Masters Of Horror: Series 1 - Volume 2 [DVD]

...for a reasonable price. It arrived within 2 days here in Germany and i was very very pleased with the whole box from the beginning on. Concerning the Films i think everything has already been said... they have their ups and downs but i think thats clear for such a Box... especially when it comes to "Imprint" ... Miiks episode. Either you know Miike and love his way of directing or you feel like its "over the top" or "just too much" which is surely true for some/many. But after all...if you're into horror and look for some good/entertaining/gruesome films you should clearly consider buying this great Box (which by the way looks absolutely great)

Wary of Argento, as so much of his work has been all style, no substance, I approached jenifer with tredipation. Shouldn't have. Dead scary. The other contributions were uniformly cool from mcnaughton to hooper, and the DVD extras are a must. Exhaustive and enlightening. A thoroughly enjoyable few nights as the darkness and the rain seeps in.

Masters of Horror Series 1, Vol 2 continues on the dreaded horror path of bleakness, sexuality and gore- and does so well enough. Vol 1 for me was better- but Vol 2 isn't so bad. Of course these all form the same season.The good news with Vol 2 is that there are no terrible episodes- the bad news is that there isn't a fantastic episode that you can single out- however all in all, all is good.First episode out of this box set is Dario Argento's Jenifer. I love Argento's work, even his new stuff, like Stendhal Syndrome and Sleepless are great films. Jenifer is neither great or bad. It's right inbetween. The story is about a horribly disfigured woman who seemingly casts a spell on anyone that wants to care for her- she has animal instincts. The level of blood and gore is really ramped up in this episode- which includes seeing a cat eaten alive, and a child dismembered. The faults for me and unanswered question is why did she have animal instincts? Being disfigured isn't a great excuse, Mr Argento. Also Jenifer at no point 'feels' like an Argento picture. However, lets be honest, Jenifer is quite a ride and is a good episode. Note of caution, it doesn't bother me at all but there are 4 quite strong sex scenes in Jenifer. Which some people may find a little crude.I wasn't looking forward to the next episode, Dance of the Dead- mainly because of all the poor reviews I had heard about it. It currently has a ranking of 5.1 on IMDB. However, trust no one but yourself it seems- Dance of the Dead is a wonderful episode- possibly the best on this pack. Great acting, dialogue, it's all here, except I must say blood. It's true that this episode has a more sci fi feel to it than horror, but the theme is still horrific- about what society we live in after a natural disaster. One special mention must go to Robert Englund who plays a sleazy, slimy MC in a nightclub. He is fantastic. Though I like the Elm Street movies almost everything Englund has done since then like 976 Evil and Zombie Strippers has been dreadful- and I was expecting him to ruin this episode. I was dead wrong, he adds volumes to it. Well done Tobe Hooper who directs supremely well here- the drug trip out scene in the car is delighful. The only snag I have with this one, is the final minute- can't say what it is for fear of major spolier.Pick Me Up is an interesting episode, directed by horror legend Larry Cohen. The plot revolves around two serial killers in the back woods, who don't know each other but are killing off tourists one by one. One of those killers is played by long time Cohen associate Michael Moriarity- the guy is literally stunning in this performance. A cold hearted trucker killer. His lines are wonderful. Much credit should also be given to the other killer, a younger cowboy type played by Warren Kole. It's a good episode, possibly spolied a little by a Twilight Zonesque ending that doesn't quite have enough bite.Next up is the infamous Imprint, directed by Takashi Miike. You can see why even cable bulked at showing this on TV. It's pretty hard stuff. The torture scene didn't bother me- but the piles of dead aborted babies did. Seriously if you don't like to see babies being ripped out of women and some dumped in bins and rivers- avoid. Of course it's all make believe, but the effects look so real- This is certaintly not for any women out there who are pregnant. As for the story, again it's a good one but not great. It was filmed in Japan and has a real sense of the country. The climax for me was knock out material but the story can drag a little.The Fair Haired Child has got some rave reviews- so I was excited by this. However what we have is nothing spectacular. It's a fair- excuse the pun, episode. Dealing with a strange couple who son has died in a lake, but wait they can bring him back if 12 people are sacrificed. The ending was a complete let down for me. I probably in fairness just didn't get it.Haeckel's Tale is the final episode on the box set. This is a good one, a period piece, thrown back to the days of Victor Frankenstein. The plot revolves around just that, bringing the dead back to life. The first half of the episode is excellent, but it does dip slightly. However this is well done by director John McNaughton most famous for Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.All in all I really enjoyed Vol 2- it's full of chills, gore, sex and well horror. It's hard to look at some reviews that don't like the series. It is what it is and it does a fine job of being a good not always great horror anthology. Here are my rankings for best to worst episodes on this volume.Series 1 Vol 2Dance of the Dead 4/5Pick Me Up 4/5Haeckel's Tale 4/5Jenifer 3/5Imprint 3/5Fair Haired Child 3/5

I believe it should match the other two boxset volumes (red & purple) because it should be like this as the set with directors info booklet.

