 Thanks for checking out this review video. This is one I've actually been working on for quite some time I know I've mentioned it in a few videos. I've done here and there But it's finally done and actually I'm very sad that it's done I mean excited to do this video obviously but very very sad that I'm done watching through these so this is for the Masters of horror series which was on stars and it only had two seasons it started in 2005 and it was put together by big Mick Garris Yes, Mick Garris of the fame like he did like hocus pocus. He did critters to he's done a bunch of other stuff but he's just very well known in the horror community and This was a huge undertaking when he put it together it was kind of his thought to create this kind of anthology series of Short movies that were only about an hour long and it aired on stars. Did I just say that but it aired on stars and That was his whole concept is to go ahead and do this and get Not just make it a situation where it's like all these horror films short horror films anthology style, but make it like Established horror directors and as you'll hear as I go through the list because I'm gonna do a list of like my rankings of All 26 of the films and how I like them like my least favorite to my most favorite Which obviously it's totally just my opinion So someone else watching this is probably gonna feel differently and actually if I had seen this originally when it came out My ranking may be different. So just keep that in mind. So anyway, um, I just thought this was a really lofty goal to try and put Something like this together of just coordinating all these horror directors who are like To different degrees well known like some of them are super well known and are very prolific and some of them You know, they did like one recognizable thing or two recognizable things or something like that But to to do that coordination and put something as grandiose as this together Very impressive. So the fact that Mick Garris did this. Thank you to Mick Garris. It was really cool I It kind of sucks. Well, it grows my cat She's sad about it too. It kind of sucks that it took me this long to get to it I mean here. I am well after it aired like what? 14 years later actually checking it out. So it's what I've been meaning to get to and I'm glad I finally did So the reason it took me a long time to do it is because I was getting each movies DVD out individually through Netflix DVD. Yes, I still subscribe to that and the reason It's a good thing for horror Film fans because their collection of older films of specifically older horror films is very good If you're just doing streaming with them, you're not gonna get enough stuff If you're just doing like Netflix streaming and then plus like shutter streaming You're gonna get much a much better selection But if you want a bunch of older stuff that is has not been reissued on Blu-ray Netflix DVD is definitely the way to go. So that's how I was getting all these out So obviously that takes time so that I'd be I'd get one I'd watch it Then I'd have to send it back I would take a few days then they get it then they'd have to send me another one That would take a few days. So I've been working on this for literally months. I think I started this back in September August or September to be honest, so it's been going on a long time, but I've really enjoyed it because Every single one of these I liked To varying degrees and the one that will be the last one on my list There's stuff that I enjoyed about it. I just didn't enjoy it as much as all the ones ahead of it. So There's always something fun and interesting and cool there and the best thing about this series is that Every director kind of had their own story to do and so it's all very different I don't think I don't think I can think of any of the of the episodes that were similar They were all very very different and that's I think kind was kind of the fun of it for me It's is going into it totally blind and just being like what's this one gonna be about? What did this person choose to do? How is it and yeah, it was just really cool So I would recommend if you're a horror fan and you have not seen Masters of horror You should definitely check it out. Maybe just go ahead and buy it straight up like the DVD collection or I don't think there Was a blue blue ray reissue, but there should be and if that happened I might consider getting that So anyway, let's jump into this and like I said, this is my opinion how I felt I'm gonna give you a little bit about it I'm like a sentence or two about each one because I don't want to ruin the story to it I'll just give you like a vague idea of what it's about plus. I might not like fully remember all these because like I've said I've been doing this for like months Okay, so there's 26 of them. Here we go My number 26 was one called the V word by Ernest Dickerson now Ernest Dickerson was best known for Like tales from the crypt demon knight. He had also done bones with a snoop dog in it His was my least favorite because it was like as you can assume the V word. It was about the V word you know Vampire but oh, I'm sorry. Maybe it may that's what it but you could figure that out It just seemed slow and like there wasn't a whole lot of new anything to it It was just kind of like it was there The acting was pretty good to be honest, but it just seemed like it was very stretched out And there really wasn't a whole lot of substance to it so Yeah, the number 25 for me was done by John Landis who's obviously best known for where American were wolf in London And his was called dear woman and that one was it was like a horror comedy mix And I just felt like it it was a weird