One thing that you surely get from each Bleeding Skull Video release is a unique viewing experience. The folks over there have made it their mission to unearth some truly special little movies with their label. Both Joe Ziemba and Zack Carlson (who are the creative force behind Bleeding Skull Video) are have spent a great deal of time being film programmers and have developed a very specific knack for finding movies that are often low-budget in nature, but demonstrate some true passion in filmmaking. Joe and Zack don't approach their label with an ironic eye for the "so bad it's good" movies, but rather they look for that determination under the surface that wins out above all other things. Sure these movies are often shot on video and may show signs of less than conventional filmmaking techniques, but they are all special. I believe that often lesser experienced directors can bring to light a perfectly valid yet strange vision of the world that is itself not like any other movies you've seen. In this case, a lack of experience or awareness of technique propels them to find an alternate way to go about things. One that is nonetheless resonant, but odd. SCARY TALES is anthology horror film directed by one Doug Ulrich. There's a neat interview with him in the zine that is included with the disc.Each of the stories is bookended by a pretty cool-looking hooded Grim Reaper fella with glowing eyes reading from a large book. The three stories are: "Satan's Necklace" wherein a guy finds a evil necklace that turns him into a demon, "Sliced in Cold Blood" about a man who finds out his wife is cheating on him and takes drastic steps, and "Level 21" which concerns a gentleman who finds himself fixated on a video game that he cannot stop playing.
It's easy to see why Bleeding Skull was drawn to this movie. Ulrich is a guy who apparently began making movies when he was very young and became obsessed with making his own masks and do-it-yourself special effects. One thing that SCARY TALES has in spades is lots of gore and blood. Throat slicing, decapitations and general stabbings pop up throughout. The makeup and transformations aren't half bad actually. While the acting is about what you might expect from a no budget shot-on-video horror film, there are plenty of memorable bits of dialogue that you may find yourself quoting for days after. I found myself really charmed by the spirit and cleverness of this movie. The third story is especially interesting and kind of ambitious in its nerdy and violent take on RPGs and Dungeons and Dragons. Silly fun.
Special features include a short run of comedic outtakes, a vintage local TV talk show interview with the filmmakers and an early demo version of SCARY TALES.
Bleeding Skull has made SCARY TALES available on DVD here:
http://mondotees.com/collections/vhs/products/scary-tales-dvd
If you enjoy this movie, I highly recommend checking out some of the other Bleeding Skull Video releases - which I have included trailers for below:
Buy Bleeding Skull movies here:
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