Horror

I'm a big fan of Masters of Horror. There's such a wide variety of episodes that everyone is bound to have at least a couple favourites in there. There's quite a few series too, so plenty Halloween movies if you're sick of the classics!

At the risk of repeating my review of Vol 1,with the exception of Tobe Hooper's Dance Of The Dead,this is another melange of misfires.They are as follows:Jenifer(Dir Dario Argento)Oh dear.An facially deformed "Lolita"preys on men by seducing them into protecting her from her desires.Needless to say they fail and cop StevenWeber is the poor unfortunate this time.High gore quotient but absolutely nothing else to commend it. Rubbish from start to finish.Dance Of The Dead(Dir Tobe Hooper)Easily the pick of the bunch.Lurid,compelling story set in a world ravaged by a plague that has created zombies, empty vessels devoid of all feelings whether it be rage or anything else for that matter.Club owner Robert Englund uses them as entertainment in a truly macabre way.Well plotted and pretty intense even if it telegraphs it's twist ending a little.Music by Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins fame.Imprint(Dir Takashi Miike)Set in 19th century Japan,an American traveller Billy Drago searches in vain for ex lover until he meets a courtesan who is able to tell him what became of his love.Atmospheric and replete with the usual Miike gore but the story never grabs and Drago is hopeless.Pick Me Up(Dir Larry Cohen)Horror veteran Cohen fashions a tale that should have been better.Truck driver Michael Moriarty enjoys killing hitchhikers; hitchhiker Warren Kole enjoys killing those who give him a lift.Into this maelstrom enters Fairuza Balk as victim but for who?.Moriarty sinks this while Kole tries his best and the ending was disappointingly obvious.A real shame.Anyone for Q The Winged Serpent.Fair Haired Child(Dir William Malone)Teenager is kidnapped by grieving parents to be fed to the creature in the cellar as payment for the resurrection of their dead son.Not bad with Lori Petty good as mom but the story plays itself out too soon and no surprise(again)at the end.Haeckel's Tale(Dir John McNaughton)Adapted from a Clive Barker short story this is a grabber until the final third where it just gets plain silly.Echoes of Frankenstein as a medical student Derek Cecil attempts to reanimate a person the scientific way while pouring scorn on necromancer Jon Polito.Needless to say a secluded house,a young wife given to visiting her "dead"husband for pleasure alters his perspective a little.Given the talent a bust but there are copious extras just to reinforce the point.

As with vol 1 there are some very good stories in these collections and the bonus features on the directors are also a decent watch.

The first tale in the second volume of this horror anthology features a tale called, Jenifer, which represents a fine adaptation by Dario Argento of a tale from the graphic novel Creepy that makes you think twice before empathizing with disfigured individuals and revolves around the story of a cop who rescues a hideously mal deformed girl, Jenifer, from being butchered to death by her foster father, and, feeling sympathy for her, takes her in – much to the disgust of his family, and discovers himself becoming infatuated, with her, despite her hideously mal deformed features, after being seduced by her and protecting her from the law when she butchers his family, and seeking to start a life with her in the shelter of a shack, until she viciously murders a towns boy, bringing him to the realization that she was evil and had to be killed – only to find himself being shot to death in his attempt to kill her by a sympathetic cop who decides to take her in, thereby, starting the cycle again in what philosophers would call ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny.The second tale in this volume, Sick Girl, is arguably one of the best episodes from the Master of Horror series, sold separately as a single movie by Amazon, with a well-acted drama revolving around a lesbian relationship but less than satisfactory special effects. Nonetheless gay rights advocates should love this one.The story revolves around a biologist specializing in bugs, who overcomes her shyness, under the encouragement of her colleague, to make advances towards a girl - who she later learns to be her ex-professor's daughter, who harbors a secret infatuation with her and also overcomes her shyness to engage in a loving relationship involving sexual intercourse with her; while she conceals her fascination and obsession with bugs from the professor's daughter, under the influence of her colleague, who fears that the discovery of her secret will scare the girl off, only to have the girl stumbling upon her secret and discovering that they both share the same fascination with bugs, given the fact that the her ex-professor was also a biologist who specializes in bugs, and who, due to his daughter infatuation with his former student, sends her an extremely rare specimen of bugs that when bitten induces a gradual transformation in the victim. When his daughter gets infected, she gradually metamorphosizes and, her lover, likewise, begins to gradually transform once the infection is spread to her, imparting in them the ability to reproduce bug off springs.This movie speaks loads about the right of lesbians to form meaningful and loving relationships with one another which, may or may not involve sexual intercourse, and their right to adopt children or bear children through the use of artificial insemination from male donors.The third tale in this brilliant horror series, Deer Woman, does not even warrant the time required to write a review; so, I simply won’t.Suffice to say the first two tales justifies the asking price of the disc.Highly recommended.

