Various
Directors. (1965-1989/934 min).
MILL
CREEK ENTERTAINMENT
First
off, horror fans should be aware that, even though it's listed on the
disc menu and summarized on the back cover, Abel Ferrara's
notorious cult classic, The Driller Killer is not part
of this collection. Instead, the film that plays when you select
that title is Drive-In Massacre.
Shadow
Stalkers is a scattershot collection of horror flicks featuring a
variety of homicidal loonies. Dating as far back as 1965, none of
these are classics, but chances are you've heard a of few.
Disc
1 features what are arguably the two most-recognizable titles. Happy
Birthday to Me is a derivative Canadian slasher that isn't the
best or worst of its kind and has a few memorable death scenes. Eyes
of Laura Mars is a flashy Faye Dunaway vehicle probably
best-remembered as an early writing credit for John Carpenter. It's
fun and stylishly made, but definitely a product of its time and
Dunaway's performance hints at the high-camp immortality she'd later
achieve with Mommie Dearest. Rounding out the disc is Out
of the Dark, which features a clown faced killer targeting
phone-sex operators. While it boasts a fairly decent cast
(as horror films go), the focus is more on titillation than
terror.
Still,
all three films are certainly watchable and the transfers are decent.
If you're looking to add one or more of these titles to your
collection, this is a fairly cheap way to do it.
 |
| Faye Dunaway: Sith Lord |
Discs
2 and 3, however, are almost worthless. The remaining seven movies
are cheap disc filler, though the heavily-edited Bloody Pit of
Horror remains a far-out hoot worthy of MST3K riffing. But
regardless of one's personal assessment of these films
- even the worst of them probably have their share of fans - the
picture and sound quality is absolutely terrible. A few of them are
so poor that it's occasionally difficult to even know what's was
happening on screen. Maybe Don't Open Till Christmas is a minor
masterpiece, but you wouldn't know it from this transfer.
All
of which makes it a shame The Driller Killer is not part of
this collection as promised. It's a terrible film, but certainly
carved a small niche in horror history with its controversial
notoriety. That alone would have made this set more attractive to
many hard core horror fans. As it is, keep the first disc and use the others as beverage coasters.
DISC 1: Out
of the Dark (1989); Happy
Birthday to Me (1981); Eyes
of Laura Mars (1978)
DISC 2: Don't
Answer the Phone (1980); Nightmare
in Wax (1969); Bloody
Pit of Horror (1965)
DISC 3: Silent
Night, Bloody Night (1972); Funeral
Home (1980); Don't
Open Till Christmas (1984); Driller
Killer (1979) Drive-In Massacre (1976)
KITTY CONSENSUS:
NOT BAD...FOR DISC 1 ALONE
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