mix like there was some once again some stuff to like about it Like the performances were pretty solid and there was some stuff in it that actually was kind of funny But I don't know like the horror comedy mix of it It's that stuff's hard to get right and I felt like it just didn't it didn't mix well for me but the whole dear woman premise is People being killed by a dear woman so and someone's trying to figure it out So my number 24 is one called sounds like and this was by Brad Anderson Who's best known for the film session nine, which is quite a good film This one was decent ish like I was fine with this one. It's just Some of the acting was a little bit but you're gonna kind of get that because it's kind of like I've made for TV movie type thing with a lot of these and The story just you know, it seemed to kind of like drag on for me the interesting concept I will say but that's just kind of my feeling on that one Then my number 23 is actually one that a lot of people say they really like and it's the one called Jennifer by Dario Argento obviously Argento best known for Suspiria Not the remake the original Suspiria and so I Just didn't like I like the concept the whole concept was this woman in peril Who looks kind of different and a guy kind of jumps in and saves her but What has he done, you know, like there are complications that come along with that I understand why people like it, but for me it leaned so heavily on Sexuality and there were so many sex scenes in it that it just kind of seemed like that was the focus and not as much The story so for that reason I had to put that lower. That was my number 23 my number 22 is right to die and this was by Director Rob Schmidt who's best known for the film wrong turn so Right to die was basically about a guy who is a philanderer who ends up in a situation where his lady has a situation where she's potentially going to die and then as you can tell by the the title there's kind of a Play on the whole right to die political discussion So Decent there's some really good practical effects in it in my opinion and I think Gregory Nick Otero is the one who has done the did the practical effects for the entire series of masters of horror Which is a cool tie-in to the fact that we're getting a creep show anthology show on shutter Headed helmed by Greg Nick taro So you can kind of see that he was here and then he's there. So that was my number 22 number 21 Valerie on the stairs and this one was by Mick Garris Himself and this one an interesting concept the reason I put it much lower The acting was a little and the story did seem to drag a little bit and they used I Don't want to ruin it, but they used something a Certain type of evil that usually when I see I'm kind of like It's used a lot so but um There are some interesting concepts in this one, especially the on-the-stairs aspect of it is kind of cool and interesting and it's a bunch of like writers who are living in this kind of apartment complex in a sense and everyone's just there to like work on their writing, but there's some like Ghostly demonic-ish type things going on there interesting concept like I said It's just it seems like it goes like a little a bit slower than it should as my number 21 My number 20 The Washingtonians by Peter medak now Peter medak is best known for the film the changeling Which if you have not seen the changeling it is a very good ghost movie I'm not big on the ghost story subgenre of horror But this one is really well done the changeling that is so the the Washingtonians is actually I Can't figure out if it was supposed to be kind of comedy driven But it comes off as kind of comedic to me Because it is kind of ridiculous, but the whole concept is Some people find they move into a house and they find some relics from George Washington That states something about George Washington that is shocking That's kind of this hidden history and there's there are other people who know about it and are trying to protect it So very interesting concept. It is definitely entertaining But it is kind of over the top too, which is why I put it kind of lower But still enjoyable like I said like all these to some degree enjoyable. My number 19 is one called homecoming by Joe Dante And Joe Dante obviously is very well known for things like gremlins and Why am I blanking on other Joe Dante stuff? He's known for so much good stuff, but yeah gremlins is is one of the big ones that he's very well known for Homecoming his one homecoming is done It's it's kind of it's well, I was gonna say it's kind of political It's quite political and it's kind of a play on Forgotten soldiers, you know people who who have lost their lives fighting for freedom and fighting for the United States and It kind of goes it's very political in its statement about it But it's also very humanistic and this one once again Like it's not super new because it's kind of goes to like the zombie area of things and for me personally I'm very very sick of zombies. I have been I realized this was 14 years ago But watching it now it kind of ranks lower kind of for that reason But there's some very strong statements in this one. So some people might not like it because it was kind of political I was fine with that. It's just you know Just know that going in Actually need to take a drink of water. Sorry All the way over here my bad This is kind of long. It's taking some time put a lot of work into it. All right So my number 18 is one called dream cruise and this is by Norio Saruta Now this is the individual who did Ringu, which was the original ring Yes, the ring in the United States was a remake of a Japanese film called Ringu, which Norio Saruta did So because it is this