Escapes

Actually, the only mystery that engages me is how I came to be credited as the actor playing "Large Creature"! I didn't have anything to do with this picture, and from the sound of it, I'm glad I wasn't. Very strange.

Hmm, 1986? I was playing a singing King Mark in a dopey Equity-waiver musical production called "Knightly Pursuits", during which I met my wife-to-be, Emilie, to whom I've been happily married to for 18 years now. I asked her about my ever playing a Large Creature. She just smiled.

Meanwhile, the other IMDb listing for me is correct: I do co-star in the Ralph Bakshi/Frank Frazetta 1983 production of "Fire & Ice" which has just been re-released on DVD. (Yay!) Included on the disc is a special feature in which I narrate from a personal diary I kept during filming. The producer of the special feature dug up production stills of me on the set that I had never seen before. That was a treat. Anyway, "Fire & Ice" is sort of my "I Was a Teen-Age Werewolf". Not a great film, but my own.

Sean Hannon --- a.k.a. Nekron, the evil Ice Lord

It is sad to see the previously great Vincent Price attach himself to the front and back end of this amateurish production of silly & sad non-spooky shorts. He's in there briefly at the front, and briefly at the end, but the stuff inbetween was made by hacks.

Vincent Price was arguably one of the greatest actors that ever lived and inarguably the greatest horror protagonist of the 1950s and 1960s. But the horror genre changed drastically in the year 1973 (mainly due to the release of "The Exorcist") and, all of a sudden, there weren't many roles anymore for an actor of Price's caliber. Gothic and Grand Guignol horror movies suddenly weren't popular anymore and got replaced by raw and gritty exploitation movies. Throughout the rest of the '70s, the almighty Vincent Price was a bit lost, but in the 1980s he gave his career its final boost by briefly appearing as the typically sinister host in low-keyed anthologies or as the narrator in macabre fairy-tales, for example his legendary contribution to Michael Jackson's "Thriller". The very modest and inconspicuous made-for-TV anthology "Escapes" is another title that probably never would have caught any attention if Price's name wasn't attached to it. Price only briefly appears at the beginning and the ending of the wraparound story, but his stern voice and sinister laughter are doing all the necessary work. Furthermore "Escapes" is not much more than a cheap attempt to cash in on the successes of "Creepshow" (1982) and "Twilight Zone: The Movie" (1983). The short segments, five in total, are child-friendly but definitely not childish, and the least you can say is that they offer unpretentious good fun! None of the stories are frightening, not even remotely, but they are interesting enough and the atmosphere of the film is exactly right. The first two segments are my favorites, notably because they are both fairly ominous whereas segments three and four are sillier and more fantasy-like. In "Something Fishy", a fisherman physically experiences how the rules of his favorite sport are turned upside down, and "Coffee Break" gives a whole new and uncanny meaning to the term "slowing down"… This second segment mainly benefices from the creepy performance of John Mitchum as the seemingly friendly local yokel who advises a stressed-out delivery boy to relax, enjoy the scenery and stop for a good cup of coffee... The third segment involves a chubby jogger and three bizarre creatures that escaped from a medical lab. Apart from a fairly admirably attempt to build up suspense, there's very little to say about this short story and the denouement is just too silly for words. I didn't like the fourth segment "Jonah's Dream", as it reminded me too much of a Walt Disney story. Being more of a fan of raw and gritty horror anthologies, I personally very much prefer the '80s outings "From a Whisper to a Scream" (also starring Vincent Price), "Deadtime Stories" or "Screamtime", but I certainly don't consider watching "Escapes" as a waste of my (not-so-precious) time

Escapes (1986)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Vincent Price hosts six horror tales. 'A Little Fishy' has a man going fishing and when he tries to catch a bigger fish he becomes the target. 'Coffee Break' takes place in a small town where a man is trying to get directions to the interstate but the old man makes him promise to stop by the local diner for some coffee. 'Who's There' has a man going for a job only to realize that something is watching him. 'Jonah's Dream' deals with a poor woman who refuses to give up on her dead husband's gold mine even though it isn't paying off. 'Think Twice' has a thief stealing the wrong item. The sixth and final story is basically a wrap-around segment dealing with a man who is watching ESCAPES and gets to join in on the terror.

David Streensland wrote, produced and directed this anthology film, which was clearly trying to capture the mood and spirit of recent films like CREEPSHOW and TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE. In fact, it's easy to see that The Twilight Zone was an influence on this because all six stories are different from one another in tone and for what they are trying to do. Obviously the director wanted to try and deliver something memorable but sadly the majority of the films range from really boring to just bland.

If I had to pick a favorite then I'd probably go for 'A Little Fishy' but I will freely admit that the twist itself is quite stupid. 'Coffee Break' comes the closest to reaching a Twilight Zone like vibe but sadly it drags on too long and the ending just doesn't give much of a punch. 'Think Twice' was hands down the weakest in the film but 'Who's There' and 'Jonah's Dream' just didn't do much for me. All six episodes feature fair to poor acting and there's no question that everything was done on a very small budget.

These direct-to-video films are interesting to watch but I'm going to guess that the behind-the-scenes stories would be a lot more interesting than what's actually on the screen. I'm not sure how Price got involved with this but he only appears in a couple minutes worth of footage but I will admit it was somewhat fun seeing him dressed as a mailman and delivering some packages. ESCAPES is a mildly interesting movie that thankfully only runs 70-minutes.

I have a soft spot in my heart for Escapes, mostly because it was filmed around my hometown of Sacramento and also because it's a horror anthology (and what horror film buff doesn't love a good ol' cheesy anthology once in a while). I first saw it around the time it came to video and watching it reminds me of the countless happy hours I spent in mom and pop video stores (so sad they're all gone now!) where a curious movie lover could find the most obscure and wondrous garbage imaginable on those dusty video shelves. Especially horror movies.

Escapes is a wraparound tale (with intro and outro by Price) involving a young guy who gets a video tape in the mail, which happens to be exact same Escapes tape the viewer is watching (how meta!). Each of the stories is basically Twilight zone/Tales from the Darkside type stuff. There's one about a fisherman who gets the surprise of his life. Another about an obnoxious young deliveryman who ignores the advice of a local while trying to find his way home. And another about a jogger who is menaced by creatures that may have escaped from a scientific laboratory. I think there's one or two more but I can't remember.

Anyway, these are really good. But they have special meaning to me because when i watch the video it reminds me of where I grew up. Good times.