The Movies:

Warner Brothers' Twisted Terrors Collection is an interesting six-disc assortment of low budget horror films from the company's back catalogue. The films have nothing in common with on another save for genre, but that doesn't mean the set doesn't turn out to be a whole lot of fun. It should be noted for those who don't want to shell out for the boxed set that each of the six films in this collection are also available separately and the discs are identical, right down to the packaging, to those found in the boxed set.

With that out of the way, here's a look at the contents of the Twisted Terror Collection:

From Beyond The Grave (1973):

The last of the now famous anthology film's from England's Amicus Studios, From Beyond The Grave finds director Kevin Connor in the director's seat - a first for Amicus - but also sees the return of Peter Cushing who they'd previously used in films such as Asylum and Tales From The Crypt.

Cushing plays the owner of a London antiques shop called Temptations Ltd., and his scenes serve as the spine of the film. Whenever a customer comes in and makes a purchase, we follow that customer to see what happens to them. First up is a man named Edward Charlton (David Warner) who brings home a massive old mirror. When he decides to hold a séance in his house, he soon finds out that this mirror serves as a prison for a demon and that thanks to his occult ritual, this demon has now been unleashed and Edward is responsible for feeding him. The second story follows Christopher Lowe (Ian Bannen) who shoplifts an old war medal from the store. Once back on the city streets Christopher befriends a street merchant named Jim (Donald Pleasance) who just so happens to be a veteran. Christopher is intrigued by Jim's foxy daughter (Angela Pleasance) and the marital problems he's encountering at home only serve to make her all the more appealing. What Christopher doesn't know is that Jim and his daughter have a very strange past, one that is about to come back with a vengeance. The third story follows a man named Reggie (Ian Carmichael) who scams the store by switching the price tag on a tobacco box he buys. When he takes the train home, a strange woman named Madame Orloff (Margaret Leighton) tells him he has an elemental on his shoulder, an invisible parasite. He thinks the woman is insane until he gets home and the elemental starts harassing his wife, causing Reggie to acquire Madame Orloff's services in getting rid of the new pest. The fourth and final story finds a man named William (Ian Ogilvy) purchasing a strange old door from the shop. He takes it home and uses it on his closet but finds that periodically it opens to reveal an old sorcerer who has a habit of coming out of the closet in hopes of stealing the soul of William's wife!

While the third story is played with tongue placed firmly in cheek, the other three tales are played completely straight and are done fairly effectively. Cushing makes a great host for the film, playing his part with sinister class, and fun performances from Pleasance, Warner and Ogilvy all help bring some charm to the film. The cinematography is classy and slick from start to finish and the film relies more on atmosphere and clever dialogue than on shocks or gore and the film is paced so well that it's hard to believe this was Connor's directorial debut.

Someone's Watching Me (1978):

This made-for-TV movie from John Carpenter is interesting more for the fact that it's an early and rarely seen John Carpenter movie than for anything else, but it's not a bad little thriller even if it doesn't rank up there with the director's better work. It's also the film where Carpenter met Adrienne Barbeau - the two would get married a year later in 1979.

Leigh (Lauren Hutton) has just bought herself an apartment in the heart of Los Angeles and found herself a job as a station manager at one of the local TV channels. Soon she starts getting strange phone calls from a man she doesn't know. Initially these calls come only at work but soon she's getting them at home. Making matters worse is the fact that strange, random gifts are being delivered right to her doorstep and periodically the lights in her apartment flicker.

Leigh is obviously starting to grow concerned with these events and a discussion with one of her co-workers, Sophie (Adrienne Barbeau), raises the idea of calling the police but there's only one problem - Leigh hasn't been threatened and she doesn't know whose behind all of this making it difficult to bring in the fuzz. Soon enough, Leigh meets a man called Paul (David Birney) while out at a local bar one night. They soon begin a romance but the calls and the gifts continue. Obviously someone is still watching Leigh...

