Reviews (1)

TFTDS Vol. 5--A True Part of the 80s Culture
A fixture...a "must have" for the 80's Cult-TV offbeat enthusiasts. This was the first TFTDS video I came to own, and my favorite of the six I have so far. It was interesting to see the "lighter side of hell" in the form of Clive Barker's earlier writing, which I found both amusing and clever. The series is a veritable who's who cornucopia of classic TV/movie actors as well the up-and-comers; i.e., Robert Forster (Jackie Brown), Anthony Heald (The Silence of the Lambs, TV's Boston Public), Seth Green (Stephen King's "It", and later, Austin Powers' comedies, etc.) only to name a few ...The writers, directors and actors all bring something special and personal to the series and specifically to this video. It captures some of the nuances of the Twilight Zone series, but peppered with an 80s attitude and new directions in writing and overall treatment of the genre. For both the nostalgic and the first-time viewers, a treat. To me, TFTDS helped define the feel, mood and sympatico that was the 80s...Hey, I was there! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Happy 20th Anniversary, Tales from the Darkside
It's hard to believe it's been 20 years or more since co-producer George Romero's TV series first traversed the ozone highway into our living rooms. And this particular volume 6 is no exception to the creative benchmark the series set forth. Conceptually, TFTDS is a compilation of a myriad of short story writers, screen writers, etc., of this genre, put into a TV format. Team this with an eclectic mix of actors and actresses including classical, up-and-coming, Vaudevillian, oldies but goodies (golden age of TV), even Broadway, and throw in well metered direction and interesting special effects (for this era), and you have a winner, with an 80s feel. My kudos to the casting crew! In this particular tape, five episodes are taken from the series, featuring the writing skills of Robert Bloch (Psycho) and Michael McDowell (Beetlejuice). Since the writers in the series are so numerous and varied in style, the mood and feel of each are totally different from one another, and represent an albeit edgy, 80s representation of television programming. My personal favorite on this tape was "Baker's Dozen", where a greedy advertizer (Larry Manetti from Magnum PI) gets his just "desserts" by a voodoo woman who just happens to bake one "mean" cookie (Mabel King from The Wiz). Then, when the cookie lady becomes a little too powerful for her own good, she's thwarted by the elderly but crafty Aloysious who proves once again that good things come in small (kitchen rat-sized) packages. Great viewing for 8-14 year olds especially, but fun for all. In short: Clever, creepy, but not overly gory. Great for Halloween party sleepovers! A series of some of the best horror short story writers of the 80s era, put to film. P.S.--Check out the companion paperback and episodes 1-7. I have them all, and my teenage daughter and her friends are really into them. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Best Volume of All
I believe this is the best volume of this series out of them all. It includes my favorite episode of all time, "Trouble With Mary Jane." In which a yound girl becomes possessed by a demon and her grandmother hires a pair of occultists to perform an exorcism on the little girl. Although they do succeed in the exorcism, the result is something very unexpected. Other episodes on this volume include, "The Devil's Advocate", "Ring Around the Redhead", "The Satanic Piano" (another one of my favorites), and "A Choice of Dreams". If you like twisted, strange, and unusual stories, I highly recommend this product to you.

Join the Darkside!
In the second volume, I lovingly discovered that my second all-time favorite episode was included: The Devil's Advocate. My all-time favorite episode, Seasons of Belief, is on the first volume. Anyway, The Devil's Advocate stars Jerry Stiller as a smart-alec radio talk show host who neglects to see how his life is worse than those he constantly puts down over the airways. He realizes it eventually, but not before it's too late. The remaining four episodes are good, but don't exactly compare to The Devil's Advocate. These episodes include Ring Around The Redhead (starring Home Alone's John Heard), The Trouble with Mary Jane (starring Phyllis Diller), The Satanic Piano (starring Michael Warren from Hill Street Blues), and A Choice of Dreams (starring The Godfather's Abe Vigoda). Buy it for Stiller if nothing else! ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Mixed genres; good for laughs and scares!
Okay, I know this movie isn't a "classic." But I enjoyed seeing Christopher Lee in a story of a lone priest who finds a bizarre "other world" at a diner late a night. A steaming coffee machine accident and electrocution by neon sign... original ideas abound in this mixture of genres. Sure it's cheap, but if you don't enjoy the sci-fi elements, at least you can provide your own "Mystery Science Theater" commentary!

It Won't Be The "End Of The World" If You Miss This Movie
I get a big laugh out of watching inferior low-budget horror-science fiction films that feature major stars who once appeared in great movies. "End Of The World" is such a film.

Aliens have come to Earth and taken over the bodies of a head priest(Christopher Lee) and a group of nuns at a convent. A scientist has discovered the extraterrestrials and they force him to steal a device that will enable them to return to their home planet. After the scientist brings this device to them, the aliens suddenly reveal that they don't plan to leave quietly.