I am so glad they made these into blurays!, i'm not going to go into too much detail, because so many already have. It's a great collection.I liked Jenifer a lot, i think in the past few movies of Argento's he has been changing, i don't mean that in a bad way, i mean, his style, is still there but it's changing a lot. So it was nice to see Jenifer hold true to older Argento films. It's a pretty interesting story that does make you question a lot of things, i did like it's underlying message that was tangled in there. (i must point out i may have bias because i do love Dario Argento's work)Sick Girl, i really could go on for days about my love of this one. I also love Lucky Mckee's films, so i may be a bit biased. It's a nice little "love story" with some horror mixed in, i do LOVE that in the commentary Lucky mentions that he was so happy to be working with masters of horror that he tried to include all of the masters of horror directors names in some parts of it. I will admit i wish they spent more time with bettis and misty, i do wish this was a full full length movie instead of a made for tv series one, but i'm not sure it would have gotten made otherwise.Deer Woman. Sigh. It's a comedy/horror/spoof. My least favorite types of movies, and oh! John Landis let his son write this... so we can get the whole clear "John Landis is my father" vibes from this (that's good! that's what redeems it, a bit). It's really a terrible movie, but it's 100% watchable, because it is so bad. I do tell people about this a lot, because whenever a person in a movie or on a tv show does the head mashup with a pair of antlers behind them i gasp out "DEER WOMAN!" . It's not good, it's terrible, but i almost like it. almost.I'm giving this bluray a 5 star, because despite not having the bonus content of all of the dvds, the picture and quality make up for it.

There were three really good tales in this one. It's probably the best one, although vol. 1 has the best movie on it, Cigarette Burns.The first tale is Jenifer, directed by Dario Argento, hailed as the Italian Alfred Hitchcock. He's one of my favorite writer/directors. This story centers on a cop (Stephen Weber) who stumbles across a man about to take a hatchet to a woman. He winds up shooting the guy. It turns out the beautiful-bodied blond has a hideous face. She is, however, a VERY nice woman.Ultimately he winds up taking her to his house, where she promptly eats the cat. It all goes downhill from there.\The second story is Sick Girl.I'll admit you have to have a taste for Lucky McKee/Angela Bettis quirky, weird humor/horror. Basically, you'll either love this one or hate it, depending on how your tastes run. Personally, I loved it. Bettis plays a meek and mousy lesbian entomologist who is looking for love, and finds it sitting on the bench where she works. At the same time, she receives a package in the mail, a bug specimen. She gets it inside an looks at it, but she's too busy with other stuff to pay immediate attention. Too bad for her...but it has a happy ending, so don't worry.{sardonic smile}The final entry in this frightfest is Deer Woman. This time it's John Landis, another quirky horror director (maybe it was a mistake putting both of these on the same disc may have been a mistake. Anyway, this one has multiple deaths by deer, and a rough and grisled detective on the trail of the "deer woman", and strange half woman, half deer. Trust me it's better than it looks. Plus there's a reference to American Werewolf in London.

Volume II of Season One of Masters of Horror contains three of the best episodes: Jenifer, Sick Girl, and Deer Woman. All three make for extremely entertaining viewing, even more so in the Blu-ray format. The quandary these Blu-ray releases presents to the collector is that the extras included on the original DVD releases, with the exception of audio commentaries, are not included. Typically I would say go with the better picture and sound quality, because extras are generally not good for more than one viewing. In this case, however, there is a significant omission: Dario Argento's Jenifer was the only episode to have footage censored at some stage of the production process, and while it only amounts to a few seconds, that footage plus the other Argento extras do represent a significant loss, given his stature as a filmmaker. That said, the audio commentaries for Jenifer and Sick Girl are quite good; Deer Woman's commentary suffers from John Landis' absence. Argento enthusiasts may want to keep their original copy of Jenifer if they purchase disc, so, recommended with caution.

Bought this for one reason and one reason only. The "Deer Woman" episode, filmed around Vancouver, BC has Cinthia Moura in it. Every man's dream; every woman's nightmare!