Very obviously influenced by Hitchcock films like Rear Window, Carpenter shoots the film in such a way that the audience is put in the place of the voyeur. The camera, like the telescope used in the film, lets us peer in on Leigh's life the same way that the antagonist spies on her. It's a subtle trick and one we've seen used a few times before but Carpenter plays his hand well and manages to create some genuine suspense using clever camera tricks, strong pacing and good acting. There's very little exploitative content here, not much in the way of sex or violence, but there are moments in the film that definitely show what Carpenter was capable of even early on in his career. The way the camera follows the characters during specific scenes is reminiscent of a few important shots in Halloween and the score plays an important role here as it does in almost all of the director's films, even if it uses strings instead of his trademark synthesizer sounds. Even if the film borrows very, very heavily from Hitchcock, Carpenter does manage to put his own stamp on it and that reason alone makes it well worth seeing.

Eyes Of A Stranger (1980):

Another Hitchcock inspired thriller, this time directed by Ken Wiederhorn, a man who has directed a wide range of films from the amazing atmospheric Shockwaves to the goofy Animal House knock-off that is King Frat.

Jane Harris (Lauren Tewes) is a Miami news reporter who takes it upon herself to expose a serial rapist/murderer who is currently terrorizing women around the city at random. Unfortunately for her, the tirades she delivers on air attract the killer's attention and before you know it she's receiving some rather unsettling phone calls. This inspires Jane, who lives with her deaf/mute sister, Tracy (Jennifer Jason Leigh in her feature film debut) to do some investigating on her own.

After piecing together a few clues, Jane comes to the realization that the killer might actually be Stanley (John Di Santi), the portly middle-aged man who lives a few apartments over from her. As Jane, despite her boyfriend's pleadings, decides to prove that Stanley is the killer, the killer starts closing in on her and on Tracy as the tension mounts and Jane finds herself racing to save her sister before it's too late.

Like Someone's Watching Me, this film also borrows pretty heavily from Rear Window with elements of Wait Until Dark, When A Stranger Calls, and Black Christmas thrown in for good measure. Where Carpenter's film relied on atmosphere and clever camerawork, however, Wiederhorn's movie goes for the throat with a few surprisingly bloody murder set pieces (courtesy of Tom Savini) and some nasty sexual violence. It should be noted that the version of the film contained in this set is the full-strength, uncut version and roughly thirteen seconds of gore that was taken out of the R-rated cut of the film has been put back in.

While the performances are fine, the premise is a little too familiar for its own good. We know where it's going before the characters do right down to the ending, and the characters aren't interesting enough to really make us care for them. Savini's gore is impressive, however and Di Santi makes for a reasonably ugly antagonist but it's not enough to make this one much more than an interesting cinematic footnote. It's entertaining enough in a derivative way, but far from an unsung classic. Watch for Wiederhorn's Shockwaves playing on a TV set in the background early on.

The Hand (1981):

An earlier directorial effort from Oliver Stone (he also wrote the script based on Marc Brandell's novel), The Hand is a quirky little low-budget horror film from the early eighties that, surprisingly enough, features Academy Award winning actor Michael Caine in the lead role!

Caine plays Jonathon Lansdale, an artist who makes his living drawing comics strips. One night while driving, he and his wife (Andrea Marcovicci) get into an argument and, distracted, he winds up in a collision with a truck. The accident severs the hand that Lansdale uses to draw, thus ending his career and ruining his life. This accident, coupled with the marital issues that he's dealing with, put the guy in a very dark place, made worse when a replacement artist is brought in to fill his shoes.

Soon, things start to get strange, as the replacement's artists work is sabotaged. Jonathon moves to the country to teach an illustration class and begins having an affair with one of his students, Stella (Annie McEnroe), but is also plagued by strange dreams involving a severed hand and a ring. Periodically Jonathon will have a complete black out, when he wakes up it looks like he's created some amazing pieces of art, like he used to do before the accident. Jonathon isn't sure if he's going insane or not as his hand starts becoming more and more prominent in his life, and with his wife and son coming to visit soon, he finds himself in a bit of a strange predicament... particularly when people around him start turning up dead!

