Deadtime Stories 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.

Please note: this review is for part one, because IMDb seems to have the films confused. If I need to move this later, I will.

In this anthology of horror tales: a group of scientists wander through a jungle inhabited by savages ("Valley of the Shadow"); a man digs up a strange jade artifact on the beach ("Wet"); and a mother brings a doctor home to check on her son, who has a thirst for blood ("Housecall").

Romero's role in this film is somewhat sad. Other than reading silly snippets between segments, he does not seem to have had any involvement in the project. Attaching his name will get people to rent the film that would not have otherwise given it a look, but most Romero fans will probably be disappointed. This is really the project of his associate Jeff Monahan.

The stories are too short to ever get anywhere, especially the first story. There was no character development or any build-up of suspense. It just sort of meandered about. That sort of nonsense would never have been in a "Creepshow" film.

The second part is a bit better, adding mystery and intrigue along with a hidden mythology. It seems like there is considerable potential for this one to be lengthened (though maybe it would not hold up as well). There are not nearly enough horror films about mythological sea creatures.

Part three was directed by the legendary Tom Savini, which might be the only redeeming thing about this film. The style used is most unusual, boxed in and grainy, with odd acting and music. I like it, though I am unclear why this decision was made.

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.

I'm a big Romero fan, so I suspect I liked this more than most. However, as a retired psychiatrist........I would suggest caution to anyone thats uncomfortable in tight or confined spaces....

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.