Seems like most reviewers here were looking at this film through rose colored glasses. Weirdly, none of the video stores I frequented stocked it (I'd remember the box even if I didn't rent it), so I just watched the movie fresh - trying to keep some perspective of the era. bnkholen, I wholly agree with all of your points, there is a lot to admire here. But it takes a full 20 minutes to get to the vignettes (which is odd for a film touted as an anthology), and all three of them are totally inane. If the deleted fourth segment was the weak link, it must've really been bad!
Spoiler alert...
The first is the oft-told story of "The Hook," but they ditched the usual killer in lieu of an unseen murderous toddler (and then immediately follow it up with mention of another variation of the Hook story?! WTF?). It unfolds way too fast and you never give a flying flip for the girl in the car. Horror 101, if the audience is not invested in the characters, you fail. And that therein is the biggest problem with the movie as a whole.
The second story fared best. Three guys in a haunted building are warned not to go upstairs - so one by one they do. This one's brimming with atmosphere and there's a tad more character investment, but it's hampered by a thoroughly inscrutable ending that felt like was ripped off from an Italian schlocker.
The third story was the most frustrating. The girl next door is actually a killer. It doesn't work at all because we never once see her as the girl next door, only as a crazed loon. This vignette was made all the more annoying by the chick in the glasses telling the story, who sounded like she was trying to do Shakespeare... badly.
Now the wraparound segments (which ate up the bulk of the screen time) were fairly enjoyable and there was a great ending. But wow, it's a slow-burn and there's WAY too many people jammed in the cabin to try to keep track of.
It wasn't a total waste and I'd absolutely give the film another chance if it got a decent DVD transfer with the deleted vignette intact (both the director and a film collector on this board claim to have uncut prints), but it's hardly the diamond-in-the-rough that I was hoping for. If Hollywood remade movies that had potential but fell short, this would certainly be a great contender. Too bad they only churn out inferior remakes of well-known classics these days.
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shango7200
8 years ago
I think this movie wins people over by have "that cheap 1970s atmosphere". It's something that I can relate too and something that was totally gone by 1981 or so.
I grew up in that era--many of this movies "fans" did to. My main issues were the night scenes in the Hook Hand story were too dark. and the Green Room just needed a better ending.
A scary 4th story would have helped !
"In every dimension , there's another YOU!"
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