The Hand is far from a great film but it's certainly an enjoyable one. Stone directs the film well keeping the pace moving along and wisely allowing Caine's impressive acting abilities to carry the film. The story isn't all that original but the ending makes up for that with a nice, unexpected twist that you probably won't see coming. Caine does very well in the lead role, playing the tortured artist who is quite obviously losing his mind (or is he?) effectively without coming across as too hammy or chewing any more scenery than absolutely necessary. It would have been easy for him to go over the top but he's fairly restrained here and actually quite believable despite the rather ridiculous premise.

The special effects, courtesy of none other than Stan Winston and Carlo Rambaldi, are a little dated in that the severed hand is obviously a prosthetic but they add to the picture's retro charm and the film winds up, oddly enough, feeling very much like an old E.C. comic book story come to life. Comic fans might pick up on the fact that in the movie, Lansdale's work is represented by illustrations from famed illustrator Barry Windsor-Smith (best known for his groundbreaking work on Marvel's Conan The Barbarian!

Deadly Friend (1986):

One of Wes Craven's goofiest films, Deadly Friend is at least interesting in a 'hey look who it is!' kind of way and that, combined with the eighties camp appeal, make the film an entertaining distraction even if the film itself is pretty bad.

Paul (Matthew Laborteaux) is a super genius teenager who has been accepted at a university level neuroscience program. He and his mother, Jeannie (Anne Twomey), move into a new neighborhood to be close to the school where Paul has to learn to make new friends and adjust to school life. Thankfully, Paul has a friend on his side in the form of a big, dopey robot that he's named BB. Paul soon buddies up with Tom (Michael Sharrett) and falls for the cute girl next door, Samantha (Kristy Swanson).

Things get crazy one night when Samantha's drunken loser of a dad, Harry (Richard Marcus), knocks her out and puts her in a coma. As Samantha lies on her deathbed, Paul figures he can sneak into the hospital and through some impromptu brain surgery save her life even if it means taking her brain back to a 'BB' like stage where she'll have to learn all over again. It works, but Paul doesn't realize that something is wrong with BB's brain but he sure finds that out soon enough when the re-animated Samantha starts going nuts and killing off a few neighborhood villains, highlighted by the scene where she destroys Anne Ramsey's (yes, the woman from Throw Momma From The Train head with a basketball.

If the idea of Kristy Swanson coming back to life as a killer robot sounds a little retarded, you're not far off the mark. The premise is bad, the script is horribly written, the dialogue completely contrived and the BB robot is completely annoying. The whole thing is so far fetched that it's simply impossible to suspend our disbelief that far and as such, we don't wind up caring about anyone in the film. That said, what keeps the film from being a total waste of time is its inventive and explosive kill scenes (the basketball scene... my God.... it's brilliant!) and the sheer stupidity of the whole project. The film winds up an entertaining and fabulous disaster. Hardly a high note in Craven's career, but a fun time killer with some neat gore.

The version of the film contained on this DVD is, thankfully, the uncut version of the film meaning that the dream sequence murder is a little splashier, the boiler room murder a bit longer and the basketball scene noticeably more explosive.

Dr. Giggles (1992):

The last film in the set stars Larry Drake (of L.A. Law and Darkman fame) as Dr. Evan Randall, a surgeon with a mental disorder and an unnerving laugh, who has recently escape from the insane asylum and gone on a bit of a murder spree killing off a few other doctors on his way to the small town of Moorehigh. Evan grew up there and his father was the town doctor before he passed away.