individual dream cruise is actually very J horror oriented it's about some people on a boat and Someone's past coming back for them in the form of one of those J horror ghosts It looks really good and it's very interesting and the The idea of the the boat out at sea as a setting is really cool. So I kind of like those aspects of it Then my number 17 is chocolate another one by Mick Garris himself and this one is a cool concept has Henry Thomas and who I like Henry Thomas and It's it's kind of the idea of this guy who can eat these chocolates or Actually, I Don't know how it starts. I this one. I actually kind of forget but basically this guy is like kind of tele Telepathically linking with this woman and he's kind of able to like feel what she feels and she's not like the best person At first kind of seems like She's fine and then she's not but it's kind of about that link and then how this guy pursues it It's a very interesting concept and it was very interesting to watch it Pretty decent. That's my number 17 number 16 We all scream for ice cream by Tom Holland and Tom Holland best known for the original Fright Night film Which I love Fright Night the 80s one was with Chris Sarandon. I love that film So we all scream for ice cream Initially seems like it's not gonna be that good, but it's actually pretty enjoyable the the whole premise is a vengeful ice cream Vendor and honestly this the backstory on what happened with this ice cream vendor who dresses like a clown For more horror aspect to it like nightmare fuel the story behind how everything went down is Very touching. It's very humanistic, and I think it was executed well That one's that one's a good time. It was way better than I thought it was gonna be I know a lot of people I'd looked up who had ranked things put that a lot lower than me, but I thought it was pretty solid number 15 Sick girl by Lucky McKee and Lucky McKee is best known for the horror film May I have not seen this film. So I'm very unfamiliar with Lucky McKee Sick girl was interesting. It was basically about a woman who is an entomologist, which Fun nerdy fact. I actually was into entomology when I was younger. I when I was in like middle school high school I was part of the 4h clubs entomology club I was actually the president of the entomology club and had a bug collection. So super nerdy crap Yeah, so sick girl is basically about an entomologist who gets into a relationship with a woman, but they she finally finds some new type of insect that she's not familiar with and that it gets loose in her apartment and Bad things happen. This one is fun. That one's just like fun, and there's some really fun gorg-ags in that film Good time. My number 14 is Dance of the Dead by Toby Hooper Obviously Toby Hooper very well known for Texas Chainsaw Massacre Everyone knows about that wonderful film and Dance of the Dead is fun One of the best things about this Dance of the Dead one is that Robert England is in it and he choose Scenery like nobody's business He's so enjoyable to watch the directing style the cinematography of this one is very interesting and fun It keeps things keeps things moving kind of fast-paced at the end. There isn't like there There's a kind of interesting story to it But for me more of the enjoyment and this is how it's directed what the cinematography is like and Robert England's performance That's mainly what drives this for me good times number 13 the black cat by Stuart Gordon and Stuart Gordon best known for reanimator and Much like in reanimator, which I love Jeffrey Combs is in black cat and he plays a ground Poe So it's kind of an older story going back to a Poe type story It's very old. So as you would say like a horror period piece Just kind of focused around a black cat That's kind of all I'm gonna say about it But it's pretty enjoyable and for people who like kind of like period pieces and specifically like horror period pieces Which aren't that Available to be honest not a whole lot of people are doing that that one's for you My number 12 is the screw fly solution another one by Joe Dante. This one is also one that's kind of political ish The the whole concept is that there's an issue in society where something happens and men are becoming Insanely aggressive and killing women. So There's a tie-in to insects as you can assume by the screw fly solution With some people who are trying to figure out. Why is this happening? So it gets a little bit political because it has some some tones of like female male Toxic masculinity type situation. I'm fine with it. Whatever. I'm fine with a lot in movies Even if I agree with it politically or not But you know so just letting you know that's my number 12 number 11 pro life by John Carpenter Obviously John Carpenter very big name best known for Halloween but known for so many other things one of my favorites His remake of the thing Fa nominal. Um, so anyway his pro life There's a little bit of a political bent to it not as much as some of the other ones to be honest You would assume it by the name though pro life, but um There's some really good practical effects in this one really really fun. There is something That evil I was talking about and one of the other ones There's that same evil kind of used that I kind of roll my eyes out at from time to time But there was enough of a different twist on it in this one that I was just like, okay Um, Ron Perlman's in this and I look really like Ron Perlman and he's fun in this role And yeah, the practical effects are really really cool on this one and it's just fun. It's a good time so it's basically about a clinic where a woman seeks refuge and it's kind of turns into a siege movie with Ron Perlman and