Nothing Left to Fear (2013) - Lisa's Review

NOTE: In honour of Halloween, We're taking a break from the TimeOut 100 Greatest Best Horror Movies.

This month, reviewers have boon given a free choice of any horror movie they haven't yet seen.

For the most part watching movies of my choice has been a good experience this October, but this one would rank amongst the worst movies I have ever sat through.  Let me make that clear from the start.  There is NOTHING positive to say about this movie.  No redeeming features.  There is nothing to be achieved by watching it.  There you go.  I won't make you suffer even reading this review if the only reason you're reading it is to see if this movie is maybe worth watching.  Let me save you the trouble.  It isn't.

So that cleared up, I suppose I best give you a premise of sorts.  Although can I say, that even though I had absolutely NO idea what was going on until the movie was over, I still had to wiki the movie to get a clear idea of what I just watched.

Pastor Dan, his wife, his 2 beautiful teenage daughters and his young son move from their city life to a small town in Kansas as the pastor is taking a new job there.  We have the usual getting to know the family, seeing the new house, settling in and pleasantries with neighbours.  Quite early on, the elder of the daughters, Rebecca becomes quite enamored by a local boy Noah.  Now this is the ONLY thing of note in the movie.  This boy happens to be Gregory Pecks grandson and his voice is amazing.   So there you go, there is actually something positive to say about the movie!  Who'd have thought!

So Rebecca digs Noah, even though he is VERY wierd.  It becomes very clear to the viewer that there is something f*cked up about this town and its inhabitants  In fact everything is a bit wierd.  Problem is, it never tells us what, so we're looking in all the time wondering what the hell is going on.  We see odd behaviours and we know some people are fundamentally bad and some are just odd and 'in on' whatever it is that's going on.  I'm sorry to appear so vague, but honestly I had no idea what was going on throughout and saying anything more would give away what small piece of storyline there actually is.

Something that did surprise me though is that the effects in the movie are big budget.  They are quite similar to what you'd expect in Japanese horror.  Effects that have passed over to American horrors in the last 5-10 years.  I'm thinking 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose' as somewhere I saw similar effects.

So, we plod wearily on and the familys other daughter Mary is suddenly very ill.  This blows out of all proportion overnight and we are thrown from "WTF is going on?" to our final 20 minutes or so and the big reveal of what's been happening.  We end somewhat as we start with the mindless, unexplained cycle repeating itself.

So, there you have it.  Good effects.  Crap movie.  BIG FAT AVOID.

The Crazies (2010) - Will's Review

NOTE: In honour of Halloween, We're taking a break from the TimeOut 100 Greatest Best Horror Movies.

This month, reviewers have boon given a free choice of any horror movie they haven't yet seen.

Opening with a wrecked town, demolished and burning, we cut to 2 days ago, and see the soon-to-be destroyed Ogden Marsh, as thean idealic, quiet, town it has always been... But something started infecting the residents, making them irrational and violent. The first of these "crazies" is shot by the police after walking onto a baseball pitch, apparently drunk, sporting a shotgun. Before   first shot is even fired, we see that someone is watching the town via satellite.

Week 179 - Nothing Left to Fear (2013) / The Crazies (2010)

NOTE: In honour of Halloween, We're taking a break from the TimeOut 100 Greatest Best Horror Movies.

This month, reviewers have been given a free choice of any horror movie they haven't yet seen.

Lisa's Pick	Will's Pick
Comments due: 25/10/2014 More Info: Wikipedia, IMDB DVD: Link TRAILER:	Comments due: 25/10/2014 More Info: Wikipedia, IMDB DVD: Double Pack with 1973 version TRAILER:

Carrie (2013) - Lisa's Review

I chose this movie to watch for Shocktober as it was one I hadn't seen as yet and as it was a remake of a favourite of mine, I thought I'd give it a go.

Growing up, I watched A LOT of horror movies.  My dad was a big Stephen King fan, so we had a lot of VHS copies of his movies.  Before school (secondary school), I would pass half an hour or so watching bits of the movies, until I had been through the collection time and time again.  Being of a certain age, Carrie really resonated with me and still today remains amongst my favourites.  So what of the remake?

I'm not going to talk about a premise, as if you haven't see the 1976 version of Carrie, what the hell are you doing reading a blog dedicated to horror movies?  Instead I'll discuss my feelings about this movie, which I'm afraid means inevitably I'll be comparing it to the original movie.