One of the residents of Moorehigh is Jennifer (Holly Marie Combs), a teenage girl with a heart condition whose father (Cliff DeYoung) has just asked his girlfriend Tamara (Michelle Johnson) to move in with the two of them. As such, she's a little stressed out but thankfully school has just finished for the year and she and her boyfriend Max (Glenn Quinn) are on their way to a party up in the hills to blow off some steam. Some of the kids start talking about the legend of Dr. Randall and before you know it, a few of the more daring members of the group are on their way to his house to explore, completely unaware that he's not dead at all and is in fact living in the very house they've set their sights on.

With a few dead teenagers to his credit, Evan soon turns to Jennifer's family. Her dad makes it out alive but Tamara isn't so lucky. What Jennifer and a few local cops know, however, is that Evan is not going to just let things lie - he's going to come back and finish the job and, as is his way, he's going to remove their hearts!

Alright, so the plot is pretty dopey but Dr. Giggles is actually a pretty good little slasher film if you don't mind black humor mixed in with your kills. Larry Drake is great as the titular villain, his nervous laugh punctuating a few scenes and giving them a strange, manic sense of dread. The supporting cast is nothing to write home about but they do fine with the material and director/co-writer Manny Coto (who has gone on to a very successful career as a TV writer) manages to create a few impressive scares while simultaneously showing a knack for comedic timing.

Dr. Giggles doesn't really bring anything new to the table - we've seen horror movies about deranged doctors for decades now - but it does entertain despite the obvious, groan-inducing puns and bad jokes. The film is obviously borrowing heavily from the likes of Freddy from the Nightmare On Elm Street films in this department. While the film certainly plays by the established rules of the slasher sub-genre, there are enough decent kills and quirky laughs that even if it doesn't reinvent the wheel, it's at least an entertaining and gory little movie with some good jump scares and a fun, over the top performance from Drake.

Video:

The six films in this set are presented as follows, each one anamorphic and properly flagged for progressive scan playback:

From Beyond The Grave: Presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen, this Amicus production shows a bit of minor wear but for the most part comes through looking quite good on DVD. Color reproduction is strong even if the black levels could have been a little deeper. Foreground and background detail look good despite a bit of grain and print damage is never a problem, only noticeable as the odd speck now and again.

Someone's Watching Me: Presented in its original 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen theatrical aspect ratio, the film looks a little grainy sometimes but given its thirty year old low budget roots, that's to be expected. Colors are a bit on the flat side but there isn't much in the way of dirt or debris to complain about even if some scenes are noticeably soft. Overall for an older made for TV movie, the picture looks fine on this DVD release. Interesting that it's widescreen on this disc but the framing looks fine and doesn't appear to be compromised at all.

Eyes Of A Stranger: The 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen is a little soft in spots and the colors could have been a bit brighter but aside from that the image looks good. Flesh tones look lifelike and natural and while some grain hides fine background detail it isn't overbearing.

The Hand: The 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer for The Hand is a little dark in spots but this likely has more to do with the actual photography of the film itself rather than that transfer or the authoring. There's a bit of grain and some mild print damage shows up as specks and dirt on the picture, but it isn't anything too heavy and it never proves to be particularly distracting. Color reproduction is good and detail levels are average for an older, low budget film.

Deadly Friend: Craven's film receives a nice, crisp 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen which presents the film in its original aspect ratio. Some scenes look a little bit softer than others but for the most part the transfer is crisp. No mpeg compression artifacts to complain about, though some slight edge enhancement rears its head now and again. Color reproduction is good and there are no problems with heavy grain or print damage worth noting.

Dr. Giggles: The film is presented in 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen, which is odd as its original theatrical aspect ratio was 2.35.1 and things do look just a little bit offt here. As far as the quality of the picture goes, it shouldn't surprise anyone to know that the most recent film in the set is also in the best shape. There's barely any print damage to complain about and the colors look nice and sharp. Flesh tones are realistic looking and there are no problems with mpeg compression artifacts.