Twisted Terror Collection (Deadly
Friend/Dr. Giggles/Eyes Of A Stranger/From Beyond The Grave/The
Hand/Someone's Watching Me)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C- Films: C+
Warner
Home Video has decided to issue some odds and obscure Horror genre films with
their new Twisted Terror Collection
on DVD. The films are not great, but
unintentionally funny or feature stars and past names in odd casting. There are even key names behind the camera.
Deadly Friend (1986) is a Wes Craven dud that
included the original Buffy –The Vampire Slayer, Kristy Swanson. Too bad it is one of his least memorable
works as he tries to combine robots, brain research and teen films. Yet, you can see why it is a curio.
Dr. Giggles (1982) is the dumbest of all six
with Larry Drake as a psychopathic quack who kills. Unfortunately, the script is dead on arrival
and Drake’s career imploded as a result of this dud.
Eyes Of A Stranger (1980) is the infamous slasher
flick where TV’s Love Boat
sweetheart Lauren Tewes plays a TV reporter who becoming the latest target of a
serial killer. If that was not enough,
the film introduced Jennifer Jason Leigh as a deaf and blind teen (Wait Until Dark anyone?) who could be
the next victim.
From Beyond The Grave (1973) is an Amicus Studio
anthology film that Warner still has rights too, featuring several
stories. This is a weak set, but Ian
Bannen, Diana Dors, Peter Cushing, Ian Ogilvy, Nyree Dawn Porter, David Warner,
Leslie-Anne Down and Donald Pleasance make it the most ambitious film in the
set and worth a look just the same.
The Hand (1981) is Oliver Stone’s goofy
film with Michael Caine as an artist who looses his hand, only to have it show
up and kill the people he gets angry at in the amusingly infamous dud that was
a low point for all. Like The Swarm, see it for laughs.
Someone's Watching Me (1978) is the film John Carpenter
made before Halloween and for TV as Lauren Hutton is stalked by a neighbor
watching her form one big apartment building to hers. Adrienne Barbeau also stars in this odd
telefilm whose formula both restricts Carpenter and gave him the pacing that
made his next film a classic.
So you
can see how all are curios. If you are
interested in enough of them, this box is worth your time. If not, gamble to see if you can get them
separately.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image on all the films, save Giggles in 2.35 X 1 from Super 35mm, is
above average at best. Grave shows its age, but has good color
in spots the other films do not. Watching is widescreen despite being a
TV movie, though many of those were shot with 1.85 X 1 in mind, as producers
and studios never knew when they might need the footage outside of TV. Sadly, it does not look as good as 1.33 X 1
filmed TV movies like The Night Stalker
or The Night Strangler on MGM DVD,
reviewed elsewhere on this site.
The Dolby
Digital 1.0 Mono on most of the films is fairly good, though Grave is far more brittle and needs
some serious work to fix it. Only Giggles and Hand have Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, said to offer Pro Logic
surrounds, but are very weak in that department. Grave,
Friend and Hand all have their original theatrical trailers, Stranger has nothing and Hand also has a commentary by
Stone. Watching has a featurette by Carpenter, which is good, because TV
movies do not have trailers.
That is
weak overall too, but in some cases, there just was not much to say.
- Nicholas Sheffo