his kids Siege Siege movies are interesting Uh number 10 is pelts by Dario Argento another Argento one. This one has meatloaf in it I like meatloaf. He's a good actor and The whole idea that there are these like amazing raccoon pelts that are found That this guy uses to make a coat and how these pelts Do something to people they kind of possess people in a sense And it's a very interesting concept. It's an interesting story. And once again, there are there's some good practical effects on this Uh, Greg Nicotero doing it, right? That one's good. Number nine the damned thing another one by toby hooper Now this one's kind of about a town that's kind of Under siege by an unseen force and that unseen force links to The main character in a way who I think is played by sean patrick flannery if I remember properly This is one I've seen a bunch of months back um Really well directed really well shot very interesting concept That it's a fun one. It's pretty good. I really liked it Then number eight dreams in the witch house another one by stewart gordon This one is a very interesting story that I didn't see coming It's kind of about a guy who takes up residence in uh in this little kind of apartment complex It's kind of more like a like a like a um bed and breakfast is what it seems like But there's stuff going on. He's having like crazy dreams And he's he's doing research For school and he starts having these crazy dreams and there's this weird little rat that visits him that has a face And it's just like it's trippy But it it gets somewhere that that becomes um As it says dreams in the witch house There's kind of a clue in there. It kind of gets to something and the very end gets very crazy and cool So I really like that one. That's my number eight number seven family Another one by john landis This one is fun. This is kind of a serial killer one and The acting in it was pretty solid in my opinion for for one of these films and The whole premise is a guy who is kind of creating his own family because he's kind of nuts and a serial killer And then he has a family that moves in across the street from him and oh my gosh Are they starting to become suspicious or are they starting to understand things about what he's doing and so He's trying to continue with what he's doing but also You know keep these people at bay so they're not Um suspicious of what he's doing This one has an interesting twist a very interesting twist that I really liked This one's fun and great concept very well executed. I really liked it. So family was a good one Takes me to my number six pick me up by larry cohen Who is probably best known for it's alive But he's also known for things like some of my favorites of his the stuff And cue the winged serpent which are very fun films Uh and much much like those two films. I just Uh just said pick me up has michael moriarty in it who is a character actor who Is just a lot of fun to watch. He's another type of actor who just kind of choose scenery And I just I love watching that guy do his thing So pick me up has a really cool concept a very cool concept And it's kind of about two killers on the road and they're competing to kill someone I believe this is the one that has furuza balk in it And she does a quite a good job But michael moriarty is kind of the reason to see this And the concept is just a lot of fun. It's very cool The competing serial killers thing is really really interesting That may have been a little extra information, but this is also 14 years old. So but watch it. It's definitely worth it My number five incident on and off a mountain road by don cascarelli Don cascarelli love love love don cascarelli. He did the phantasm series of films And uh, he also did like john dies at the end bubba hotep stuff like that. I love john cascare uh don cascarelli And um incident on and off a mountain road has angus scrim in it Which always a great thing angus scrim from the phantasm films and it's just fun It has a cool creature creature-ish thing in it and uh, it's kind of like creature abducted Person tries to get away type concept. It's not like a super new concept But I think it's executed really well and the kind of like creature character in it is really cool And honestly, it's one that I watched and I'd be like I'd like to see more of that storyline and those characters So that one's a good one. That's my number five. We're getting down to it here My number four is one that's actually a lot of times said to be the best by many people But it's my number four. It's cigarette burns by john carpenter another john carpenter one This one is really cool very once again very cool concept Sean patrick flannery is in this one and he kind of plays a guy Who goes out and seeks rare films for people and he gets a client who wants him to find this rare film That is just like tied to like horrible things and terrible atrocities and it's kind of said that this film has like Kind of a supernatural ability in a sense and and people should not watch it basically so Based on that you can kind of tell this is a very interesting concept. So uh And it is and and and it's executed very very well to acting and it's very good. It looks really good It's directed very well. This one's really cool. Uh, definitely definitely Uh, recommend that one obviously all these ones that i've been saying in like the top bunch are high high high high recommendations So next to my number three This one is called hackles tail and it's by john mcnaughton john mcnaughton's best known For making the film henry portrait of a serial killer, which i have not seen yet But i will be watching relatively soon just so people know Because i love michael rooker And i've heard