MCBASTARD'S MAUSOLEUM

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

CRADLE OF FEAR (2001) Unearthed Films 2-Disc Limited Collector's Edition Blu-ray Review + Screenshots

CRADLE OF FEAR (2001)

2-Disc Limited Collector's Edition Blu-ray

Label: Unearthed Films

Duration: 120 Minutes

Region Code: Region-Free

Audio: English PCM 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.66:1)

Director: Alex Chandron

Cast: Dani Filth, Emily Booth, Edmund Dehn, Stuart Laing, Eileen Daly, Rebecca Eden

Cradle Of Fear (2001), directed by Alex Chandron (Inbred), is a gory, low-budget UK anthology-horror film centered around notorious child murderer named Kemper (David McEwen, TV's Eastenders), a former hypnotist whose father was a Satanist, who is rotting away in a padded cell at a high security asylum, but this scumbag is not gonna let that stop him from having his revenge against those he deems responsible for his imprisonment, making use of a mysterious and sort of demonic figure known only as "The Man" (Dani Filth of metal band Cradle of Filth). Investigating the blood an carnage is the exhausted and wary Detective Neilson (Edmund Dehn, Vesper), who arrives at a crime scene of two recently murdered woman. This wraparound involving Kemper and Neilson introduces the four segments proper, first up is the tale of the two dead women, Mel (Emily Booth, Evil Aliens) and Nikki (Melissa Forti) who while hanging at a Goth club meet The Man and take him home, they do frugs and hook up, and the next day Mel feels terrible, and starts having horrific visions, which gave me Jacob's Ladder vibes. Troubled and not knowing what to do she ends up at Nikki's place looking for help, which is when her conditions worsens, sensing something inside of her she starts stabbing her stomach, then creature burst from her womb and kills them both.

The next segment see's petty criminals Sophie (Rebecca Eden, Pervirella) and Emma (Emma Rice) breaking in and burglarizing the apartment of a frail, deaf old man (Al Stokes, from Aphex Twin: Come to Daddy music video) assuming it will be easy loot. Surprise, surprise, the guy fight's back and they end up killing him. Afterward Sophie betrays and murders Emily, choosing to keep the money for herself, but the angry spirits of the old man and Emma have other plans in mind for the murderess.

As the bodies start piling up Det. Neilson figures out that the victims all have a familiar connection to those involved with putting the notorious child killer Kemper away, and he starts to realize that he or those he love, may be danger as well, as he himself has connection to the killer. The last of the segments proper is the tale of the sexually frustrated Nick Holland (Louie Brownsell, Gangs of New York), a man who has lost a leg, and who blames his missing leg for his inability to have sex with his girlfriend Natalie (Eileen Daly, Razor Blade Smile) - which is a real shame, she does her best to turn him on, she even licks his stump! Well, what's a guy to do, but to call on an old friend, kill him and cut off his leg off, then blackmail a surgeon into replacing his missing leg with the pilfered appendage? His bipedal rehab is short lived however, a grisly car crash sees to that.

Last, we have the tale of reporter Richard (Stuart Laing, TV's Eastenders) who becomes obsessed with snuff films and internet kill-rooms in which viewers can direct the torture and murder of victims for their sick amusement. His obsession leads to an anonymous email that gives him the address of the home where the snuff video are being filmed, which sounds like a bad idea, and it is. Of course he cannot help himself but go there, he wants to see how the hamburger is made so to speak, and guess what, he does, the tables turns and the voyeuristic viewer becomes the helpless victim. The whole shebang comes to a close with the wraparound getting a proper finale, the vengeful Det. Neilson arrives at the asylum to kill Kemper, offering more revelations about his connection to Kemper, the identity of The Man, and of course plenty of gruesome gore and supernatural splatter.

This is an an anthology sure to please the gore-hounds, there are multiple moments of breathtaking and gruesome savagery on display. The practical gore and copious amounts of bloodshed are not for the squeamish, indeed, my wife walked into the room during several of the splashier moments and immediately spun around and walked out of the room as quickly as she entered. It will certainly not be for all tastes, it's a low-budget and shot on early HD video, and at times can look cheap, there's no getting around that, and for some that alone will will be a deal-breaker. The stories also seem a bit padded to me, a little longer than necassary, and I thought the connective tissue that is supposed to bring these altogether was pretty anemic, but I feel that way about a lot of anthologies with wraparound, very few do this well, this ne is at least decent. Thankfully, despite a coupe of shortcoming I thought this was still plenty entertaining, a sleazy, no-holds barred splatter-fest made by people who obviously love gory horror and poured that passion into a scrappy horror anthology that while imperfect, is still a ripping good time.

Audio/Video: This 2-disc Limited Collector's Edition Blu-ray from unearthed Films offers a 1080p presentation of the feature film framed in 1.66:1 widescreen. Audio comes by way of English PCM 2.0 stereo with optional English subtitles. The 2-disc set includes loads of archival making-of extras, behind-the-scenes stuff, trailers, plus a bonus Blu-ray featuring 8 short films from director Alex Chandron, which include their own extras by way of trailers, galleries and outtakes. The 2-disc Limited Edition Blu-ray arrives in a a dual-hub standard keepcase with a single-sided wrap, plus the first-pressing also includes a Slipcover with the same artwork as the wrap.

Special Features:

Disc 1 – Feature + Extras

- Some Making of Cradle of Fear who (12:06)

- The Special German DVD Making of Thing Something For Cradle of Fear (42:14)

- Important Words (11:41)

- Behind the Scenes Gallery (9:28)

- Trailer 1 (1:49)

- Trailer 2 (1:01)

- Trailer 3 (1:12)

Disc 2 – Short Films + Extras

Alex Chandon's Shorts Collection:

- Chainsaw Scumfuck (1988, 7:01)