TALES OF THE UNCANNY (2020)
THE ULTIMATE SURVEY OF ANTHOLOGY HORROR
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 104 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HS MA 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: David Gregory
Cast: Eli Roth, Joe Dante, Mark Hartley, Mick Garris, Ernest Dickerson, Joko Anwar, Ramsey Campbell, David DeCoteau, Kim Newman, Jovanka Vuckovic, Luigi Cozzi, Tom Savini, Jenn Wexler, Larry Fessenden, Richard Stanley, Brian Trenchard-Smith, Brian Yuzna, Gary Sherman, Rebekah McKendry, Peter Strickland
Severin's Tales of the Uncanny (2020) anthology horror documentary began when Severin Films chief David Gregory and House Of Psychotic Women author Kier-La Janisse pooled their efforts to make what was supposed to be a featurette for the The Theatre Bizarre (2011) Blu-ray release. After recording a handful of professionally shot interview segments the pandemic hit and people found themselves on lockdown, and while certainly isolated due to video conferencing platforms they were not alone. The project bloomed into a wonderfully expansive feature length documentary that gets into the literary origins, the importance and longevity of, and the continuing love for the portmanteau fright format.
Gregory and Janisse co-host the proceedings giving the dense talking heads document a proper shape and form as they navigate through both the cinematic and TV horrors anthologies from the silent era to the digital age. There is a cast of over sixty plus contributors that includes directors like Richard Stanley (Hardware), Joe Dante (The 'Burbs), Eli Roth (Cabin Fever), Roger Corman (The Man with the X-Ray Eyes), David DeCoteau (Sorority Babes in the Slimball Bolw-O-Rama), Buddy Giovinazzo (Combat Shock), Douglas Buck (Family Portraits - A Trilogy For America), Luigi Cozzi (The Black Cat), Mick Garris (Sleepwalkers), Ted Geoghegan (We Are Still Here), Tom Savini (Night of the Living Dead), Brian Yuzna (Society), Gary Sherman (Raw Meat), Peter Strickland (The Duke of Burgundy), Karim Hussain (The Theatre Bizarre), Ernest Dickerson (Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight), Brian Trenchard-Smith (Turkey Shoot), and Larry Fessenden (Wendigo) among many more, plus a fine selection of film critics, writers and horror-know-it-alls such as Kim Newman (The Kim Newman Website), Michael Felsher (Red Shirt Pictures), film historian David Del Valle, Rebekah McKendry (All The Colors of the Dark Podcast), Amanda Reyes (Made For TV Mayhem), Art Ettinger (Ultra Violent Magazine), Ramsey Campbell (Welcome to My Haunted Domain), Mike Gingold (Rue Morgue Magazine), and Chris Alexander (Fangoria), and so many more! All of whom passionately and excitedly wax nostalgic about the horror anthologies that help make them into the horrorcore fiends that they are, coming across not just as knowledgably movie insiders but as the died in the wool blood-red horror fans that they are.
This is a wonderful walk down anthology horroor memory lane as they each dig into the titans of the format, stuff like Dead of Night (1945), Black Sabbath (1963), Creepshow (1982), Nightmares (1983), Cat's Eye (1985), Tales from the Hood (1995), Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1995), and the myriad Amicus anthologies like Torture Garden (1967), The House That Dripped Blood (1971), Asylum (1972), Tales from the Crypt (1972), The Vault of Horror (1973), and From Beyond the Grave (1974). They also dig into the more obscure goodies like Screamtime (1983), Night Train To Terror (1983),
Deadtime Stories (1986), From A Whisper To A Scream (1987), and even Grim Prairie Tales (1990).
Leaving no stone unturned the assembled team of horror nuts also turn their collective sights on an the abundance of made-for-TV terror like the Dan Curtis (Burt Offerings) directed
Dead of Night (1977), Trilogy of Terror (1975) & Trilogy of Terror II (1996). Also not forgotten are the plethora of TV anthology series that I consider my personal intriduction to horror as a kid, stuff like Amazing Stories, Tales from the Crypt, Twilight Zone, Hammer House of Horror, Night Gallery, Body Bags (1993), Tales from the Darkside and the more recent and much missed Masters of Horror. They also go onto millennial entries like V/H/S, and the ABC's of Death franchises, but of course there is such an overwhelming
abundance of anthologies no single documentary could encompass them all. A did notice that there were not a ton of SOV anthologies represented, stuff like The Basement (1989) or Tales from the Qaudead Zone (1987), or late-00's straight-to-video entries like Drive-In Horror Show (2009) or III Slices of Life (2009). I do admit that some of these are pretty obscure titles, but if you're into low-budget horror anthologies with a lot of heart I say seek them out.
