This is the second 3-disc set of early Troma movies that Navarre/BCI licenced. The box promises there will be 7 of these handsome sets, and I can only hope this will be true. The tone of the films included in this set is much darker than those in the first one.
EVIL CLUTCH
This Italian film (originally titled Il Bosco) has that wonderful atmosphere of the better Italian films from the 70's and the 80's, including the wonderfully disturbing English dubbing. It is probably influenced by the highly popular Evil Dead, but definitely not a rip off. If we were to say that, all vampire themed films would be Dracula rip offs and fortunately certain themes can be explored in many different ways. The Italians have very often taken some inspiration from certain american films,only to take the themes to new and higher levels. And one thing sets this one apart: there is none of the distracting humor that made Evil Dead way too funny to be terrifying. Evil Clutch has long been one of my absolute favorite Troma pick-ups.
An American girl and her Italian boyfriend take a vacation in the Alps and are lured in a web of inescapable horrors. That seems a simple enough plot, but of course there is more to it than that. Evil Clutch builds the tension tentilizingly slow by using long shots of seemingly trivial happenings, but as the film progresses it becomes clear that there is a very specific need for this, as the horror, when is starts to show itself, is all the more terrifying. A good example is the meeting with the writer (who disturbingly speaks with an electronic voice device due to an operation) that gets more claustrofobic as it goes on.
In the last half hour the slowly built tension in unleashes in a never-a-dull-moment stream of horrifying events that keep my eyes glued to the screen and **spoiler aler** the climax is not the ultimate gruesome gore laden scenes, but what comes after that: our heroine fleeing from the place of horrors in a long and stunningly acted scene of absolute fear, thus going back to the slow pace of the beginning of the film, but in entirely different circumstances.
A much overlooked film, which can be corrected now that itis released on DVD as part of the Toxie's Triple Terror volume 2 set.
CHILLERS
Is certainly the best looking from this set, rare for such an obscure gem. Very clear picture and sound. Chillers is an episode film, and usually these don't work too well because not enough time is given in the short segments to build up tension, get to know the characters a.s.o. Here, however, in the 87 minutes the film lasts we are treated to no less than 5 stories that build up very well and involve many unexpected plot-twists. We get zombies, vampires, psychopaths, ghosts and possession plus an unexpected surprise ending (which is given away in the included trailer, so watch this after the film). A group of travellers are stuck in a bus-depot that has all the hospitality of the one in Rock Bottom, where Spongebob Squarepants and Patrick Star get stranded, and in order to kill time they somehow wind up telling each other their worst nightmares. I won't give away any of the stories here, except that they range from very entertaining to truly frightening. Winner of the prestigious Silver Scream Award by the Acedemy of Science Fiction, Fanstasy and Horror Films, and rightfully so, Chillers is a very good horror movie that is one of those examples where a limited budget enhances the creativity of the filmmakers. A truly original visual paperback of great stories.
BEYOND EVIL
A very satisfying film, with incredibly good acting, especially for such a low budget movie. John Saxon.(From Dusk Till Dawn, Dario Agento's Tenebrea, to name but a few of his many starring roles) and his wife Linda Day George (who starred in such different works as Pieces and the tv series Roots) go to an island for a building project the husband works on, and while there, are offered a wonderful mansion to live in. As it is on islands in horrormovies, the locals have some superstitions about the house, which are not far fromthe horrible truth. I won't tell too much, because it would spoil the fun of watching this well crafted film.
OK, the special effects are very seventies, and in those days probably could even have been slightly better - but if the filmmakers decided to spend whatever budget they had rather on great actors than on the effects, I would say this was money well spent. This is a good story that borrows a little here and there, but never crosses any line of plagiarism as so many recent Hollywood productions get away with shamelessly. Adding a lot of itself and a rather disturbing atmosphere (which is enhanced by Saxon's briljant acting) this results in a very enjoyable and sometimes frightening horrormovie.
This 2nd set is again wonderfully packaged: three ultra-slim slipcases collected in an attractive slipcase. There are no extra's apart from some trailers for the films themselves, but the price is right and it is a rare chance to collect a great number of very interesting otherwise unavailable important horror-films from a time when these were still allowed to be inventive and the genre wasn't yet taken over by the streamlined and predictable producions that we see nowadays. The films look good, considering the obscurity and age of the works. Especially EVIL CLUTCH looks surprisingly great and surely never surfaced like this ever before and Chillers is near perfect!