The Fearmakers Collection
Elite Entertainment
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Ten documentaries featuring some of the biggest names in horror and suspense!: Jack Arnold (It Came From Outer Space, The Creature From the Black Lagoon), Tod Browning (Dracula, Freaks, Mark of the Vampire, London After Midnight), William Castle (Macabre, The House on Haunted Hill, The Tingler, Homicidal, Strait-Jacket, The Night Walker), Roger Corman (Little Shop of Horrors, It Conquered the World, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Pit and the Pendulum), Terence Fisher (The Curse of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula, The Revenge of Frankenstein, The Phantom of the Opera), Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Eaten Alive, The Punhouse, Poltergeist, Lifeforce), Roman Polanski (Repulsion, The Fearless Vampire Killer, Rosemary's Baby, The Tenant, The Ninth Gate), Jacques Tourneur (Cat People, I Walked With a Zombie, The Leopard Man, Curse of the Demon), Roland West (The Bat, The Bat Whispers, The Monster), Robert Wise (Curse of the Cat People, The Body Snatcher, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Haunting).

It's pretty tough to narrow down the greatest horror directors down to just ten but Elite Entertainment's The Fearmakers Collection does a pretty good job of starting the discussion. The three-disc set features ten short documentaries that pay particular attention to some of the early greats.

Combining interviews with actors, filmmakers and film historians and movie clips, each of the biographies runs a little under a half-hour. Unfortunately, the directors themselves don't make much of an appearance although there are lots of writers and stars involved. And comments from the always entertaining John Carpenter.  Outside of Carpenter, some of the interviewees tend to be a little dry but there's no denying the historical context. There are also times where the films themselves take over the conversation, not so much the director that's meant to be the focus. The Fearmakers Collection gives a solid introduction to a small sampling of the great horror directors. There are times when there is a lot of depth and others, not so much. Overall, though, there's lots of great information for those new to horror or those simply wanting to know a little more.

Video: How's it look?
The Fearmakers Collection plays as though it were part of a cable or video series from the late 1980s or early 1990s. As one might expect, it's in full screen format. The overall quality is somewhat on the soft side, although it does vary depending on the clip source.

Audio: How's it sound?
Audio is in an unspectacular Dolby stereo. It's not very lively and it doesn't do a lot to set the clips' tone.

Extras: What additional goodies are included?

• Outside of the documentaries themselves, there's no additional features.

Closing Thoughts
Horror fans are likely to get a kick out of The Fearmakers Collection. Having not grown up on Fangoria or other horror magazines, I'm not sure which of the information presented is common knowledge among fans and what isn't, but it seemed very informative to me. Of course I might debate the exclusion of Alfred Hitchcock, Wes Craven and a couple of others from the list of featured directors, but that's another story.


Review brought to you by our friend Ryan @ Movie-Views.com