At Last!
The Encyclopedia Tromatica | Fort Worth, TX | 08/26/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"At last, they have decided to publish on DVD the movies that Troma fans have been asking for. This is a collection of titles that Troma has, apparently, licensed to Brentwood for DVD release. Although Brentwood has only put the movies on the discs, without any additional features (in other words, treating the DVDs as though these are nothing more than round, flat, VHS tapes) this is no worse than Troma studios has decided to do with all of their recent releases. But the point is, THESE are the very movies that Troma Fans have been clamouring for!
Or are they? The first (chronologically) and worst of these, 1980s "Beyond Evil" directed by Herb "Graduation Day" Freed, does not seem to be listed in Troma's online database, and neither was it ever mentioned as an acquisition by the company. It does seem that this was just something that Brentwood stuck in the box. Still, I don't mind. This movie does feature some unintentionally funny dialogue.
The second disc, featuring 1987s "Evil Clutch" is much more entertaining. This is also the scariest of the trio, in my opinion. This is a ghost story that was, apparently, made in Italy. Describing it only as "a ghost story", however, is woefully insufficient. This has the best, and most complex, plot of the three movies.
Almost as entertaining is 1987s "Chillers", on, obviously, the third disc in this set. This one is much more simple than the other two, involving five travellers exchanging frightening tales while stranded at a bus depot. Not all of these stories, each a mini movie within the movie are good, but the overall effect is very satisfying.
As mentioned above, there are no additional features on these discs, other than ads for the the same features on two of the discs. Which is to say, "Evil Clutch" has an ad for "Evil Clutch", "Chillers" has the ad for "Chillers". This is the only thing that keeps me from giving this 5 stars. However, the movies themselves are very entertaining, so I do recommend this boxed set."