There is nothing worse than watching someone who thinks they are funny come off as terribly unfunny. Such is the case with lead actor Elias who plays a poor excuse for a journalist in this anthology of H.P. Lovecraft inspired short films. The journalist character pops up between each short and each of these segments is awkward in how unnecessary it is. I understand that the point is that he is a bad journalist but I don't get why it is so uncomfortably not entertaining. The dialogue is terrible as is his interaction with other characters that are also tragically unfunny. Although this is all a big waste of time, the real reason we are watching this is for the short films, which range from terrible to good.

One thing I found with many of the shorts is that they have no point. A number of them feel like they are a scene ripped out of another movie, which made them seem lost without a purpose. This is the certainly the case with "The Statement of Randolph Carter" and "Chaos of Faith" both of which are like pieces of a bigger picture. Others are just plain weird such as "Remain" and "Alecto" where the intent of the filmmakers was lost on me. These two were heavy on the imagery but that was about it. I am not sure if I was just missing something on some of these because I am not a Lovecraft nut. I have read some of his short stories but do not know a lot about the Cthulhu mythos, which may be why some of these shorts felt incomplete or nonsensical.

On the positive side, there are a few shorts that I thought were quite good. The first is "Bugboy" which was directed by Tomas Almgren. This is the story of a jilted ex-boyfriend who turns into a bug creature when he finds out his ex is marrying another guy. The black and white photography is suitably moody and the practical effects are quite impressive with the end result being a weird but cool movie that reminded me of early David Lynch. Another cool short is entitled "Witch's Spring" and is the tale of a guy who meets a witch when he is dating online. This is well acted and Brian Barnes' direction drew me in right away. It ends abruptly but is one of the better shorts on the disc. Finally, there is the infamous "Re-Penetrator" which is a truncated version of a porn flick that cuts out all the hardcore shots. This one is directed by Doug Sakmann (Punk Rock Holocaust) who has a good time with it and I think it was preferable in this form as there is so much blood that I can't see the hardcore shots being at all stimulating. Still, Joanna Angel is quite attractive as a zombie and I must say that a laughed out loud when she screamed, "eat my zombie p*ssy". Co-star Tommy Pistol hams it up as Herbert West and this is the highlight of this collection even though it is basically a twisted sex scene. Sakmann and the two actors reteamed for "The XXXorcist" which looks like it is along the same lines.

Overall, I think this film was a missed opportunity. It is too bad because the people who put this together had a great chance to highlight some aspiring artists while also educating the viewer on Lovecraft. Instead they have created a weak horror comedy that seems to be for serious fans only. Even an appearance from Troma chief Lloyd Kaufman doesn't save the wraparound segments from being a complete waste of time. That being said, I am looking forward to seeing more from "Bugboy" director Almgren and Sakmann is certainly rising up as one of the more entertaining b-movie directors who came from the Troma school of making movies. (Josh Pasnak, 5/14/09)

Directed By: Various.
Written By: Various.

Starring: Elias, Chad Bernhard, John Seaman, Nick Basile.

Picture Ratio: Some of the shorts are full frame while others are presented in non-anamorphic widescreen.

Picture Quality: Quality ranges as there are a variety of sources but for the most part it is quite good.

Extras: First up, we get three shorts that did not make the main feature. The first is an early 13-minute short from Biff Juggernut Productions entitled "The Voice Inside" that stars Elias as a guy who struggles with a voice inside his head. He proceeds to beat himself up and make us cringe when objects go into places where they shouldn't. This is quite effective and shows that Elias has more range than an unfunny reporter. The other shorts entitled "The Masturbating Ghost" (13 minutes) and "A Matter of Hair" (11 minutes) are both excellent and make up for some of the less impressive parts of the main feature. Rounding out the extras is a blooper reel, two music videos for an industrial band called Things Outside the Sun, and a trailer.