For the first 20 minutes or so, I was pleasantly surprised by the attention to detail with the scenes and how they replicated the original movie.  Even subtle hand gestures and specific strong sections of dialogue are kept identical.  Something I noticed early on though, was that Chloe Grace Moretz just wasn't going to portray the complex character of Carrie with enough depth.  The sweetness and frightening innocence is lost and replaced by a misfit that's a bit shy.

Let the Right One In - Will's Review

NOTE: In honour of Halloween, We're taking a break from the TimeOut 100 Greatest Best Horror Movies.

This month, reviewers have been given a free choice of any horror movie they haven't yet seen.

ADDENDUM: Due in large part to idiocy, Will reviewed a movie which was already on the TimeOut 100 as his "reviewers Choice" movie. In Penance, He owes you a review of the remake, and this shall stand as his Week 193 review.

This isn't my type of movie at all. Although one of its main characters is a vampire, it has very few horror elements; indeed, it could only be called a Horror Film in the very loosest definition of the sense. Mostly, it's a romance; the leads may be 12 years old, but it's clear early on that their relationship is destined to go beyond friendship, into romantic love. And yet, I was blown away by this film.

If you haven't seen this movie, go and watch it. Although the following review qualifies as spoiler-free, I implore you not to watch it. Don't read the DVD case,  don't read anything, just obtain and watch this movie. I went in blind, knowing only that it's a vampire movie, and I strongly recommend that you do the same.

I have friends who read my reviews, but don't actually like horror movies; if you are one of those people don't be put off; go and watch this movie anyway.

Week 178 - Carrie (2013) / Let the Right One In (2008)

NOTE: In honour of Halloween, We're taking a break from the TimeOut 100 Greatest Best Horror Movies.

This month, reviewers have been given a free choice of any horror movie they haven't yet seen.

Lisa's Pick	Will's Pick
Comments due: 18/10/2014 More Info: Wikipedia, IMDB DVD: Link TRAILER:	AKA: Låt den Rätte Komma In Comments due: 18/10/2014 More Info: Wikipedia, IMDB DVD: Link TRAILER:

Antisocial (2013) - Lisa's Review

NOTE: In honour of Halloween, We're taking a break from the TimeOut 100 Greatest Best Horror Movies.

This month, reviewers have been given a free choice of any horror movie they haven't yet seen.

This weeks movie is one I hadn't seen as it has been sitting on my shelves for a while sent over from Australia by a friend of the hubbys. A need for a multi-region player meant it has sat there for a few weeks. So is it any good?

Antisocial comes to us from little known director Cody Calahan.  It follows a group of friends who gather together in one of their homes to celebrate New Year.  The movie predominantly follows Sam, who has been dealing with a less than enthusiastic boyfriend.  She seems very subdued and almost aloof as we start the movie, but as it goes on we realise why she seems preoccupied.  We publicly see her boyfriend announce his new status of singledom on a social media site, here called Redroom, but clearly a parody of Facebook.

*** Mild Spoilers ***

Rage (2010) - Will's Review

NOTE: In honour of Halloween, We're taking a break from the TimeOut 100 Greatest Best Horror Movies.

This month, reviewers have been given a free choice of any horror movie they haven't yet seen.

While parking his car, Dennis inadvertently cuts up a biker. It proves to be a far bigger mistake than he could have guessed.
Starting with childish baiting, and working his way up, the baker spends the day stalking and terrorising Dennis from behind his tinted visor, taking a simple disagreement way beyond road rage, and turning it into a terrifying ordeal.

Week 177 - Antisocial (2013) / Rage (2010)

NOTE: In honour of Halloween, We're taking a break from the TimeOut 100 Greatest Best Horror Movies.

This month, reviewers have boon given a free choice of any horror movie they haven't yet seen.

Lisa's Pick	Will's Pick
Comments due: 11/10/2014 More Info: No Wikipedia Entry, IMDB DVD: Link TRAILER:	Comments due: 11/10/2014 More Info: No Wikipedia Entry, IMDB DVD: Link TRAILER:

Afflicted - Lisa's Review (2013)

NOTE: In honour of Halloween, We're taking a break from the TimeOut 100 Greatest Best Horror Movies.

This month, reviewers have boon given a free choice of any horror movie they haven't yet seen.

