I’ve never understood while watching this entry why anyone would want a film that makes people go violent, and a good film no less. I mean I’ve seen bad films that made me go violent–watch “Gigli” or “Battlefield Earth” and you’ll want to murder someone–but a good film? I don’t know. Either way, that’s the concern for John “As long as I get paid” Carpenter’s entry called “Cigarette Burns”. Norman Reedus plays Kirby, a film aficionado who has been sent by a millionaire (Udo Kier) to search for the infamous film “Le Fin Du Monde”, a film that made a reputation of itself after the first screening caused its audience to riot violently.

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Don’t you hate it when Native American legends about man killing seductresses come true? I know I sure do. Director John Landis’ tale conquers that common American problem with a unabashedly cheesy, but still entertaining entry in to the “Masters of Horror” series that never takes itself seriously. As basically all of these stories, there’s a woman on the road killing travelers, truckers and any horny man that comes on to her, and these guys fall for her hook line and sinker. It’s not hard to buy the fact that these men fall for this female’s tricks since the actress Cinthia Moura is utterly hot, but it’s a wonder if these guys ever saw a noir film learning about femme fatales.

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Richard Matheson’s short story does get a very kinetic bit of treatment by Hooper’s often surreal direction here. The world in “Dance of the Dead” is a world where even death isn’t the end, and even the bodies of the once living are used as entertainment in a world run by teenagers who do nothing but get high and wreak havoc on the world. Robert Englund has an especially serpentine-like walk-on role as a wicked DJ who runs the show from behind the scenes and seeks personal finance by the misery of others. “Dance of the Dead” can tend to be a twisted and gruesome look at the post-apocalypse world. It’s pretty hard to think of a very good Hooper production after “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Poltergeist”, because I’d say Hooper really hasn’t scored a slam dunk in a good long while.

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You see, just when my hopes were waning for this show, suddenly my faith is restored. In this political ridden society split apart by our own views, it’s surprising to see that this horror series first started as a show for horror masters is now deciding to tell stories that have meaning. Joe Dante directs this entertaining episode based on the award-winning short story “Death & Suffrage” by Dale Bailey. The story was first published in “The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction” and has been fixed to adjust to the modern lexicon. This has to be the best episode of the series so far, that displays all its talent for show including Greg Nicotero’s zombie effects.

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This latest episode is not so much scary and frightening as it is often amusing and fascinating. For this week’s episode, director, writer, and creator Mick Garris brings to life one of his own stories. I was often thinking back to “Twilight Zone” for this installment as it deals with unknown identities and sudden powers that arise from circumstances. As little expectations I had for “Chocolate” it ends up as a very solid episode. Henry Thomas is very much in the vein of Norman Bates here as a prudish young man named Jamie who works as a scientist synthesizing smells and tastes for products. One night after a vivid dream he awakes with the strong taste of chocolate in his mouth and begins to wonder if the dream was an actual figment of his imagination.

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The story of Jenifer is the tale of the ultimate jealous girlfriend, who is a subservient, but very jealous person who claims her mates and then clings on to them serving what she feels they desire. To the monster Jenifer, she sees eating humans as eliminating rivals and basically giving her mate her own gifts. The story not only confronts the whole aspect of this grotesque girl, but examines the lolita-esque attraction with this man who–in spite of her face–still possesses a sexual obsession with her. As per Argento’s style, the tension is ripe from the very beginning, as the mystery Argento usually works on mounts. And there’s a great amount of gore that Nicotero works on including some genitalia munching (literally), and gorging on innards that never cuts away. So–this is all they gave Dario Argento to work with, eh?

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