Eight Great Horror Movie Anthologies (RMR 8th Anniversary Part 6/8)

Redmanwriter

May 31

Sommerleigh Pollonias, Horror Head Writer

What's better than watching one horror movie? That's easy, it's watching as many as you can in one sitting! I love horror anthologies, those movies where four or five stories are told, usually with a single plot thread weaving them together. They not only remind me of sitting around telling scary stories with my friends in high school, but the shorter stories mean we get to the juicy stuff faster.

Modern day anthologies like Trick 'r Treat and the V/H/S movies are ones you may already be familiar with, but there are more than a few good ones that may have snuck under your radar. So here are Eight Great Horror Movie Anthologies you should definitely check out.

#8 Trilogy of Terror

I...want...my...MTV!!!

Released in 1975, I'll be the first to admit this made-for-television horror anthology from Dark Shadows creator Dan Curtis isn't that great. As the name implies, there are only three stories here (most anthologies have at least four), with two of them being forgettable, relying heavily on their twist endings to give them any weight. But as they say, three times the charm as it's the third story "Ameila" that's so damn good most people probably remember this as a feature length horror instead of the best of three. Telling the story of Amelia (Karen Black) who acquires a wooden doll in the misshapen form of an aborigine warrior, she plans on giving it to her boyfriend as a gift. Turns out the doll keeps the spirit of a Zuni warrior within and to say this warrior is pissed at his fate is an understatement.

Like Child's Play, this movie has one of the most entertainingly crazy killer dolls ever brought to life (pun intended) and Karen Black sells genuine fear even while you find yourself laughing at the ridiculous nature of it all. Not the best anthology, but most definitely worth watching if just to see "Amelia".

#7 Dr Terror's House of Horrors

Could we just play bridge instead?

I promise this list won't just be old movies, but you can't beat the classics! Mario Bava's Black Sabbath, Roger Corman's Tales of Terror, and George A. Romero's Creepshow are all examples of great classic anthologies but a personal favourite of mine is the lesser known but no less entertaining Dr. Terror's House of Horrors.

The Brits brought us this one which tells the story of five men who enter a train carriage bound for the fictional town of Bradley. They're eventually joined by a sixth man (played by the late great Peter Cushing) a fortune teller who proceeds to tell each man his future. Sadly, each man's fate seems worse than the last.

This movie has that old British charm reminiscent of the films released by Hammer Studios. My personal favourite of the bunch was "Vampire" a tale about an American doctor who returns home with his new French bride, only to have his patients start dying from a mysterious case of missing blood. The entire anthology is framed with a cool twist that modern audiences will probably see coming from a mile away, but which I'm sure would've left audiences in 1965 chilled to their bones.

#6 Black Sabbath

Looking a bit parched there Debra

One more classic for the road! 1963's Black Sabbath is probably the most underrated anthology on this list. Cinematic and intense as only Italian horror can do, director Mario Bava worked his magic and with Frankenstein's monster himself Boris Karloff narrating these tales of terror, you know you're in for a good time!

Like most of Bava's work the brilliance of Black Sabbath wasn't immediately acknowledged as the movie didn't do well on initial release. But it has gone on to be a massive hit with both fans of Italian horror and general genre audiences alike. All three stories have a great sense of suspense and tension, but "Drop of Water" is the most chilling of them all. A great story of revenge from beyond the grave, I dare anyone to watch it at night and not find it hard to sleep without seeing the face of the dead countess haunting them.

#5 Tales from the Hood

You boys wanna hear some scary sh--?

Smartly written, acted and executed, Tales from the Hood did something no other anthology movie had done at that time, which was to not just tell random stories of horror, but to also utilise each tale as an allegory for the real-world terrors that surround African Americans.

"Boys Do Get Bruised" is the tale of a sensitive young boy who shows up at his new school with bruises which his caring teacher notices and tells the boy he should draw a picture of the monster that's hurting him so he can destroy it, only to have real world consequences to this action. Then there's "Rogue Cop Revelation", where a group of corrupt police officers murder an innocent black man only to have him seek revenge from beyond the grave. And of course, "KKK Comeuppance", another killer doll(s) story reminiscent of the Zuni doll in Trilogy of Terror, but also delivering its own unique take on the premise.

All five tales are winners with the icing on top being the fantastic prologue and epilogue that thread them together with Clarence Williams III delivering one of the most memorable performances of his career. There were a couple of sequels, none of which came close to being as good as the first, but Tales from the Hood was so good I can't help but hope they keep trying to capture lightning in a bottle, one more time.

