Starring Sean (Lord Of The Rings, Goonies) Astin this anthology is a curious creature as it only has two stories plus the wrap around.Rather light hearted and more in the vein of Goosebumps this is suitable for more or less all ages.The first story is about a monster residing the toilets of a school and the other regarding a weird kid whose hobby is pulling wings off flies and making them into characters in his dioramas.Though looking very dated and with some appalling sfx the movie certainly has its charm but definitely shouldn't be confused with a horror.Watchable though predictable stuff, the second story is at least rather disturbing.The Good: Clu Galager Sean Astin Second story gets under your skin The Bad: Looks rather tacky Should have been at least three stories Things I Learnt From This Movie: A 3rd mini story in the opening of the film was removed due to being considered distasteful which involved a poodle and a microwave
... View MoreWhat a weird film. Really more disgusting then scary. Case in point: a deep fried rat in a bucket of fried chicken!, a poodle put in a microwave by a demented old senile lady to "dry" him off! A poor old man scared to death in a amusement ride! Wow, so scary...NOT! Sean Astin with his brother and cousin take turns telling so-called scary stories, but they are anything but. The two main stories include a variety of stars.Dana Ashbrook was wasted in his brief cameo a customer wanting a bucket of chicken. Bill Erwin, Kimmy Robertson and Doug Benson are also totally wasted in a brief mini-story about a old man scared to death in a poor man's Haunted Mansion amusement ride.In story one, Kathleen Freeman did real good as a mean teacher, Ian Fried also did okay as a little boy being bullied and crying monster and no one believes him. of note: one of the bullies that tormented Ian, was none other than Jeremy Miller, 'Ben Seaver' of "Growing Pains" fame. James Karen had a nice part as the mysterious janitor with a very deadly secret. Clu Gulager was completely wasted as the principal of the school. I was really disappointed with that because when I saw his name and James Karen in the credits, I was expecting the funny chemistry they both had in the cult "Return of the Living Dead" film where they both had great parts. Here, even though they both were in Story One, did not have any scenes together.In Story Two, Michael Bower was cast very well as the strange and weird over-weight boy no one likes. His parents were good also especially Mike Pniewski as his mean and tough dad. A interesting pair of cameos were done by none other than Kirk Cameron and Tracey Gold, also of "Growing Pains" fame, in a nightmare scene that Michael has in which he is watching Kirk and Tracey on TV in their "Growing Pain" roles of 'Mike and Carol Seaver'! Story Two was a very weird and disturbing sequence that seem to go on for too long and with a very predictable (and unsatisfying) ending.All in all a very disturbing and weird little film. Could have been way better but it was low-budget at it's best. Still, if you can "stomach" it, (there's even a very disgusting and disturbing scene where a asthma inhaler is full of worms! YUCK!) I recommend you at least watch it once. It's that weird and disturbing.
... View MoreFirst off this movie would never have the ability to qualify for a PG-13 rating now-a-days. It is frightening. It's like a Nickelodeon horror movie. It has some really adult size horror, but can't shake that safe feeling that children's programming provides. This is an Anthology horror film that features a couple of different tales. These are always fun as they tend to provide some much needed variety. The film is about a group of kids, camping out and telling scary stories around the fire. They make reference to The Goonies and apparently Sean Astin is playing the same character that he was in that movie. Or at least that is what the rumor mill was saying. The kid's give us a lot of quick, short stories to kick it off. Surprisingly this is all part of a cold open that seems to take forever. They finally delve into some really bizarre tales. The first is about a scrawny, kid that has a problem with getting bullied at school. He discovers some strange, gargoyle-like monster hiding in the Boys Room. He also discovers that this monster has ripped the head off of his favorite janitor. He tries to find help, but one by one the Monster kills every intruder. It's actually kind of neat. The second feature is about this ass-hat of a kid named Gordy Belcher, that is obsessed with flies. Especially if they are dead flies. He puts the flies in a tiny diorama that he has in his basement. The flies are all set-up in these everyday life poses. It's kind of lame. He pisses everyone in town off with his ghoulish behavior, and kicks up a rivalry with a mad scientist of sortsThis movie isn't hurting for star power. Sean Austin, Jeremy Miller, James Karen, Kathleen Freeman, Michael Bower, Bill Erwin, Dana Ashbrook, Kirk Cameron, and even Doug Benson have a part in it. The writing and acting are all television quality but that doesn't take away from anything. The weirdest thing is the cold open. It's strange. And the individual scenes seem to go on for way too long and the plot just gets muddy.The nostalgic factor really played a part with me here. I think I may have seen this when I was a child. It seems so familiar. I didn't expect much and I felt okay with what I had gotten. Others seem to really hate this movie, but I don't understand the hate. It's not the best so don't go into this expecting anything. Just watch it for what it is. A really weird early 90's kids horror movie.
... View MoreOK, it starts out with short stories, gory, yes. Gross, yes. Any good? Watch. Next we get to the main stories. The first one, scary, original, and funny. It's about a janitor who is really a monster and eats bad kids. The second story, long, stupid, wrong, sick, and boring. It's about Gordy Blecher who is in love with dead fly's. Good for the most part, and it is watchable, intil the end. *** out of ***** Good
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