Rating of
2/4
2 Out of 5 Stories Were Good...
Franz Patrick - wrote on 10/23/08
I expected solid horror before coming into this picture because the five short stories were written by Stephen King. Unfortunately, only two out of the five worked (”The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill” and “Something to Tide You Over”), and I almost liked “They’re Creeping Up on You” because the cockroaches made my spine tingle but the execution was poor. The remaining two, “Father’s Day” and “The Crate” dragged on forever and weren’t scary at all (but I did like Hal Holbrook’s performance in the latter story). I guess the stories are more experimentation with the macabre than outright horror. That’s why about 80% of the stories are more comedic than anything. I was actually impressed with Stephen King for playing a redneck farmer in “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill.” He was funny and goofy, but we can’t help feeling sorry for his character once he meets his fate. Even though he was the only actor in that story, he managed to pull it off in an interesting way. This is definitely a B-movie but a rather weak one. I’ve seen better B-movies that are cheesy yet able to deliver truly horrifying images that lasts after the movie has ended (”An American Werewolf in London”). Still, there’s creativity here so I’m giving this a mild recommendation if one is craving a horror film that’s creepy but not too scary. If one is a fan of “Tales from the Crypt” (as I was when I was about seven), this is a good pick to watch on a rainy Friday night.
