I've seen plenty of "short story" films like this, examples being Creepshow 1, 2 and Tales from the Darkside. I like these kind of films, even though they are mostly pretty bad. I like them because they usually feature at least one story that will stick with you and deliver a heart wrenching ending. Films usually end on an upper note. Short stories never end on an upper note. That is why I like them. They differ.
But this film, while it had it's moments, doesn't really strike me as anything good at all. In fact it's very dull. There are four stories, directed by four different brilliant directors (John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante and George Miller, in that order). All of the stories, except the prologue and the first one, are based on real Twilight Zone episodes.
So the film starts out with a very nice prologue, by John Landis. What follows is a story that's interesting at first, but doesn't really go anywhere. After the first twist, there is none more it gets boring. Nothing to grasp us, as an audience and keep us interested. It's about a man who, after lashing out against Jews, Africans and orientals, get thrown into another dimension - or the Twilight Zone if you will, where he is suddenly the oppressed... The Jew the Nazi wants to kill, the black guy the KKK wants to burn and the Vietnamese the Americans want to destroy. It goes on for quite awhile. Longer than necessary, and starts off nice but you'll be happy once it ends.
The second story is a cheerful and interesting story, which just happens to be incredibly dull as it basically has no plot. I liked some factors of it, for instance the fact that it brings up some rather nice philosophical questions and debates in a light hearted manner, but it's still quite boring. Directed by Steven Spielberg, which is probably why it's so sugar sweet. If you want to go and take a break from the film, do it during this segment. You won't miss anything: By the time you get back, nothing will have happened and they'll still be discussing the same things they did when you left the TV. The plot itself is about an old retirement home, where the people are either very depressed or suffering from some kind of disease. Hope comes along, in form of Scatman Crothers who has some interesting views on their situation. I love that guys work, but this segment still suffers.
The third story isn't really that interesting either, but at least it offers something for us to get interested by! Directed by Joe Dante, this story tells the tale of a school teacher who meets up with a young kid and his strange family. His family seems overly eager to please the young boy, and he has a mentally ill sister who only sits and stares blankly into the television set. Somehow, the boy seems to be the cause. But how? Not the best short story I've seen, but I'll have to admit that I was quite intrigued by why the family were so strange and it does offer a twist. Some scary and eerie moments here, such as the "Hat trick". The second best in the movie.
The fourth story, directed by (My favourite of the four) George Miller is definitely, without question, the best of the four stories. It's a horror story through and through, yet we aren't sure as to what we are seeing is real or made up. John Lithgow plays a character who has a deep fear of flying. When he suddenly spots some kind of creature on the wing, he panics. Nobody believes him of course, yet the creature persists and attempts to bring the plane down. There's only one flaw in this episode, and I think it's the ending. While it's good, I could think of numerous ways how it could have ended better.
The whole series is tied together at the end, where a character from the prologue returns to give us one last spook. Nice touch. But I won't be watching this film again, it's filled with too much dull air.
5/10
But this film, while it had it's moments, doesn't really strike me as anything good at all. In fact it's very dull. There are four stories, directed by four different brilliant directors (John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante and George Miller, in that order). All of the stories, except the prologue and the first one, are based on real Twilight Zone episodes.
So the film starts out with a very nice prologue, by John Landis. What follows is a story that's interesting at first, but doesn't really go anywhere. After the first twist, there is none more it gets boring. Nothing to grasp us, as an audience and keep us interested. It's about a man who, after lashing out against Jews, Africans and orientals, get thrown into another dimension - or the Twilight Zone if you will, where he is suddenly the oppressed... The Jew the Nazi wants to kill, the black guy the KKK wants to burn and the Vietnamese the Americans want to destroy. It goes on for quite awhile. Longer than necessary, and starts off nice but you'll be happy once it ends.
The second story is a cheerful and interesting story, which just happens to be incredibly dull as it basically has no plot. I liked some factors of it, for instance the fact that it brings up some rather nice philosophical questions and debates in a light hearted manner, but it's still quite boring. Directed by Steven Spielberg, which is probably why it's so sugar sweet. If you want to go and take a break from the film, do it during this segment. You won't miss anything: By the time you get back, nothing will have happened and they'll still be discussing the same things they did when you left the TV. The plot itself is about an old retirement home, where the people are either very depressed or suffering from some kind of disease. Hope comes along, in form of Scatman Crothers who has some interesting views on their situation. I love that guys work, but this segment still suffers.
The third story isn't really that interesting either, but at least it offers something for us to get interested by! Directed by Joe Dante, this story tells the tale of a school teacher who meets up with a young kid and his strange family. His family seems overly eager to please the young boy, and he has a mentally ill sister who only sits and stares blankly into the television set. Somehow, the boy seems to be the cause. But how? Not the best short story I've seen, but I'll have to admit that I was quite intrigued by why the family were so strange and it does offer a twist. Some scary and eerie moments here, such as the "Hat trick". The second best in the movie.
The fourth story, directed by (My favourite of the four) George Miller is definitely, without question, the best of the four stories. It's a horror story through and through, yet we aren't sure as to what we are seeing is real or made up. John Lithgow plays a character who has a deep fear of flying. When he suddenly spots some kind of creature on the wing, he panics. Nobody believes him of course, yet the creature persists and attempts to bring the plane down. There's only one flaw in this episode, and I think it's the ending. While it's good, I could think of numerous ways how it could have ended better.
The whole series is tied together at the end, where a character from the prologue returns to give us one last spook. Nice touch. But I won't be watching this film again, it's filled with too much dull air.
5/10