DVD Review - Faces Of Horror: 10 Movie Collection

Mill Creek Ent.; Rated R; 915 minutes; $14.98

Now available on DVD from Mill Creek Entertainment is Faces Of Horror: 10 Movie Collection, featuring the cult classics When A Stranger Calls, and Happy Birthday To Me. There are no special features or bonus features on the three disc set.

When A Stranger Calls (1979; 97 minutes) is no stranger to horror fans. Directed by Fred Dalton, the first twenty minutes centers on a babysitter (played by Carol Kane) being harassed by an unknown man who keeps calling her, asking "Have you checked on the children?" The majority of the movie focus on an ex-cop (played by Charles Durning) chasing doing a serial killer, and while it does get a little boring, it's still one of the better "early" slasher films.

Happy Birthday To Me (1981; 110 minutes) this Canadian-American slasher film wasn't exactly a hit back in 1981, but over time the movie has become a cult classic. Directed by J. Lee Thompson, the film starred Melissa Sue Anderson as Virginia "Ginny" Wainwright, a high school student who suffers from horrifying flashbacks after a series of murders occur around the academy she attends. While it borrows heavily from the original Friday the 13th film, the twisted ending makes up for all the cliches.

The other eight films on the three-disc set are low-budget. Many of them are in the public-domain and have appeared in other horror set releases.

These movies are:

• Double Exposure (1983; 95 minutes)
• Click: The Calendar Girl Killer (1990; 86 minutes)
• Don't Answer The Phone! (1980; 95 minutes)
• Scream Bloody Murder (1975; 85 minutes)
• Silent Night, Bloody Night (1974; 85 minutes)
• Savage Weekend (1976; 86 minutes)
• The Demon (1979; 95 minutes)
• The Manipulator (1971; 91 minutes)

Final Thoughts: Being a big horror fan, I hate to admit that I had never seen either the original When A Stranger Calls or Happy Birthday To Me until I watched them on this DVD release just a few nights ago. Considering the films are shoved onto one disc, the film quality is pretty decent. Now I can't say the same for the other films that are scattered across the other two discs.

The film quality for those films are pretty bad, but since most of them are in the public-domain to begin with, I would say Mill Creek Entertainment used whatever film reels they could get their hands on. I only watched a few of these movies and I didn't care much for them.

Overall, I still enjoyed watching the Faces Of Horror: 10 Movie Collection. Its worth getting the set just for When A Strange Calls and Happy Birthday To Me; well, that is if you don't already own them on DVD or Blu-ray.

*I received a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.