I've just rewatched John Carpenter's CIGARETTE BURNS that he made for
the first season of the "Masters of Horror" series. I'd totally
forgotten how good it is!! The story perfectly fits the 60 minute
running time. I think I'll start rewatching all three seasons again
("Fear Itself" being "season 3"). Here's a link to my five year old review.
Episode from FEAR ITSELF - season 1 (aka MASTERS OF HORROR season 3)
Last night, it had become too late for a real feature length movie but I still wanted to watch something in the field of horror so I pulled out the FEAR ITSELF set (which has been collecting dust on my shelf for about two years or so!!) and decided on BRECK EISNER's SACRIFICE (ultimately because I had read a comment that Fred Adelman made about the CRAZIES remake on his site where he said the film was really good and I figured I might as well give this one a shot then. See, it all hangs together in this universe, LOL). I notice on the box (the Skeleton box mind you!) that it said it was by the same director. It was a no-brainer, if Fred said the remake was really good I didn't need to consider the other episodes. And I'm glad I went with SACRIFICE because, well, it was a great one!
A bunch of crooks are stranded in the middle of a snowy nowhere. Their car is fucked and so is one of the guys who's been shot (or some such. An explanation is given but it's probably bogus). It's never explained what's happened prior to the film's start. They discover some buildings in the distance and start walking there. Thru the snow, thru the hostile (yet beautiful Canadian) landscape. Once they get there they find out it's actually an old fort which is only inhabited by three young women. Well, that is until they find out there's someone else there that the fair maidens aren't telling them about. Then blood, killing, hanging upside down, a bed that isn't very comfy, nasty breath, an ugly mug, and mucho sexy (yet scary) Rachel Miner!
I loved this episode and already wanna watch it again. The approx 45 minute running time means all the fat and unnecessary chewy bits are cut off the bone and we're left with an intense and tight wee horror film. So far I've only watched one other episode from this season (I count it as the third season as it's really the sequel to the MASTERS OF HORROR series that was retitled because it was broadcast by a different network. The complete season is out on DVD in the UK but I decided to get the reg. 1 release as it looks pretty fucken cool. xD
Highly recommended.
PS: I couldn't find a trailer for this specific episode so I've posted the preview trailer for the series. Almost all of the first 30 seconds are from SACRIFICE plus there's some footage towards the end.
Last night I watched this telly movie from the first season of the "Masters of Horror" series and it's pretty good actually! It's directed by whatshisface who did that movie whatsitcalled with that guy I forget his name. Anyhoo, there was stuff happening and a dead baby and a rat with a human face that looked like one of my old teachers from school and there were tits and gore too. Great stuff! You should watch it.
I watched the first episode of FEAR ITSELF (i.e. "Masters of Horror" season 3) tonight and I can't say I'm disappointed! The episode is called "Eater" and is directed by Stuart Gordon, and obviously it's pointless to tell you he also directed the legendary RE-ANIMATOR in 1985 cos you already know that. One of my all time fave films! If "Eater" is an indicator of the quality of FEAR ITSELF then I'm certainly in for a treat cos this episode is great!
The story takes place at a small police station during one snowy night. A handful of police officers are asked to look after a particularly dangerous prisoner until the next morning. But at some point the main character, a young female rookie cop, discovers that maybe the other cops aren't what she thinks they are. Not a fortunate situation since the guy in the cell (or where ever he is) is a Cajun "chef" with an appetite for human flesh. LOL. Without revealing too much let me just hint at the ending may be surprisingly downbeat! Not a bad thing in my book. :D The only extra feature is a five minute interview with Stuart Gordon but at least he talks about how much he loves horror. xD
My bank account is in the red and with last night's purchase it's gonna be even more in the red, argh!!
The kinda third season of the US TV show Masters of Horror, retitled Fear Itself, has just been released on local DVD. Søren over at Skræk og rædsel blog has mentioned it a couple of times and since I quite enjoyed season 1 I thought I'd check out how much this new set retails for (and no, I still haven't got season 2 which for some reason wasn't released here. I'll get the reg. 1 set eventually). In a few months you can probably scoop it up for DKK 70-100 but right now it's around 300 Danish pesetas ($56). A bit much for my in-the-red budget so I checked Amazon and lo and behold they had THIS spiffy edition...