Funnily, since the pandemic has been raging I have been afforded the opportunity to work from home quite a bit and I like to have a movie on in the background, something fun and bite-sized, something i don't have to pat all my attention to, and can be enjoyed in the background. Honestly, just between
me and you, I sometimes do more movie watching than working, and I have managed to burn through nearly my collection of anthologies at a healthy clip. As I have been steeping myself in the anthology format this documentary arrived at just at the right time, with so many of the films being discussed fresh on my mind and/or stained permanently into my memory from years of repeat viewings this made for quite a fun watch! I also loved that while there is some scholarly discussion of the movies a lot of it is just like-minded fans of horror gushing over there favorites films and segments, in that way it feels almost like your chatting with friends about your top ten anthologies.
Towards the end of the documentary all 60+ contributors are collectively polled and we get to see what their top five anthology films of all-time are, as well as what their desert island top five segments are to form the ultimate horror, which was very cool, after all, who doesn't love a top five list?
Audio/Video: Tales of the Uncanny (2020) arrives in region-free Blu-ray from Severin Films presented in 1.77:1 widescreen in 1080p HD. The way this was largely shot during the pandemic via Zoom-type conferencing platforms which means it's only ever going to look so good and/or uniform. The overall consistency suffers some but they do make good use of animation and creative video framing to give it a pleasing aesthetic that ties it all together nicely. A handful of the interviews were shot prior to the pandemic lockdown and are were professionally shot and look great, but most of them were not up to benchmark. Audio is likewise a patchwork of disparate quality recordings but it is never less than listenable, and comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo track with optional English subtitles. The worst offender might be author/critic Kim Newman who is only represented via audio-only and it sounds like it was phoned in from the English countryside down in that movie-cave basement of his, probably seated on the same couch with a quilt thrown over the back that we always see him on in various featurettes.
Extras come by way of two vintage anthology films, we get the silent era Eerie Tales (1919) and Unusual Tales (1949), both presented in1080p HD black and white and framed in 1.33:1 full screen. Audio on the silent film Eerie Tales comes by way of a DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono while Unusual Tales get a French DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono with optional English subtitles. Eerie Tales is an expressionist slice of German fright directed by Richard Oswald (The Living Dead) and starring Anita Berber, Conrad Veidt (The Man Who Laughs) and Reinhold Schünzel. I found it visually charming and the stories are quite fun.
The French anthology Unusual Tales (1949) is directed by Jean Faurez and has a cool wrap-around framing story with veteran police officers regaling the new recruits with chilling stories, most of which turn out to be Edgar Allen Poe adaptations, but not all them. I would not say that either of these obscure anthologies rise to the top thirty of anthologies but i do love that they are included here. The quality of the source elements are not great, Eerie Tales is sourced from broadcast tape master while Unusual Tales is a new 2K scan from only known 16mm print from Brussels Film Archive, both show age-related wear and tear with conytrast issues, but are watchable. If you were lucky enough to get the 2-disc Black Friday Severin webstore exclusive release, which is now sold out, it featured a third anthology film, Master Of Horror (1965).
The single disc release arrives in a black keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork featuring a wonderfully macabre new illustration by Graham Humphreys featuring a montage of frightful characters from anthology horror classics Dead of Night, Black Sabbath, Creepshow, Tales of Terror, Tales from the Crypt, and Trilogy of Terror, the same tasty artwork is featured on the disc.
Special Features:
- Bonus Horror Anthology: Eerie Tales (1919) from broadcast tape master (112 min)
-Bonus Horror Anthology: Unusual Tales (1949) New 2K scan from only known 16mm print from Brussels Film Archive (84 min)
- Bonus Horror Anthology: Eerie Tales (1919) from broadcast tape master (112 min)
-Bonus Horror Anthology: Unusual Tales (1949) New 2K scan from only known 16mm print from Brussels Film Archive (84 min)
Tales of the Uncanny (2020) is a terrific horror documentary that breezes by, if you're a fan of anthologies of the frightful variety this is a must-own doc, chock full of knowledgeable horror heads, cool visuals and loads of great clips from anthologies from across the terror spectrum, from the movie screen to the TV screen. It covers a lot of ground and it's a good time all around, a very tasty treat that is already one of my favorite film docs!
More screenshots from the Blu-ray:
