Haunted Hollows DVD Pack
So the other day I saw a DVD collection "Haunted Hollows". 8 films about haunted houses, all crammed on 2 dvds and only $5! How could that possibly go wrong??
Much like the 8 Horror Film collection I wrote about a few months ago, I have made it through each one. And for $5...it was okay.
The 8 Films:
The House that Would Not Die
This one proved to be an old TV Movie from the 70s 'movie of the week' fame. Very heavy on the atmosphere, and obviously constrained by being for broadcast, but not a bad film. It's a bit slow but the story is interesting enough.
The Haunting of Fox Hollow Farm
A no-budget found footage film. Ghost investigators spend the night in a house, don't find anything, make up for it with lots and lots of cheap editing tricks. Boring, boring, boring.
Evidence of a Haunting
Another group of investigators talk about their freakiest cases. Again, low budget and suffers from a weak start but gets interesting near the end. Actually has some character development and some interesting plot ideas (some of them don't quite work, but I give the movie bonus points for trying)
Still, worth watching.
7 Nights of Darkness
Another found footage film, this one is a group of people who have to stay in a an abandoned asylum for 7 days and nights to win a bunch of money. As one might expect things go very, very badly. Cliched, but not nearly as bad as the other films. Even has an interesting bit every now and then.
Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return
Awww..a Hollywood film shoe-horned in to the collection for the name value. Doesn't even have a haunted house. Terrible Hollywood direct-to-video horror.
Darkness
Another Hollywood horror film, this one with a young Anna Paquin, but this one actually has a haunted house in it. Unfortunately while it's nice to have a movie that was competently made (actual lighting! you never miss that until you get films that can't afford it...) it's still dreadfully boring. IMDB says it was heavily cut to drop from R to PG-13 film, and still sat on the shelf for 2 years.
Run of the mill Hollywood flick.
Ominous
The worst movie of the bunch. No-budget film about a family goes to haunted cabin movie. Ghosts that love to pop up and look scary behind the actors but don't actually do anything. Cheap editing tricks that don't work. Oh, and the plot is a complete and total downer. Blugh.
The Haunting of Winchester House
Oh boy! It's the movie by The Asylum. So sit back for people who are competent in their jobs but didn't have the time or interest to put any work into it. Lots of bad CGI. Dreadful plot and characters.
So a couple of movies that were worth watching, a few movies that really weren't and a lot of middling bits. So $5 was just the right price point but I was hoping for more.
Much like the 8 Horror Film collection I wrote about a few months ago, I have made it through each one. And for $5...it was okay.
The 8 Films:
The House that Would Not Die
This one proved to be an old TV Movie from the 70s 'movie of the week' fame. Very heavy on the atmosphere, and obviously constrained by being for broadcast, but not a bad film. It's a bit slow but the story is interesting enough.
The Haunting of Fox Hollow Farm
A no-budget found footage film. Ghost investigators spend the night in a house, don't find anything, make up for it with lots and lots of cheap editing tricks. Boring, boring, boring.
Evidence of a Haunting
Another group of investigators talk about their freakiest cases. Again, low budget and suffers from a weak start but gets interesting near the end. Actually has some character development and some interesting plot ideas (some of them don't quite work, but I give the movie bonus points for trying)
Still, worth watching.
7 Nights of Darkness
Another found footage film, this one is a group of people who have to stay in a an abandoned asylum for 7 days and nights to win a bunch of money. As one might expect things go very, very badly. Cliched, but not nearly as bad as the other films. Even has an interesting bit every now and then.
Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return
Awww..a Hollywood film shoe-horned in to the collection for the name value. Doesn't even have a haunted house. Terrible Hollywood direct-to-video horror.
Darkness
Another Hollywood horror film, this one with a young Anna Paquin, but this one actually has a haunted house in it. Unfortunately while it's nice to have a movie that was competently made (actual lighting! you never miss that until you get films that can't afford it...) it's still dreadfully boring. IMDB says it was heavily cut to drop from R to PG-13 film, and still sat on the shelf for 2 years.
Run of the mill Hollywood flick.
Ominous
The worst movie of the bunch. No-budget film about a family goes to haunted cabin movie. Ghosts that love to pop up and look scary behind the actors but don't actually do anything. Cheap editing tricks that don't work. Oh, and the plot is a complete and total downer. Blugh.
The Haunting of Winchester House
Oh boy! It's the movie by The Asylum. So sit back for people who are competent in their jobs but didn't have the time or interest to put any work into it. Lots of bad CGI. Dreadful plot and characters.
So a couple of movies that were worth watching, a few movies that really weren't and a lot of middling bits. So $5 was just the right price point but I was hoping for more.