Though admitting so might revoke my 'horror fan' badge, I must be honest and say that I've not seen many 80s horror films. I've seen a decent chunk of cheesy, almost comedy horror films though and this was absolutely the tone this anthology was going for. It was a whole lot of fun but I want to make this clear in case people are expecting more of a violent slasher/sexual horror vibe. This anthology is mild on those elements but is all the stronger for it in my opinion, instead serving up some good old cheesy horror fun. I agree with other reviews that it would benefit more from being compared to 60s or 70s horror films.
Number of stories: 14
Great stories: 3
Good stories: 7
Meh stories: 3
Stories using the slur 'gypsy': 1
ALIEN PARASITES FROM OUTER SPACE/RETURN OF THE ALIEN PARASITES FROM OUTER SPACE-I am combining these two stories together as they are essentially one story (a story and its 'sequel'). This was a fun story about a teen who goes to see a movie about alien parasites and realises that the movie may be more real than it appears. I wish the sequel had been included later on in the anthology as it was a little repetitive when it followed straight after the first one and I think I would have enjoyed a break later on. The first one was also by far the stronger story for me with the sequel not being as good. But both were fun romps with some neat details, and they were a good way to introduce the tone of the anthology.
NEGATIVE CREEP-This had the really cool concept of kids being stalked by some kind of entity which behaved in uncertain ways. I really liked how films were incorporated into this story and I thought it was a lot more clever and original than some. It wasn't my favourite but it had strong moments and managed to stand out.
HELLULOID-This was the story where I realised just how strong the cinema/movie theme was. Honestly I don't really remember much about it, apart from that it used film reel in a kind of interesting way but the plot itself wasn't very gripping.
RISE, YE VERMIN!-Some neat lesbian representation here but not much else going for it sadly. It felt like it was a retread of previous stories with the bug and film reel motif, and it really struggled to stand out as unique to me. It was at this point I wondered if all the authors had been given the same specific brief for writing stories.
THE CRONENBERG CONCERTO-A man recounts his personal history of going to the cinema to watch horror films. For most of this story, I was kinda meh. Then something happened and I fell in love. This was deliciously dark and really caught me off guard, which made the ending all the better. I adored this story and I think it will stay in my mind a long time.
CREATURE FEATURE-A fun story about a teen who gets a new job at a very unusual movie theatre. This uses a type of horror I'm not a huge fan of but it really was a more lighthearted horror read and it deserves points for uniqueness. Ended a little abruptly but all in all, a good romp.
INVISIBLE-A chilling tale of a serial killer and how he selects his victims. This was another unique way to incorporate the cinema theme and I really enjoyed it. Parts are definitely hard to read but this didn't skew super graphic which I appreciated. The ending was really neat and dark in a good way.
SCREEN HAUNT-A woman afraid of everything creates a horror movie. This was a little hard to follow but had some great moments and imagery. I really liked parts of it, I just wish it had been told in a clearer style.
THE DEVIL'S REEL-A travelling man comes to a small town and opens up a cinema with a nefarious purpose. A lot happened in this story and I appreciated the pacing and plot elements. It went big scale and fit well into the movie theme for that reason.
ON THE ROCKS-Four teenagers go to see a werewolf film. This ended far too abruptly and was a little predictable, which was a shame because I dug the writing style.
COMING ATTRACTIONS-Four teenagers use a broken panel in a cinema to stay after dark. This story was amazing! I was completely gripped throughout and it actually properly scared me which rarely happens. A definite gem and my favourite of the collection.
LATE SLEEPERS-A student leaves his house in disarray after a family Thanksgiving meal and goes to the cinema. I really liked the main idea of this story and it did have a creeping sense of dread throughout. However, the ending was a little unclear (and not in a good way, just in a confusing way) which was a bit of a shame. Still a strong concept though!
SPECIAL MAKEUP-Okay, so this story has a great idea with the horror item but uh, repeatedly uses the g slur for traveler. And the whole plot is based around a 'gypsy curse'. I was actually pretty shocked to read this because I thought everyone had the memo now that it's not okay but apparently not. It was a shame as well since it was the last story so I was left feeling a bit sour about the whole thing.
Overall, this anthology is a very fun one with a strong theme and some truly great stories. Most of the stories kind of overlap a bit and so I think more variety could have been beneficial, but the second half is much more varied and so I found it more entertaining. Maybe a rejiggling of the order of the stories would have helped? Either way, this is perfect if you're looking for a quick campy read this Halloween and I'm very glad I picked it up.
Overall Rating:
.5
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