It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a good horror anthology. Being a big fan of ‘Creepshow, ‘Tales From the Darkside,’ and who can forget ‘Tales From The Crypt,’ I have been longing for the day horror fans would be given another worthy horror anthology movie. (Instead we were given ‘Snoop Dogg’s Hood of Horror’ ICK!)
It turns out that there still may be some hope in having my wish come true. A new horror anthology film called ‘Deadtime Stories’ is being written and directed by Jeff Monahan. It also being presented by one of the masters of horror, George A.Romero.
Cinematical gives us this:
George Romero will be “presenting” the new Deadtime Stories, but the writer/director is actually a guy named Jeff Monahan. (He’s an actor turned director who appeared in Romero’s Two Evil Eyes, The Dark Half and Bruiser, actually.) Apparently two of the three mini-movies are already finished, and the third one is set to shoot in February. BD.com tells us that one is a college-set ghost story called On Sabbath Hill and the other is a story about dangerous Mars soil called Dust.
Before you guys get excited about this project because of George Romero’s involvement, let me remind you that he is only “presenting” the film. How many of you guys have been duped into watching a movie that you thought your favorite director helmed? I bet plenty of people thought ‘Hostel’ was directed by Quentin Tarantino because he presented it. ( I fell victim to Wes Craven Presents ‘Wishmaster’ because of this fact.)
In fact, at a horror convention I attended back in 2004, George A. Romero had explained as to what “presenting” a movie means. (Because he was questioned about his involvement in a video game) In most cases, the director has little to no involvement with the project and primarily gets paid for the usage of their name in front of the movie.
However, since Jeff Monahan has worked with Romero in the past, this could be a genuine collabration here.
Honestly, all I’m concerned about is if this film going to be note-worthy or not. So what are your guys’ thoughts on this? Will you watch ‘Deadtime Stories?’
Good eye Darren! ;)
Yes there was a horror anthology made in 1986 with the same title. From what I hear, this is not a remake.
Follow up: I didn’t mention it before, but that above image looks really familiar. Was there another film with the title ‘Deadtime Stories’?
Romero wouldn’t attach his name to it if it was crap. I am confident that it will be entertaining.
Hey Ajaxlou,
I totally agree with you on MOH…I have the boxsets…and I can honestly say…I like probably 5 or 6 out of the whole series…lol
Probably depends on who wrote the stories. As to MOH Darren, I can’t agree. I have watched quite a few of them on DVD and they are disappointing in the majority of cases.
There is a good side and there is a downside to this.
First, the sugar.
Horror anthogogy recenty made a comeback on pay cable, specifically the “Masters Of Horror” in the past few years. Some of these 60 minute tales have been put wisely to DVD as well. Most of them are outstanding.
I also was a big avid watcher in the late 80s early 90s of stuff like Tales From The Darkside and Monsters…I even liked the 80’s/90s revivals of Twilight Zone. I also loved Tales From The Crypt, even if they ran out of stuff in the last season or so.
I myself would love to see a film which has three or four different horror tales, all rolled into one film, with a common thread….kind of like a better version of Hellraiser : Bloodline if you will.
Having Romero’s name on the project does give it some notice, and Romero has been connected to anthology films in the past with varied results. While not mentioned here, I wonder if some of these bits in Deadtime are based off short stories by Stephen King, (or Robert R McCammon, or Nancy Collins or Dean Koontz, etc. for that matter)…it wouldn’t hurt.
There are lesser known anthogy films which I liked too….like After Midnight.
Second, the shit…
Some of us may dig ’em, but anthology movies don’t do well at the box office. That’s not to say one film can’t break the mold, it’s just that, anthology movies don’t do well.
Most people even avoided Grindhouse.
Putting a director’s name in a “presents” doesn’t mean squabble. Romero, John Carpenter, Wes Craven (and while Wishmaster- and Dracula 2000 and thier DTV sequels were trash, “They” had some small merit; I haven’t seen “Breed” yet, though)
as far as I’m concerned, are not enough to draw me in. Not even Quentin Tarintino- I liked Ong Bak a lot, I would have seen Protector anyway. I had some mild liking of Curdled, but then again, some scenes in that were added to fit into Tarintinoverse.
I’m siding with Meli on this…
but let’s also see how next year’s Trick Or Treat does as well..
I have low expectations.
My interest in peaked. I love Tales from the Crypt and the Creepshow films. The short horror movie stories can be a lot of fun. I would like to see a trailer first before making a final decision.
Probably not. I’m not into horror much anyway except for some rare exceptions (I LOVE Hammer Horror and various main stream cult horror films, such as Romero’s Dead series and various classic horror films – read: Vincent Price in House on Haunted Hill, The Haunting by Robert Wise, etc.). Also Halloween 1, 2 and H20.
Is this direct-to-video (which I assume it is) or is it coming to theaters? If it’s straight to video I doubt I’ll even consider bothering.