COVID hit while Severin films were working on a documentary about the history of horror anthology films. This ended up being a godsend, as it gave them ready access through online video to a bunch of industry experts who had nothing to do. They rack up an impressive sixty-one talking heads - from appreciative bystanders and fans like Ramsey Campbell and Simon Barrett, to people who've actually been involved in crafting one or more anthology films - people like Joe Dante, Roger Corman and Kevin Connor.
It's intended more as a broad survey than any sort of exhaustive history, and at times it just feels like a hangout movie where a bunch of people enthusiastically stump for movies they love; There's very little negativity to be found here.
It's also almost 90% fluff. But given the amount and scope of talent assembled, there's bound to be a lot of little interesting bits of information on the films being discussed.
The films discussed are loosely organized by date, starting with their origins in German silent films, which were then imported into the United States as filmmakers like Fritz Lang emigrated there before the war. A lot is made of Dead of Night, and there's a fun discussion about Amicus films, including a running commentary from people who were involved with various of their productions.
There's a big section on TV anthologies - a couple movies Dan Curtis made from Richard Matheson stories, and TV shows like Tales from the Crypt, Twilight Zone, Night Gallery and Tales from the Darkside - before returning to more cinematic offerings. Creepshow 1 & 2 have an outsized presence, while other films are barely mentioned; it feels a little counterintuitive to spend so much time on films most people with even a passing interest in this format would have already seen, but there you go.
It's still a fun, breezy overview over a genre that sometimes slips under the radar; If nothing else, it's given me a list of films that I need to track down now.
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