that's good film Anyway, hackles tail is another kind of like period piece one And i think this is the one where the story was written by clive barker, which i love clive barker so much Really cool really really cool story that story is so compelling You don't know where it's going. There's some really wacky stuff going on I can't really say too much about it without giving a crazy amount away So i'm not going to say too much about it, but i will say period piece very crazy a cemetery is involved Reanimation is involved and it's just It's kind of nuts, but nuts in an awesome way that one is awesome really loved it That's my number three My number two is one that actually never aired when they when they were airing The original uh run of masters of horror because it was deemed to be too extreme and be too much for an audience And that's kind of crazy considering that stars is one of those premium channels where you can do a lot more All of these have nudity like every single episode had a decent amount of nudity in it So for the the fact that they had one of these shows, which it's not because of nudity Um, they were just like we can't even show that it's crazy. So my number two is imprint by takashi mike Uh big takashi mike fan. I actually over here on my stack of movies and further over where I have a bunch more I have a bunch of takashi mike films on dvd. I was went through a stint where I was collecting a lot of his stuff He's best known for the film audition Which if you haven't seen audition Go see it. I'm not gonna tell you anything about it. You shouldn't look anything up about it. Go in blind That's the best way to see that film audition. See it. It's great So imprint is nuts And I will say of all of the episodes this one looks the most polished It looks like a big screen film the cinematography is gorgeous. The directing is awesome. The acting is I mean billy drago is in this and he's I wouldn't say he's a good actor He's an interesting actor. He kind of falls a little bit more into the michael morey arty area Where he's just like it's fun to watch him do his thing I wouldn't say he's a great actor, but it's fun the way he acts He has a very specific style and a very specific voice and it's fun to watch him So the basic concept is he's he's in like kind of feudal japan and he's going to look for a geisha who he knew from before and She's not alive anymore. So it's someone else is there and tells him the story Of why she's no longer alive. What happened and things get really crazy and it's very left field The end of this you never see it coming, but it's really awesome. It's really well done Highly highly high recommend it as you could assume because this is my number two And then we come to the piece de resistance for me of masters of horror my number one The fair haired child by william malone and william malone is best known for his remake of house on haunted hill Yes, that was the one with like famke jansen and chris katan Go figure He had my favorite one the fair haired child the story is so original It is so interesting. The acting is really good. The directing is really good. The cinematography is really good It's just everything about it is so great the ambiance that's created with this the environment Is awesome. It is so good. Um I just can't tell you how great the storyline is but it's basically about A girl who ends up in a situation with a guy And they're trying to get out of it and there's some supernatural stuff involved And I don't want to say anything more than that because it would give some stuff away and this one should be experienced Obviously all of them should be experienced as I've said but the top I'd say for me the top seven from Family pick me up incident on and off a mountain road cigarette burns hackles tail Imprint and fair haired child are like musts in my opinion for horror fans Although if you're a true horror fan, I would say just dive in and watch every single one of these because like I said There's something fun about every one of them. There's something to enjoy about them all so Whoo, this has been like a half an hour. Uh talking that long just makes you kind of tired But uh, this has been a long time in the making Hopefully people watch this. Hopefully people enjoyed what I did here And if you did please hit the subscribe because it can help me out a lot. It literally takes you like a second That's no big deal for you. Uh, and then hit that notification bell So you know every time I put up a video you can go and watch it Put down a comment. Have you seen masters of horror? Did you see it when it was originally on? So you had that kind of anticipation each week of oh another episode's coming out because I remember those days We don't have that anymore with streaming except for uh, the last driving with joe bob briggs He's still doing that basically Uh, and and I kind of missed that stuff, but put comments down there. Did you see it? What did you think? What were your favorites? What ones were your less favorites? Actually, if you want to win the comments, you can try and do your own full ranking That might be a little bit tough, but You try it out at least give me like your top Five or three or something Just do that because I'm very interested to know what other people really really enjoyed out of it. So Yeah, but thank you everyone for checking this out comments subscribe all that Once again a big shout out to mcgaris for for putting that show together. I'm sorry. It took me 14 years to get to it But uh, it's so enjoyable. Just so enjoyable. I wish you'd do it again I wish someone would bite on that and and you'd do it again But anyway until next time Thank you everyone and keep it brutal