"End Of The World" is one of Christopher ("The Wicker Man") Lee's worst films. Lew ("All Quiet On The Western Front") Ayres, Macdonald ("Shadow Of A Doubt") Carey, Sue ("Lolita") Lyon, and Oscar-winner Dean ("Twelve O'Clock High") Jagger are other stars who waste their considerable talents on this film. They obviously made this movie just for the money. The special effects are both laughable and cheesy, and the aliens actually look like leftovers from TV's "Star Trek." The opening scene is both violent and inept. Also, the extraterrestrial characters are masters of disguise and possess the power to destroy anything in their path, so I don't fully understand why they needed the scientist to snatch the device; they could have stolen it much more quickly by themselves. I have also rarely seen a movie that is so inappropriately-titled. The name, "End Of The World," is a giveaway that the movie is certainly going to be at least about the threat of Armageddon, but the film only deals with this issue in the LAST FEW MINUTES before the closing credits! The screenwriters seemed to have merely tacked on this theme at the very last minute, and viewers are left feeling much more cheated than shocked.

"End Of The World" is only for diehard Christopher Lee fans and those who enjoy laughing at bad movies. For a respectable Christopher Lee-science fiction movie, wait for George Lucas' upcoming "Star Wars: Episode II."

The End of the World. I HATE IT!
Just like in "Deep Impact" and "Armageeden" this film is all about the world threatening to end, but not with metiorites, and their are some frightening scenes that are shown happening around the world, and a space view of the earth, and their are no people who are about to die saying goodbye to their families and it doesn't have a happy ending. This film is rated PG and (thankfully) their is no profanity whatsoever, and not as much violence. But that final scene is MOST DEFINATLY rated R! ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Mixed genres; good for laughs and scares!
Okay, I know this movie isn't a "classic." But I enjoyed seeing Christopher Lee in a story of a lone priest who finds a bizarre "other world" at a diner late a night. A steaming coffee machine accident and electrocution by neon sign... original ideas abound in this mixture of genres. Sure it's cheap, but if you don't enjoy the sci-fi elements, at least you can provide your own "Mystery Science Theater" commentary!

It Won't Be The "End Of The World" If You Miss This Movie
I get a big laugh out of watching inferior low-budget horror-science fiction films that feature major stars who once appeared in great movies. "End Of The World" is such a film.

Aliens have come to Earth and taken over the bodies of a head priest(Christopher Lee) and a group of nuns at a convent. A scientist has discovered the extraterrestrials and they force him to steal a device that will enable them to return to their home planet. After the scientist brings this device to them, the aliens suddenly reveal that they don't plan to leave quietly.

"End Of The World" is one of Christopher ("The Wicker Man") Lee's worst films. Lew ("All Quiet On The Western Front") Ayres, Macdonald ("Shadow Of A Doubt") Carey, Sue ("Lolita") Lyon, and Oscar-winner Dean ("Twelve O'Clock High") Jagger are other stars who waste their considerable talents on this film. They obviously made this movie just for the money. The special effects are both laughable and cheesy, and the aliens actually look like leftovers from TV's "Star Trek." The opening scene is both violent and inept. Also, the extraterrestrial characters are masters of disguise and possess the power to destroy anything in their path, so I don't fully understand why they needed the scientist to snatch the device; they could have stolen it much more quickly by themselves. I have also rarely seen a movie that is so inappropriately-titled. The name, "End Of The World," is a giveaway that the movie is certainly going to be at least about the threat of Armageddon, but the film only deals with this issue in the LAST FEW MINUTES before the closing credits! The screenwriters seemed to have merely tacked on this theme at the very last minute, and viewers are left feeling much more cheated than shocked.

"End Of The World" is only for diehard Christopher Lee fans and those who enjoy laughing at bad movies. For a respectable Christopher Lee-science fiction movie, wait for George Lucas' upcoming "Star Wars: Episode II."

The End of the World. I HATE IT!
Just like in "Deep Impact" and "Armageeden" this film is all about the world threatening to end, but not with metiorites, and their are some frightening scenes that are shown happening around the world, and a space view of the earth, and their are no people who are about to die saying goodbye to their families and it doesn't have a happy ending. This film is rated PG and (thankfully) their is no profanity whatsoever, and not as much violence. But that final scene is MOST DEFINATLY rated R! ... Read more

Reviews (6)

The Garden Hoe Horror...
Every once in awhile, I purchase a movie with absolutely no prior knowledge of the film, not even reading the various reviews that may be posted here. Sometimes I find an unpolished gem, and sometimes I find a road apple...the latter being the case with Garden of the Dead (1972).

