Guest Author - Andy Boxall

Directors: Various
Starring: Various
Region 2, Anchor Bay
Out Now

With no access to cable or satellite TV and thanks to the tardiness of Europe’s DVD release, it has taken me sometime to examine Masters of Horror, one of the most exciting developments the world of horror has seen in the last few years. Director Mick Garris came up with the idea of an anthology series with each episode directed by an acclaimed horror director during lunches with a group of just these sorts of people, and thus Masters was born.

Although the USA has been able to purchase this series on DVD for a while now, and is also lucky enough to be watching the second series on TV, us poor Europeans had to put up with one false start (Anchor Bay released a few double episode DVD’s earlier in the year) and then a long wait until a seven disc set containing Part One of the first series was finally made available.

Packaged in a large digipack with a burgundy leather-look slipcase, the set is a little unwieldy but undeniably attractive. Once opened and spread out, each disc is mounted in front of artwork for the episode and a short blurb concerning plot and credits is found elsewhere. Also included is a brief booklet with further information.

Each episode is presented is its original format, but with the choice of a stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS soundtrack. In all honesty, I could hear little difference between the 5.1 and DTS, but they were both superior to the regular stereo track. An impressive list of extras is also present for each episode, with the ‘Working with a Master’ series and director interviews being the stand outs. What makes this so good is that they cover the director’s whole career and feature chats with key actors, actresses and crew.

The episodes themselves are very high quality and enjoyable, so let’s examine them individually.

John Carpenter’s Cigarette Burns

A solid start to the boxset, here we follow Jimmy Sweetman’s quest to find the rare movie ‘La Fin Absolue Du Monde’ for an eccentric collector. The problem is that when the movie was last shown, the audience murdered each other in the theatre. Similarities can be drawn with Cronenberg’s Videodrome and Hideo Nakata’s Ringu, but with an interesting religious slant. Cigarette Burns is frightening and creepy.

Stuart Gordon’s Dreams in the Witch-House

Walter Gillman, a student of string theory, rents a nasty apartment which he soon believes is a portal to another dimension, where an ancient witch is trying to force her way back to the present, with the intention of sacrificing Walter’s neighbour’s child. A nightmarish HP Lovecraft tale, with a top performance from Ezra Godden as Walter.

Don Coscarelli’s Incident On and Off a Mountain Road

While I love Coscarelli’s previous work, plus the idea behind this survivalist tale of a woman, Ellen, who is caught in a trap by a hideous serial killer; this is not the strongest episode in this set. The flash-back scenes are excellent, as is Bruce Embry as Ellen’s intense husband, but Moonface (the killer) was a little to ‘monstery’, coming over as a mix of The Hills have Eyes’ Pluto, the Jigsaw Killer and a character from Vampire: The Masquerade. Perhaps if the killer was a little more real, this would have been more effective.

Mick Garris’s Chocolate

Divorcee Jamie starts to experience feelings and emotions that seem to come from a mysterious woman he has never met. Infatuated by her, he uses clues in these out of body experiences to locate her; however, she may not be what he expects. The good acting, especially from Henry Thomas, is the best things about this average episode, which crosses the line to erotic, rather than scary, horror.



Lucky Mckee’s Sick Girl

This is the first example of McKee’s work that I have seen and it certainly made an impression. He has a very distinct style and seems attracted to shyness, vulnerability and a healthy dollop of body horror; Sick Girl comes across like Cronenberg’s The Fly via Tipping the Velvet. Some fun messages about men, women and horror clichés, plus an amusing performance from Jesse Hlubik make this the surprise of the pack, as I wasn’t expecting to like it.

John Landis’s Deer Woman

Brian Benben is Detective Faraday, a cop with an unfortunate past who now investigates animal attacks. He is called in on a series of grisly murders, which upon closer inspection, may have been committed by a mythological beast. Deer Woman is both the triumph of the pack and the biggest disappointment too. A triumph thanks to the hilarious script and the fantastic Brian Benben, but disappointing in that the always-entertaining John Landis barely contributes to the extras. I would have loved a commentary with him plus a decent documentary too; after all, the others did it. Superb X-Files-from-a-parallel-dimension stuff!

Joe Dante’s Homecoming

A politically charged tale on what would happen if deceased soldiers had a say in the next Presidential election. Satirical, confrontational and downright brilliant, Dante shows he has still got it with this zombie tale with a difference. Nice to see Robert Picardo returning to a Dante movie too.

The fact that even the lowpoint of this pack, Garris’s Chocolate, is still highly watchable is a testament to the overall quality and talent that went into creating the series. It should also send a clear message to Hollywood that this is the sort of top-quality stuff these guys would churn out if only they were left to their own devices.

My only criticism, which is a strange one, is the use of female nudity in nearly every episode. While I have no problem with this, here it was so unnecessary (we never needed any of the full frontal shots), that it smacked of only being there to secure a higher rating; as if the oft-plentiful gore wasn’t enough. Aside from this, Masters of Horror is a must-buy and I cannot wait for Part Two!