So, in this break from the lists of movies we review.  The first choice of this month for me is canadian movie 'Afflicted'.  This movie follows friends Derek and Clif (who just so happen to have directed this movie as their directorial debut) as they set off on a venture for their "Ends of the Earth" web travel series.  For this reason most of the movie is done in that ever popular 'Camcorder style'. They set off on the journey against the advice of Dereks doctor.  He is suffering from (wait.... must google) an AVM (cerebral arteriovenous malformation) which could end his life at any moment.  They don't know enough about it to understand what could happen to him and how they will cope with any unexpected developments.

Curfew (1989) - Will's Review

NOTE: In honour of Halloween, We're taking a break from the TimeOut 100 Greatest Best Horror Movies.

This month, reviewers have boon given a free choice of any horror movie they haven't yet seen.

2 brothers on death row escape from prison and decide to punish the men they hold responsible for their sentence.
They quickly dispatch the psychiatrist who testified against them, and the judge who passed down the sentence, but for the District attorney, they have bigger plans.
Stephanie, the DAs daughter, gets home just in time to be embroiled in the brothers' violent revenge.

If I'd been aware of this one, I'd I've probably scheduled it as part of our "Beyond Nasty" season of banned or controversial movies; it was banned by the BBFC from release in 1989 until 2002, when it was passed uncut.

Week 176 - Afflicted (2013) / Curfew (1989)

NOTE: In honour of Halloween, We're taking a break from the TimeOut 100 Greatest Best Horror Movies.

This month, reviewers have boon given a free choice of any horror movie they haven't yet seen.

Lisa's Pick	Will's Pick
Review / Lisa's Comments due: 04/10/2014 More Info: Wikipedia, IMDB DVD: Link TRAILER:	Review / Will's Comments due: 04/10/2014 More Info: Wikipedia, IMDB DVD: Link TRAILER:

Best Worst Movie - Will's Review

SHOCKTOBER SPECIAL: BEST WORST MOVIES

In honour of Halloween, we're taking a special "Shocktober" break from the Time-Out 100 Best Horror films, to focus on some of the worst...

As with this weeks main movie, Troll 2, I first saw this back in 2010 for my own blog, but it's such a delight I was happy to use this opportunity to see it again.

The documentary is made by Michael Stephenson, the child 'star' of Troll 2 itself, and mostly follows George Hardy (Troll 2's father) as he (along with Stephenson) embark on a screening tour enjoying the, albeit dubious, fame that the movie has granted them.

The meet all of the major cast, and manage to convince most of them to come to a screening with them, even the movies sister, Connie Young, who is still an actress (but does not list Troll 2 on her CV).

Most of the cast are in a good place now; either getting on with their civilian lives, or as jobbing actors; sadly the same cannot be said of Margo Prey, Troll 2's on-screen mother. Prey's segment starts off hilarious, she still believes they made a great movie (comparing it unironically to Casablanca) and shed a tear remembering Stephenson playing a devastated child... pretty soon though it stop being funny, and starts being sad; she clearly isn't, mentally or emotionally, a well woman, convinced that she will one day return to acting, but deflecting any further questions with "it's complicated", and despite her dreams of returning to acting wants nothing more than "to move far far away, away from everyone". It's necessary that this footage was included, but it provides the movie with an unwelcome sadness and discomfort.

Aside from Margo, the only time we see thing go not-so-well for the former cast, is when they try working booths at Memorabilia, and at a Horror convention - the warm welcome they enjoy at Troll 2 events does not translate well to general fandom, most of whom haven't heard of the movie.

This is, though, one of those rare documentaries that will retroactively raise your enjoyment of, and appreciation for, the source material, and I'd go so far as to call it required viewing for any movie fan (even if you've never heard of Troll 2).

It makes me want to host a Troll 2 screening...

Troll 2 - Will's Review

I SHOCKTOBER SPECIAL: BEST WORST MOVIES

In honour of Halloween, we're taking a special "Shocktober" break from the Time-Out 100 Best Horror films, to focus on some of the worst...

Completely unrelated to Troll (there are no trolls in it; at script stage it was titled "Goblins") it's hard to understand why it was re-branded as a sequel - it's not like the origional was a runaway success, with a large sequel demand, but in any case, it was released stright to video as a sequel to an already obscure and pretty poor movie. 

