Tales of the Uncanny

Initially I wasn't overly keen on sitting down to watch the 2020 documentary "Tales of the Uncanny", as horror anthologies usually tend to be somewhat bland. But still, I opted to sit down to watch it, because I do find myself curious about what gold out there in the horror genre is there yet for me to discover. And as it turns out, then director David Gregory actually managed to concoct a wholesome documentary here with "Tales of the Uncanny", one that goes way back to the early days of horror anthology and carries on up to this day and age. So the information here was wide-spanning, and I definitely found some interesting things throughout the course of this documentary. Take heed though, that a documentary such as "Tales of the Uncanny" is something for the avid fan of the horror genre. Yeah, if you sit down to watch "Tales of the Uncanny" as a casual viewer, I am pretty sure that you will find it tedious and boring. But for us horror aficionados out there, then there were a fair amount of interesting information to be found in "Tales of the Uncanny". My rating of "Tales of the Uncanny" lands on a five out of ten stars.

Originally intended as an extra on The Theater Bizarre release, Tales of the Uncanny grew in scope over the lockdown that COVID-19 caused. Starting with Severin Films chief David Gregory and House Of Psychotic Women author Kier-La Janisse, there's a huge cast of people ready to share their thoughts on the history of anthology horror, like Eli Roth, Joe Dante, Mark Hartley, Mick Garris, Ernest Dickerson, Joko Anwar, Brian Yuzna, Gary Sherman, Rebekah McKendry, Peter Strickland, Kim Newman, Jovanka Vuckovic, Luigi Cozzi, Tom Savini, Jenn Wexler, Larry Fessenden, Richard Stanley, Brian Trenchard-Smith, Ramsey Campbell and David DeCoteau. The films covered are Eerie Tales, Waxworks, The Living Dead, Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, Flesh and Fantasy, Dead of Night, Three Cases of Murder, Tales of Terror, Black Sabbath, Twice-Told Tales, Kwaidan, Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, Torture Garden, Spirits of the Dead, The House That Dripped Blood, Tales from the Crypt, Asylum, The Vault of Horror, From Beyond the Grave, Trilogy of Terror, Dead of Night, The Uncanny, The Monster Club, Creepshow, Screamtime, Twilight Zone: The Movie, Nightmares, Tales from the Third Dimension, Cat's Eye, Night Train to Terror, Escapes,Deadtime Stories, Creepshow 2, From a Whisper to a Scream, After Midnight, Two Evil Eyes, Tales from the Dark Side: The Movie, Grim Prarie Tales, Necronomicon, Tales from the Hood, Family Portraits: A Trilogy of America, Three...Extreme, Trick 'r Treat, Fear (s) of the Dark, Little Deaths, The Theater Bizarre, Chillerama, V/H/S, The ABCs of Death, V/H/S/2, ABCs of Death 2, Barbarous Mexico, German Angst, Betamax, Southbound, Tales of Halloween, Holidays, Worst Fears, XX, The Field Guide to Evil and Nightmare Cinema. Fans of anthology horror may not learn many new things, but it's a great introduction to newcomers, particularly the Amicus section of the film. I'd advise watching this with subtitles, as some of the Skype interviews are a bit difficult to make out. Otherwise, a great package that comes complete with Eerie Tales and Unusual Tales.

The supplemental feature documentary wizard and head of Severin Films David Gregory (Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson, Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau) has spent part of his time in the midst of a global pandemic expanding what was to be a bonus feature documentary to Severin Films release of The Theatre Bizarre into it's own feature length documentary. Tales of the Uncanny is an exploration of the anthology horror film format that features dozens of filmmakers, critics and notable fans, providing brief commentary and impressions about major anthology titles. It's a history that expands from the silent film era to today--a much longer history that is much deeper than I realized before viewing this film. For those unfamiliar with anthology horror or portmanteaus as they are often called by our friends across the pond, consist of several short films often linked by a wrap around narrative. These stories often are adaptations of literary shorts, with Edgar Allen Poe being a constant inspiration throughout much of the format's history. As expressed in the documentary, the anthology format lent itself to experimentation and freedom for filmmakers resulting in some terrifying, bizarre, funny and unforgettable segments throughout the format's history. Tales of the Uncanny is about breadth rather than depth, which frankly is perfect since this film is likely to introduce fans to at least a few new titles. Films are generally covered quickly, often one or two segments from each film are focused on. It's apparent which films, or more specifically studio, is most influential on the pool of folks contributing to this documentary since Amicus' anthologies are covered most extensively. This makes sense, give the small British studio's commitment to the format and their influence over anthology horror films but this will likely leave younger viewers or those unfamiliar with these films wishing for equal time to be given to more contemporary examples. Tales of the Uncanny is an enjoyable overview of a much loved film format that should offer many views a string of titles to discover and fall in love with and the blu ray is highly recommended as it contains a few very rare horror anthologies for viewers to enjoy. This is a must watch doc for any horror lover!

An entertaining and breezy look at horror anthologies throughout time. As expected, some films get more airtime than others and many are mentioned for a few seconds and not talked about again. The people being interviewed are a qualified and engaging group, but I do wish it were a little bit longer.