...for a mere 24 dollars! So needless to say that's the one I ordered! :D
I mean how cool is that; Get a skeleton shaped cover or a boring Danish one?? Yeah big difficult choice!! (like NOT). Both releases contain the complete series. The Danish e-stores I checked all mentioned it's "season 1" but none of them mentioned the link to the Masters of Horror series or that it's in reality season 3 (just produced for a different network). IMBECILES! I spit in your face!! (LMAO).
PS: click the skeleton cover twice for gigantic bone size! xD.
My second episode in the Masters of Horror series (but actually the first one that was aired) is Don Coscarelli's INCIDENT ON AND OFF A MOUNTAIN ROAD. A chick who's left her bossy boyfriend crashes her car on a deserted mountain road miles from anybody else. Well, anybody except some monster guy who's main purpose in life is to capture and have fun with girls who crash their car. ;o)
Coscarelli's episode is pretty good and very much in the same vein as films like WRONG TURN and THE HILLS HAVE EYES. There's a slightly different twist at the end though. :o)
It was nice to see a chick play the main character and she didn't even need help from some male stranger who just happened to pass by. Gee, wauw. The story line may exist within the confines of well known territory but I have no problem with that as long as the film is entertaining or/and well played (or has tons of gore, LOL). And INCIDENT is both entertaining and well played (there's some gore too). Oh, and Angus Scrimm aka The Tall Man from Coscarelli's PHANTASM films is in it too!
I bought the entire first season of Masters of Horror on DVD the other day. I've only ever watched one episode of the series, that film was DARIO ARGENTO's JENIFER which I thought was pretty good and which was my friend Heine Sørensen's choice for the evening at a film night a few years back (men var det hos Henrik eller Nils? I forget). So, last night I watched my first episode and I deliberately chose John Carpenter's CIGARETTE BURNS due to the feeble fact that Uncut.dk'sCaspar Vang gave it a good review three years ago, haha. I mean I'm aware that some of episodes are reportedly crap so I wanted to start off on a high note. So, how was it? I hear you cry out in wholesome unity. Well, Caspar gave it four stars out of five and I can certainly vouch for that! The plot: Some young guy who runs a cult movie cinema gets an offer from a weird film collector (played by Udo Kier) to find a particularly rare print of a film. The film itself is apparently so extreme that a riot broke out in the cinema where it was first shown and it has a rather negative effect on people. This is not a review so it's sufficient to say that CIGARETTE BURNS is quite good and certainly delivers in the splatter department. Udo Kier is always a welcome asset to any film regardless of the film if you ask me. There are a handful of references to real horror movies throughout. Recommended! Now watch the trailer!
I've just rewatched John Carpenter's CIGARETTE BURNS that he made for
the first season of the "Masters of Horror" series. I'd totally
forgotten how good it is!! The story perfectly fits the 60 minute
running time. I think I'll start rewatching all three seasons again
("Fear Itself" being "season 3"). 
If "Eater" is an indicator of the quality of FEAR ITSELF then I'm certainly in for a treat cos this episode is great! 
My second episode in the Masters of Horror series (but actually the first one that was aired) is Don Coscarelli's INCIDENT ON AND OFF A MOUNTAIN ROAD. A chick who's left her bossy boyfriend crashes her car on a deserted mountain road miles from anybody else. Well, anybody except some monster guy who's main purpose in life is to capture and have fun with girls who crash their car. ;o)
I bought the entire first season of Masters of Horror on DVD the other day. I've only ever watched one episode of the series, that film was DARIO ARGENTO's JENIFER which I thought was pretty good and which was my friend Heine Sørensen's choice for the evening at a film night a few years back (men var det hos Henrik eller Nils? I forget). So, last night I watched my first episode and I deliberately chose John Carpenter's CIGARETTE BURNS due to the feeble fact that Uncut.dk's Caspar Vang gave it a good review three years ago, haha. I mean I'm aware that some of episodes are reportedly crap so I wanted to start off on a high note. So, how was it? I hear you cry out in wholesome unity. Well, Caspar gave it four stars out of five and I can certainly vouch for that! The plot: Some young guy who runs a cult movie cinema gets an offer from a weird film collector (played by Udo Kier) to find a particularly rare print of a film. The film itself is apparently so extreme that a riot broke out in the cinema where it was first shown and it has a rather negative effect on people. This is not a review so it's sufficient to say that CIGARETTE BURNS is quite good and certainly delivers in the splatter department. Udo Kier is always a welcome asset to any film regardless of the film if you ask me. There are a handful of references to real horror movies throughout. Recommended! Now watch the trailer!