I first reviewed this movie for my solo October-Only blog, and at the time it just didn't 'click'.Watching the documentary (reviews on this very blog and my own) gave me a new appreciation for it, and I've watched it a few times since. Yesterday, when I watched it to write this, I was reminded that it just never stops amazing me.

It's rare that a movie so frequently maligned lives up to its hype, but in the case of Troll 2 it really is hard to overstate how bad it is. Many movies have a few bad actors, some movies have nothing but bad actors, some movies are badly written, many have bad effects, some movies are badly filmed, and some are badly directed. Troll 2 somehow fucks up EVERYTHING!... And it's wonderful for it!

The first time you see it it's hard to believe that this was ever intended to be a good movie, the costumes look like they came from a piss-poor costume shop (or were home made) the effects are laughable, the script appalling, the acting sub-dreamlanders, and the filming amateurish.  It's 0% rating (15 reviews, all negative) on Rotten Tomatoes is well deserved. and yet, probably because it's completely lacking in cynicism, it manages to be the perfect storm of bad movies, crossing the line twice, into "so bad its awesome" territory.

A family go on a house-swap holiday to the town of Nilbog (read it backwards) where the residents, all secretly goblins) want to turn them into vegetation in order to eat them (goblins are vegetarians you see). 

Apparently, the way to turn someone into vegetation is to get them to eat a special herbal mixture, which looks like green play-doh. The goblins aren't very good at hiding this green paste: using it as icing on cakes, filling in sandwiches, and smearing it on corn-on-the-cob. Oddly, no-one seems to notice, and the family are grateful for the banquets. 

And so, it's up to the son of the family, assisted by the ghost of his grandpa, to make sure everyone gets out of Nilbog alive. 

I can't do this movie justice in words - I can neither adequately explain it's ineptness, not tell you how it remains watchable in spite. 

Be warned though, Troll 2 is a mind virus; once you have seen it, you'll want others to see it too... The truth is that the whole reason I scheduled bad movies these last four weeks was to make Lisa watch this (sorry Lisa).

I don't know what else to say... If you like bad movies AT ALL, get yourself a copy, get your friends around, make some (green) snacks, crack open some beers, and get ready to have a riot!

Troll 2 - Lisa's Review

SHOCKTOBER SPECIAL: BEST WORST MOVIES

In honour of Halloween, we're taking a special "Shocktober" break from the Time-Out 100 Best Horror films, to focus on some of the worst...

Okaaaaaaaaaay.  Where to start?  When Will wanted to choose a bunch of bad movies for Shocktober, he was successful in part, with 1 weeks movie being quite good, but THIS week?   Kudos to Will for this little gem.

Gawd, my mind is still feeling a bit mashed and confused. I do wish I had watched the documentary about the movie before the actual movie itself, but I did it the other way around.  Of course I get the whole 'it's so bad, it's good' thing, but I think you need to be in a particular mood to enjoy this kind of movie.  If I were with a bunch of friends and had a few bevvies, I think I would have enjoyed it much more.  Thing is, when you can't pick a film to watch and review according on your mood, inevitably you will watch movies that your current mood was not right for.

Sooooo, I could sit and type a scene-by-scene account of this movie. Alternatively, I could tell you this movie is about a bunch of midgets dressed in burlap sacks with giant rubber hands and masks chasing after a family in an attempt to change them into vegetable goo so they could eat them.  I shit you not, that's pretty much it in a nutshell.   Vegetarian goblins/trolls who inhabit a town called Nilbog (see what they did there!  Clever stuff!) and work on changing a family (who are on holiday on a house swap with a family who live in a farm in Nilbog) from humans into plants, so they can have dinner.  We see these Metamorphosis in various forms complete with lots of green jelly, sticks stuck onto fingers and what looks like washing up liquid dripping down their faces.

The basic premise surrounds a young boy who is visited by his dead grandfather and told stories about goblins who turn a young man into a green gooey plant to be eaten.  The boys family then decide to go on holiday, whereby they swap homes with an unknown family in a small country town called Nilbog.  The boys sister has a boyfriend who has a bunch of geeky friends who come along in their own mobile home for the ride to add some cannon fodder to the mix.  Basically what transpires is various ridiculous transformations and deaths, various inexplicable scenes (as no-one would do that!), constant contingency problems, the worst acting you'll ever see anywhere and a complete and utter mess of a plot.

