicely by the setting here. The bayou atmosphere and use of voodoo provide more to like by giving it a dirty, grimy feel in the sweat-filled shack that they spend the majority of the time at, and along with plenty of fun voodoo-related tortures that give this some wholly chilling moments.

Story 4-Attempting to find refuge, a platoon of soldiers in the Civil War stumble upon a deserted town in the countryside inhabited only by orphaned children. Taken captive by the hostile group, they are forced to partake in a series of grisly games that grow excessively more dangerous. This was a fun if overall slightly flawed effort. While it has plenty of stellar atmosphere in the old- school village with the Civil War time-period and the gory kills in the segment are quite graphic, overall the segment feels too familiar and cliché which does render the surprise rather obvious. The fast pace works here, so it does end this on a high note.

The Bad Stor(ies): Story 3-Working as a freak in a carnival, a glass-eater falls in love with a regular visitor which upsets the tyrannical queen who runs the show. When he defies her to be with his beloved, he finds the powers of her vengeance far more cruel to bear to keep them apart. This was quite a bland and overall uneventful entry. This one doesn't have much at all going on which tends to make this uneventful due to the romance throughout here, and it doesn't feature much of anything until the ending. This is the saving grace as the gruesome and gory happenings are a real showstopper, but overall not much else happens in this one.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Full Nudity and violence-against-children.

From a Whisper to a Scream (1987)

*** (out of 4)

After the execution of a serial killer, a reporter goes to a small Tennessee historian (Vincent Price) who tells her four stories dealing with a small town's history.

The first story centers on a man (Clu Culager) who takes care of his severely ill sister but it leads to murder. The second story has a white trash man (Terry Kiser) getting shot and running into the woods where he ends up under the care of an elderly black man (Harry Caesar) who knows voodoo. The third story deals with a carnival side show where the glass eater falls in love with someone outside the troupe, which doesn't sit well with the owner. The fourth and final story is set during the Civil War where an evil Union soldier (Cameron MItchell) ends up in a house of horrors led by children.

This film is also known as THE OFFSPRING but no matter which title you want to call it the film itself is actually pretty darn good. Director Jeff Burr will always be remembered for the disastrous studio tampering of LEATHERFACE: Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE III. This film here is certainly a real gem among the type of horror films that were being released during this period. It perfectly captures the anthology films of the 1960s but adds a touch of violence and gore that was so popular during the 80s. While none of the four tales are excellent, each of them are at least entertaining and make for a fun movie.

Again, none of the four stories are wonderful and all four are rather predictable but they are fun. The first one has a very weird incest vibe that runs through it but it also offers up some memorable gore as well as a very good performance from Culager. The second story is familiar voodoo material but the two performances are quite good and the final twist is wonderfully sinister. The third story with "going against the circus" is again predictable but the ending is just perfect. Once again the gore effects from Rob Burman really pack a nice little punch. Finally, the Civil War sequence gives us a terrific performance from Mitchell and the story itself is the most original and once again it adds some nice twists.

Of course, one of the biggest draws are the wrap around events that feature Vincent Price. While he basically just sits and talks, it's great fun seeing the actor in good form. You'll also want to look quickly for Laurence Tierney, Martine Beswicke and Angelo Rossitto who some will remember from Al Adamson's Dracula VS FRANKENSTEIN. Director Burr does a nice job with the low-budget and he certainly makes the film look very professional on such a budget. The film really does a nice job at building up the atmosphere of the anthology and all four films really work well together. FROM A WHISPER TO A SCREAM is certainly a good little gem.