Directed by John Hayes, who's other credits include The Farmer's Other Daughter (1965), Sweet Trash (1970), All the Lovin' Kinfolk (1970), and Jailbait Babysitter (1978), Garden of the Dead is a no budget zombie movie that failed to evoke nary a scare or a chill in this viewer.

The film takes place in Camp Hoover, a prison/work camp located somewhere in Colorado, or at least that's what the crude sign sez...we see convicts rolling 55 gallon barrels onto a flatbed truck, and based on the stenciled printing on the side of the drums, they all contain formaldehyde. We quickly learn the camp produces the foul smelling stuff, and also that the camp is about to be closed down, with the prisoners and guards to be relocated to different prisons, while the warden will be let go, as, apparently, his style of running things doesn't fit in with the department of corrections idea of how things should be done. I think the thing is the warden is 'old school', and the department of corrections, being the progressive institution that they are, is looking towards the future. Anyway, this figures little into the plot of the film, so I am unsure why they wasted time with this point.

Anyway, we soon get to hang with the prisoners, as they enjoy a midday break/meal. This prompts a number of prisoners to converge on the formaldehyde distiller, to which they begin huffing the vapors. No, really, they seem to be getting a high off the stuff, and this was pretty funny to watch. The prison guards don't seem to notice the men's absence, which I thought was a little strange as there's about 20 inmates in the prison camp, and about eight of them were hiding behind the shack-like structure housing the distiller. After getting their fill of the vapors, they move a tank next to the structure, which reveals a hole, one that leads to a tunnel. Seems the prisoners have been digging said tunnel in hopes of using it to escape.

Later that night, while the prisoners are in the barracks, they begin their escape. I guess they completed the tunnel, and now their plan is to kill a guard, get his gun, follow the tunnel out to a vehicle depot and steal a flatbed truck to aid in their getaway. Everything goes well, that is until the prisoner with the stolen shotgun from the now deceased prison guard trips and fires the shotgun, alerting the other, still-living guards. Well, the jig is up, so to speak, but the escapees proceed with their plans. They pile onto the back of the flatbed, and are soon being pursued by the warden and the guards. The pursuers quickly catch up to the slow flatbed truck, and begin to open fire on the escapees. The truck crashes, and the warden and the guards proceed to shoot all the escape convicts. On returning to the camp, the warden punishes the remaining prisoners for not relating the escape plan, thusly allowing the death of the guard. He the locks these guys up in a makeshift stockade, and tells them that the dead escaped convicts will all be buried in shallow graves.

Cut to a scene of the burying of the dead prisoners. Now here's something I didn't know, but apparently inhaling large amounts of formaldehyde vapors causes zombification shortly after the death of the inhaler. As the dead prisoners begin to rise from their graves, they decide the living must die. I guess it's a whole 'revenge/the dead hate the living' motif...whatever...soon the once prisoners/now zombies break into the tool locker on the prison truck, steal various garden implements (See the horror of the hoe! See the terror of the trowel! See the barbarity of the bulb planter! Okay, it doesn't always work...) Once the zombies arm, no pun intended, themselves, they begin to make their way back to the prisoner, and the real horror begins...sort of...

Okay, there are zombies in this film, but there is absolutely no consuming of living flesh by these creatures. They basically run around killing various members, mostly prison guards, with axes, hoes, whatever. We really don't get to see any of this clearly, as the last ¾ of the movie takes place at night, and the lighting is poor. The zombies don't actually look half bad, but the level of decomposition displayed through the liberal use of makeup surely doesn't relay the fact that all these men are of the recently deceased. No real scares or horror to be had here, but the one thing I did appreciate was that the makers of the film decided to stick with a short running time (58 minutes), rather than pad out the story with loads of filler and/or stock footage. As far as the actors go, well, there was one recognizable face in character actor Carmen Filpi, whose latter roles mostly consisted of winos, hoboes, and old codgers in general, appearing in films like Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), Wayne's World (1992), and The Wedding Singer (1998), to name a few.

Retromedia Entertainment provides a print of fairly funky quality here, but it is watchable. Special features include an intro bit by Son of Ghoul, a semi-famous creature feature host from Akron, Ohio. Also included is a theatrical trailer for another film titled Grave of the Vampire (1972), a film that was also directed by John Hayes, the same man who directed this film. I guess if I learned anything from this film, it's that formaldehyde, while not only being highly addictive, can actually bring the dead back to life...sort of...whatever...

Cookieman108

-10000000 stars!
Starts off at a prison filled with prisoners and cops. The (prisoners) start dosing up on formaldihyde. Then they make an escape and the cops chase after them and kills them and buries them in the ground. The formaldihyde in their system made them return to life as zombies. They go back to the prison to rage war against the cops with pick axes and shovels. These zombies don't eat flesh, they eat formaldihyde. Then they are melted by flashlights and the movie ends.