The Goblin costumes are laughable, awful!!  You could get better costumes in your local fancy dress store. Given this movie wasn't made to be amusing, I am lost for words.  I struggled to chose the worst actor in the movie as they are ALL so bad.  The women seem to win the prize though with the mother and daughter in the family being frighteningly bad.  

Anyways, the ending is just as bad as the start and the middle, I wasn't in the kind of mood to waste valuable downtime on such a poor movie, so the humor of the sheer awfulness of this movie was lost on me.  However I know there will be people who love this kind of thing (as is attested by the documentary), but it just wasn't for me.  I won't stick an avoid on this one is purely a matter of taste.

All I can say is... thank gawd Shocktober is at an end.

Best Worst Movie - Lisa's Review

SHOCKTOBER SPECIAL: BEST WORST MOVIES

In honour of Halloween, we're taking a special "Shocktober" break from the Time-Out 100 Best Horror films, to focus on some of the worst...

So we've already reviewed Troll 2.  This is a documentary about the movie and its 'stars'.  Although I didn't enjoy Troll 2 at all, I found this documentary much more palatable.  It was kind of fun to see the cult following the movie has amongst a certain genre of movie fan.

Upon watching this, it made me much more forgiving of the movie and the actors performances.  We find out that the actors didn't even have access to the full script, so had no idea what to expect until they saw the movie on VHS or HBO.  They also had to Even Michael Stephenson who plays the young boy Joshua in the movie realised how awful this movie is when he first saw it.  He received the movie as a Christmas present and watched it eagerly with his family, only to be flabbergasted (and not in a good way) at what he was part of.

I liked to see how Michael Stephenson and George Hardy (who plays the father Michael) especially embrace the utter suckdom of the movie.  They enjoy the cult status it has received.  We follow them as the movie is shown to audiences all over America and attended both by movie virgins and die-hard fans resplendent in various costumes and customised shirts. The fans were awestruck to see the stars of the movie and have them playing out various humorous lines from the movie.   They played along and provided laughs aplenty for the crowds.  It was nice to see the lack of seriousness and the ability to laugh at the movie and their performances along with everyone else.  

Watching the documentary gives you more of an idea as to just why the movie is as bad as it is.  The Italian Director Claudio Fragasso had very specific instructions that he insisted the actors followed, even when he dictated what he felt was the way American teenagers spoke.  The actors did occasionally question his lines or direction and were told in no uncertain terms to follow his direction, hence awful quotes aplenty.  

Even though Michael and George were able to see the movie for what it is and go with it, it was clear that Claudio Fragasso and Margo Prey (who plays the mother, Diana) took their work very seriously and were not able to laugh along.  Margo seems to not altogether be the full shilling these days and just wanted to be left alone when enthusiasts of the movie kept showing up at her door.

Nearing the end of the movie we see Michael and George attending a movie convention and receiving pretty much no interest in the movie at all.  For the first time we see the crushing disappointment on Georges face, the ever optimist and enthusiastic performer for the fans.  Suddenly he's had enough of Troll 2.  It's a good job he has his own successful dental practice.

This is definately interesting and I would strongly suggest people watch this before watching Troll 2 and not after.  I think I would have been much more forgiving of the movie had I watched the documentary beforehand.

Neither recommending or advising to avoid as watching this documentary totally depends on whether you intend to watch Troll 2.  If you do.... watch this first.

Street Trash - Will's Review

SHOCKTOBER SPECIAL: BEST WORST MOVIES

In honour of Halloween, we're taking a special "Shocktober" break from the Time-Out 100 Best Horror films, to focus on some of the worst...

When a liquor store owner finds a crate of an unknown drink, Viper, in a hidden compartment in his cellar, he decides to sell it at $1 a bottle to the local homeless population.

One problem... Anyone who drinks the Viper, melts into neon coloured slime.

2 weeks ago, when I reviewed Night of the Lepus, I mentioned the problem with movies specifically made for the "so bad it's good" market (i.e. They just end up bad). This is exactly the type of movie I was talking about. 

It has some nice set pieces, the hobo melting into the toilet for one, but it lacks any story elements to bring it together. 

When the first bum starts to liquefy, I thought this was going to turn into a monster movie, with the viper creating monsters... But nope, he just melts. 

