When I first started talking about horror films on message boards, the first board I ever joined was the Burnout-Central Message Board, that site is now no longer around, but the remnants of the board and site are still up on the web. One of the first filmmakers I meet was Michael Hoffman whom was a member of the board, back then is was just finishing up Scary Tales. Now the thing I like about Mike and how we relate is at the time he was shooting “Scary Tales” and learning how to better himself in the film business, I was also shooting my first feature film and learning as well. Now when I received the screener for the upcoming DVD for the Scary Tales Collection, (Which includes “Scary Tales” and “Scary Tales 2: The Return of Mr. Longfellow”.) I received a letter from Mike, I had to laugh cause in the letter he pointed out some of the faults and how he did not want the films to be taken seriously. I had to laugh as I, myself feel the same way about the film I produced as well. So of course being in the same shoes he was back then, I knew the feeling. And well the great thing about “The Scary Tales Collection” is that you can see how Mike has progressed as a filmmaker.
Now I first popped “Scary Tales” into my DVD player first. The first thing I noticed is that although the Production Value had a very large B-movie feel to it, the use of camera shots and angles were great. Mike as a director really knows what he’s doing. The acting was alright, nothing special. I mean you can’t expect Oscar winning performances in low budget films. The stories were pretty cool as they all related to one another, however the pacing was slow at times, and I found myself wanting the stories to just pick up. So overall on the first disc. I found the film to be a good achievement for a first time director, and probably would of given it two and a half stars.
Now for the second film, I was very impressed, you can tell that Mike took the mistakes he made in the first film and corrected them to make an even better film with “Scary Tales 2”. The stories move along faster and are more interesting. “7:13” happened to be my favorite of all the stories. In part two we get an overall better film, with better acting, better directing and a better script. I’d give the sequel three stars overall.
Now both films have pretty decent low budget special effects. I mean you can’t expect any thing great, but they are better than most effects in low budget films and are believable enough to help the film move along.
Overall I think that “The Scary Tales Collection” is a nice set of short indie horror films. If you like films such as “Creepshow” or “Tales from the Darkside” or Television Shows such as “Tales from the Crypt”, “The Twilight Zone” or “Night Gallery” then you’ll most likely love “Scary Tales”.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