This movie is one of the worst zombie films i have ever seen. No person in his right mind would say this movie is great. The movie was only 67 min. long and the plot, the gore, everything about this movie was stupid!

(8 zombies)

most entertaining part: | uh......... yeh! |

garden of the dead
This movie was so bad...I had to laugh at my mistake of ordering it. Poor acting, background scenes, the whole movie was what my family refers to as a Class F(fluke) movie. The only good thing about my order was, the movie was received in excellent condition...probably because no one else had watched it! I can hardly believe zombies would be interested in the opposite sex
for any reason...the dead also were shot and killed...again.
My recomendation for the serious zombie enthusiast would be "Resident Evil". If all you want is to spend money and get a laugh "Garden of the Dead", which was for me a waste of my time and money, will definitely be your best bet.

An A for effort
Though not the best zombie movie ever made it is, by far, not the worse either. In fact there where enough erie and comical elements in this movie to make this short worth watching. What can be more funny then a bunch of prison inmates, I guessing somewhere in the south, sniffing formadelhyde to get high, breaking out of prison, being shot, buried and returning as zombies.....possibly because of their formaldehyde? The scariest part is when they come across a trailer that the girlfriend/wife of one of the inmates lives in. The stand around staring in the windows with a great deal of erie delight! Enjoy this scene, it's the best cinematography in the entire flick. The climax of the entire film, however, falls short. In fact there was more excitement in the middle of the movie then during the 'big finish'. Still worth a look though.

Only for true zombie fans. Everyone else avoid avoid!
I rented this one years ago. It's not especially new or original in its plot and style. It's full of poor acting and utterly predictable actions and dialog. The rationale for how the inmates in the prison become zombies is ludicrous: They escape in a truck full of 55 gal. formaldehyde barrels. The prisoners put up a fight, but the authorities shoot them with machine guns and accidentally shoot the barrels too. Formaldehyde runs into the bullet holes in the prisoners' bodies. Bingo, you have zombies. Scientifically WRONG! Stories are so much more enjoyable and though provoking when the rationales for what happens seem at least remotely possible in REAL LIFE too. If the writers would have come up with a more believable and creative reason for why the inmates turned into zombies it might have at least been tolerable. As it was we fast forwarded through all the cliche filler material that was in lieu of any good writing and watched it in a fraction of the time. This one is even worse than most of the poor excuses for horror that are cranked out nowadays. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Don't bother
While it does manage a couple of creepy scenes, this film is basically a low budget, drive-in movie that doesn't deliver much.

Old-School Horror Gem!
This is a lean, mean little movie that delivers the goods. Violence, gore, and some really creepy scenes. If you were a kid in the 1970's who grew up on Creature Features and Famous Monsters Magazine, this is for you. Lots of atmosphere, spooky graveyards, crypts, and a frightening scene in a basement. The end fight between William Smith and Micheal Pataki must be seen to be believed. They really fight! Forget the current rapid edit style of shooting fights, you will see 2 guys beat the daylights out of each other. The DVD print is quite satisfactory, although this was a low budget movie to begin with, so don't expect Star Wars. This movie does not disappoint!

Love at First Bite
This movie is the classic to end all Vampire movies.
It seems that in order to find his true love the vampire must leave his home & come to N.Y.C.
At the begining he is forsed to leave his home.
In looking for his bride he gets drunk and bites a a homeless man
who was drinking.
Flies in to some one window then almost gets cooked in a fring pan. HA HA HA!!...
While finding her in a Disco she thinks he wants to sell her life
insurance or he's a headwaiter.
Now they start to dance and every one looks at them like "WOW"
they are great.
Also going back to her place And needing a maid he get a hickey
and said "After 712 years to have some one to bite me again.

ORIGINAL AND SCARY!!!
The idea of a vampire being hunted by his son is original.The plot is about a man who,many years back studied witchcraft with his wife.His wife was burned at the stake.Later,the man is being chased by police and he accidently gets electricuted.This is explained in the movie.Now,when a young couple decide to make out at a graveyard(of all places),the killer rises from his grave as a vampire.He kills the young guy and rapes the girl.After the girl gets pregnent,she thinks it's her boyfriend when infact,it's the vampires.The boy grows up and is now bent on revenge.He tracts down his father finally and a great showdown happens between both.I do need to say that the end was quite a let down.It made me wonder if a sequel was going to happen.The chilling back drops and storyline are good for back when the movie was made.It has the original begining of half vampire,half human,Blade.Michael Pataki as the vampire,did a decent portrayal.William Smith played the son and he was'nt that bad either.The other actors where were'nt that good though.This movie has good shock value with some humor.

Grave of the Vampire
POOR STORY LINE, BAD COLOR,
THIS VAMPIRE RAPES A WOMEN
THE BOY GROWS UP HATING HIS DAD ... Read more