The whole film is just a collection of moments, bum buys drink, bum either drinks drink, has drink stolen by another bum, or tricks another bum into drinking it, bum melts, lather, rince, replete. 

In top of that, the acting is atrocious across the bird; Stir in genital mutilation, necrophillia, sexual assault, and attempted rape (all played for laughs) and the whole thing is just a mess.

There's no attempt to explain where the viper came from, why it melts people... Nothing. 

The closest thing this movie has to a plot, is some in-fighting amongst the homeless, who live in a scrap-yard, and have a "king" of sorts that they all live in fear of - a crazy nam-vet with a knife carved from a human thigh-bone. 

That said, the set pieces were cool enough that is actually like to see this one re-made; with a back story, and some kind of actual plot, a body-horror movie about booze that reduces people into a day-glo puddle could be a fun movie. 

As it stands though, I'd give this one a wide birth. 

Street Trash - Lisa's Review

SHOCKTOBER SPECIAL: BEST WORST MOVIES

In honour of Halloween, we're taking a special "Shocktober" break from the Time-Out 100 Best Horror films, to focus on some of the worst...

*** SPOILERS ***

So after the surprising success that was last weeks Snoop Dog movie,  I had higher than normal hopes about this weeks movie.  So we have a return to normal form this week with a baaaaaad movie.  I suspect Will will thoroughly enjoy this one, but it really wasn't my cup of tea at all.

The basic premise (although there are a lot of other bits going on) surrounds a 60 year old bottle of alcohol called Tenafly Viper.  This is apparently not 60 year old good, but 60 year old out of date.  A shop owner finds it at the back of his shop and decides to sell it for a dollar a bottle.   

We introduce the horror element here, in that anyone who drinks the 'Viper' melts or explodes in the most curious of ways.

This reminded me of the plasticine short movies that guy makes on Youtube... you know the ones "Evil Dead in 60 seconds".  If you haven't seen them, sort that out, they are most amusing.  Unfortunately what works in a 60 second segment, doesn't work in a movie in my opinion.  When different homeless people are melting (the bottles are purchased by homeless guys) they do so in various rainbow colours.. purples, greens, blues, yellows.  They just seem to disintegrate and assume a plasticine-like consistency, spewing what looked like childrens posters paints.   We also find out that if any of these colourful melty bits fall onto anyone else (should they, lets say, walk underneath a melting person) they start to burn up.

Although there were other elements and a plethera of characters running throughout the movie, it seemed to me, just like one long, poorly acted excuse for exhibiting their special effects ideas.

I won't say this is the worst movie I've ever seen and I'm sure it will appeal to a lot of people, but it just didn't have anything to pull me in.

I will leave you with one positive.  There is an awesome decapitation scene by way of a flying gas cannister.  This is incredibly well done and the continued eye movements of the severed head is awesome.

I won't stick an avoid on this one, but it certainly won't get a recommended from me.  For an acquired taste I feel.

Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror - Will's Review

SHOCKTOBER SPECIAL: BEST WORST MOVIES

In honour of Halloween, we're taking a special "Shocktober" break from the Time-Out 100 Best Horror films, to focus on some of the worst...

This movie was scheduled because we're currently spending 11 months a year watching the "best" horror movies, and I thought it would be fun to spend October watching the worst... Its 3.9/10 on IMDB, along with its 11% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and, let's be honest - its title,  lead me to believe that this would be a good candidate. I Have to say though; after watching it I don't understand how it draws so much hate... I actually really enjoyed it.

Snoop Doggs Hood Of Horror - Lisa's Review

SHOCKTOBER SPECIAL: BEST WORST MOVIES

In honour of Halloween, we're taking a special "Shocktober" break from the Time-Out 100 Best Horror films, to focus on some of the worst...

*** SPOILERS ***

The idea of the movies to review this month was the awful ones.  Is it terribly wrong to say I really enjoyed this weeks?  I put it on expecting very little, as neither a fan of Snoop Dogg or his style of music (which the movie is littered with).  I have to say though, I was pleasantly surprised and liked this one.

I think the reason I liked it was the fact it was made up of 3 short stories and some rather awesome animation.  Had it been any of the 3 stories for the entire hour and a half, it wouldn't have worked at all, but with the half hour long segments, the animated introduction and the narration by Snoop Dogg, I thought everything tied together nicely.  It reminded me a lot of an old series I used to love as a kid 'Tales from The Crypt'.