Chad

Spiderbite

Really enjoyed this one. It's isn't perfect but us Horror Anthology fans can't be too picky. Horror Anthology movies and TV shows can vary so much in quality of story, acting, tone, production, delivery, etc. that I go into any and every one of them with trepidation and low expectations.

So this one was pretty darn good. Had a decent amount of humor but didn't try to be too funny or quirky. It definitely had some solid gore and those effects were well done. Acting was mostly solid. But most importantly...the stories were interesting.

Okay...so the first story was weak sauce. Hell, it seemed set up that way on purpose and the main female in the wraparound even stated that.
The frat boy story was pretty damn funny and gruesome.
The man taking care of his wife was my favorite story of the bunch. It was a good one to put yourself in the husband's place. I loved how the wife's end came about.
And the wraparound story held my attention and had a decent twist. My major complaint about that story was the fight scenes got a little ridiculous and ran for far too long. It is interesting if you go back and watch the ending wraparound a second time while knowing the twist to see how they dropped several hints but didn't give the farm away. Most horror viewers here probably guessed it but I can say that I did not 100%.

My biggest question about the wraparound story was why did the Mortician have to die or be replaced? I didn't quite get that. And kinda dumb to do that too since Clancy Brown would be great to keep around for further sequels. He would be a much better host for this kind of thing than the girl.

Well...I guess Clancy can stay in the make-up and jump into a remake or sequel of Phantasm as The Tall Man since Angus Scrimm is dead.

My rating: ***1/2 out of *****

Undeadcow

Clancy Brown nails it as the mortician but maybe in part because he is familiar enough his makeup looked less convincing.
The tentacle monster segment was a great appetizer with really cool imagery over the top in ways missing from some of the other tales, which felt more refreshingly conventional with a twist on expectations.
I enjoyed the socially conscious elements overall in MC where even if some of the ghastly elements felt routine there was a dramatic commentary that elevated them beyond the surface and stuck with me beyond the film itself (the weight of marriage, the male pregnancy). It was great at toying with expectations.
The marriage story was also my favorite (like Spiderbite) but The Babysitter twist tying into the framing was really cool.

The television head smashing effect might be one of the best ones from this challenge so far this year.

numbercrunch

I agree that the first story was weak. Clancy Brown was excellent and my favorite story was the Frat Boy. I also do not understand why the mortuary director died. I guess it is a passing of the torch?

Undeadcow

Wikipedia seems to suggest it was exposure to sunlight after being trapped in the dank mortuary for so long; but it's really not clear from the film itself. Decent irony though - the freedom is in death rather than life.

brainee

I watched this for the summer fantasy/sci-fi challenge (at least then, "fantasy" was a listed genre on IMDb) and also gave it a ***1/2 out of *****. The 95% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes gave me high expectations and overall I enjoyed the movie.

There's room for a lot more anthologies in horror, since there are a lot of great stories that don't need stretching out to feature length by themselves (which far too many movies seem to do). Plus, there are just so many great stories out there. You don't even need to do much original writing, but adapt short stories (and there are lots of good ones by lesser known/unknown writers that you wouldn't need to break the bank getting the rights to use). Anthologies are easy to watch too, because if you don't like a segment it won't be long until there's another one. But I do know how financially it's the same with books: the money filmmakers can make isn't as great (as with a single story movie) so there's less of them getting made.

exharrison

I had my suspicions, but I wasn't sure. So I was watching for clues both ways. It just felt like the kind of thing this movie would do. But honestly, expecting it still felt like a payoff to me and not a letdown. I'd rewatch it and probably enjoy most of this.

Toddarino

I’m not big into anthologies so this had an uphill climb. I found myself losing interest during the third story. I stuck it out, but had this not been a subset pick I would have bailed.

clckworang

Over the years, this challenge has made me realize that I'm not a big fan of anthologies either. I'll just say that this one was OK. I sort of felt like just about every story went on too long. That was my biggest takeaway; it just always felt really long to me.

jholmes

I watched it when it was brand new and it was nice to revisit it. Pretty intense! I love the framing story and setting. I agree with ya'll that the frat boy story was by far the best. Lots of fun. I'm glad they're still making decent anthologies.

rbrown498

I actually like anthologies quite a bit, but I, like clckworang, thought that this one was waaaaaay too long. I was bored for most of the running time. I didn't find the stories to be scary in the least, or even very interesting, and two of the three main stories didn't even wrap up properly. It looked good, but the mix of set decorations and fashions from various decades, which I assume was done to give the film a "timeless" look, just seemed jumbled and off-putting to me. I also think that the writer/director has, at the very least, a subconscious fear of women, because women are the villains in every story. But then again, I watched it earlier this evening whilst still in the throes of a nasty stomach virus that kicked in hard yesterday, so that undoubtedly played a large part in coloring my perceptions of the film. Overall, I give it a "nah, bro."

My subset film rankings for the Challenge thus far:

1. Battle Royale
2. Carrie (1976)
3. Slither
4. Witchfinder General
5. A Bay of Blood / The Spiral Staircase (averaged together)
6. Silent Madness
7. Slumber Party Massacre II (based purely on its out-of-left-field aesthetic)
8. Road Games
9. Grave Robbers (Ladrones de Tumbas)
10. The Severed Arm
11. The Mortuary Collection
12. Cutting Class

Gobear

The movie runs about 20 minutes too long, but overall I really enjoyed it. I like anthology films; you get a selection of stories that don't wear out their welcome.

WillieMLF

I had been holding off on this one until the challenge. Yes, I felt Clancy did an excellent job on this one, and I found myself looking forward to his bits. I watched V/H/S 94 earlier in the week and just hated most everything about that anthology. This one had a bit more love.

Trevor

Big fan of anthologies, and Clancy Brown was great. But most of the stories were just meh. Reminds me that I still need to check out Nightmare Cinema on Shudder.

Stealing rbrown’s subset ranking idea:

The Phantom Carriage, 8/10
Carrie, 8/10
Battle Royale, 8/10
The Spiral Staircase, 8/10
Slumber Party Massacre 2, 7/10
A Bay of Blood, 7/10
The Frighteners, 7/10
Road Games, 7/10
Slither, 7/10
Witchfinder General 7/10
The Mortuary Collection, 6/10
Cutting Class, 6/10
Grave Robbers, 5/10
Silent Madness, 5/10
The Severed Arm, 4/10

wishbone

Seemed a missed opportunity that the movie did not use "It's a Beautiful Morning" by The Rascals when Clancy Brown left the mortuary. Bit long but not a bad anthology movie.