#4 Three... Extremes

This tastes odd

Of all the movies on this list, Asian anthology Three…Extremes is the most recent I've viewed. Not that it's a new movie, this Asian anthology was released in 2004. And it features segments by heavy hitters like Fruit Chan (Don't Look Up), Park Chan-wook (Snowpiercer, Oldboy) and Takashi Miike (Audition, Ichi the Killer). These three short stories ("Dumplings" being a standout for me) all deliver the art style and chills we've come to expect from Asian horror.

If you're not a fan of subtitles, don't let that stop you from viewing this. Three… Extremes is so well written you can follow the plot without ever reaching for the volume button. I also prefer to watch foreign films in their native languages as most dubbed features tend to suck the emotion out of the moment. However you watch it though, this is one anthology that deserves to be on your "must-see" list.

#3 The Mortuary Collection

MY PEE PEE!

Modern day anthologies have delivered a few good stories here and there, but most of them seem to forget the best anthologies are the ones that are linked together by a common thread. Trick r Treat is the best example I could think of where this was done right, but another winner would be The Mortuary Collection, starring genre mainstay and crabby owner of The Krusty Krab, Clancy Brown as a mortuary owner who interviews a young woman Sam (Caitlin Custer) as a possible replacement for him when he retires. Montgomery (Brown) proceeds to test Sam's gumption by telling her a series of stories surrounding the corpses that have come through his mortuary. "Unprotected", the second tale of horror surrounding a girl and a frat boy that have unprotected sex, contains a level of body horror that would make David Cronenberg sit up and take notice, "Till Death" will make you think twice about how serious you take your wedding vows, and "The Babysitter Murders" blends perfectly into the main plot thread in very unexpected and entertaining ways.

An absolute banger of an anthology that flew under a lot of genre fans' radars, The Mortuary Collection is a must-see for anthology and horror fans alike.

#2 Tales from the Crypt

Welcome weary travelers. You must be famished. Perhaps some bread and mead?

Before the beloved HBO television show and before all the made-for-television movies that followed, the comic books spawned a 1972 British movie that laid the groundwork for it all.

Five strangers in a crypt encounter the Crypt Keeper who tells them five tales of horror with each of them the unwilling protagonist of the story. There isn't a single stinker among the bunch with horror ranging from chilling ("Wish You Were Here", "Poetic Justice") to gruesome ("Blind Alleys", "Reflection of Death") to so memorable they remade it not once, but three times ("And All Through the House"). And all of them have that touch of dark comedy that the Tales from the Crypt brand is known for. The epilogue delivered a now tried and true revelation (SPOILER ALERT they were dead all along) but it doesn't take anything away from this iconic anthology that has the distinction of being beloved by both critics and fans alike.

#1 Creepshow

The script for Naked Gun Part 3 really wasn't that good...

The first anthology I remember watching was Twilight Zone: The Movie but the one that made me fall in love with anthologies was Creepshow. It was directed by George A. Romero and written by Stephen King. The film stars a host of genre greats such as Adrienne Barbeau, Hal Holbrook, Fritz Weaver, and Ed Harris, but they also included some unexpected talent in the mix like Leslie Nielsen of The Naked Gun and Airplane! fame who blew viewers away as the narcissistic and deeply psychotic millionaire Richard Vickers in the story, "Something to Tide you Over". Ted Danson (The Good Place, CSI) also stars in this tale but it's Nielsen who steals the show, making for the scariest entry of this anthology. Then again, if you hate roaches as much as I do, it's "They're Creeping Up on You" that will leave you squirming in your seat. By the way, did you know they got all the roaches for that story from my country, Trinidad and Tobago? Eww.

Cockroaches aside, Creepshow is an absolute winner when it comes to horror movie anthologies. It may not have the strongest thread in its prologue and epilogue, but the stories remain true to the comic book that inspired them, and one could argue with five very memorable stories. It had everything a young horror fan could want and with the talents of George A. Romero and Stephen King (just to name a few) behind it, Creepshow has held up to multiple revisits over the years and no matter how many times I've seen it, I always find myself enjoying it like it was the first time.

So, that's my list. Which of these horror anthologies are your favourites? Any you would add to the list? Sound off in the comments. And you can check out more horror anthology content from Robot Mango Reviews below:

Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge-Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I'll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes. Double Tap Baby! Read More