Oh my God, could anyone suck more at taking pictures of DVDs than me? Probably, but here's another half-shelf for you anyway. As ever, just click on it to see everything bigger and fuzzier.
Here we go again, from left to right. You know the routine by now.
The Haunting (remake)
This is the "Signature Selection" edition which fooled me for a second because I thought it was autographed by the director. I have got a few autographed DVDs which I'll come to eventually, but, obviously, this one from Big Lots $3 sale is not one of them. Yes, it has notoriously bad CGI, but it also has Owen Wilson being decapitated and lots of sexy Catherine Zeta Jones. I bought it for both of those reasons.
He Knows You're Alone used to be here but I sold it.
Hellraiser is in my R2 folder.
Hellraiser 2: Hellbound is in my R2 folder.
Hideaway
I have no idea where this came from. I assume that I got it in Big Lots but I've never watched it anyway. I saw it on TV a few years ago and always meant to revisit it. I know that Alicia Silverstone and Jeff Goldblum are in it and that it's based on a Dean R. Koontz novel. I also know that I enjoyed it.
High Tension
I double-dipped this from FYE as I also have the UK version labelled as "Switchblade Romance". I've even seen a version of this on DVD which looks like a bootleg with the original French title of "Haute Tension" slapped across its red cover. The ending sucks but this movie certainly surprised people at the time.
The Hills Have Eyes is in my R2 folder.
The Hills Have Eyes (remake)
This is the theatrical version because there really isn't enough difference between it and the so-called "unrated" version to justify buying it again. If you look up the comparisons, you'll see what I mean. This was new from FYE, but it wasn't full price. I don't like it as much as the original and I'm not completely sure if I like any of it at all.
The Hills Have Eyes 2
Fortunately, this isn't a remake but a similarly titled movie instead. The original "The Hills Have Eyes Part 2" (1985) sucked and blowed at the same time. I have no idea what the purpose of that awful film was either because I find it completely unwatchable. I actually enjoyed this version though. It's gory, unrated, and I got it cheap from the pawn shop.
The Hitcher
The 1988 original, of course, not the remake. I used to have this on VHS and the artwork on the cardboard cover is identical. When I was a student, I had the Italian poster "La Lunga Strada Della Paura" (the long road of fear), on my wall and the postcard version stuck on my front door. I used to think that I looked a bit like Rutger Hauer at the time, but I was deluding myself. My girlfriend back then said I looked more like Emilio Estevez. Anyway, this came from the pawn shop.
The Hitcher II: I've Been Waiting used to be here but I sold it.
The Host
The only DVD that I've ever paid full price for from FYE. Seriously. This was $26.99 and I had to order it through them because the only one they had in stock was the single disc edition for the same price. Even though it was completely different, it had the same feel to it as "Nightwatch" and "Daywatch". I know that may sound stupid since this is a Korean monster movie, but it makes sense to me. I love this film.
House of 1000 Corpses
I still haven't finished this so I have nothing much to say about it other than I bought it from the pawn shop for $2.50. I don't think it's a very good film but it was cheap.
House on Haunted Hill (remake)
Again, this isn't really a remake as just another film with the same title. Everything is a lot different to the Vincent Price classic. I really liked it though so I bought it and the sequel from Big Lots. Later on, Big Lots sold double-feature packs of them both plus another with the original and remake. I already have the original half a dozen times on Mill Creek packs.
Return to House on Haunted Hill
It turned out to be as not quite as good as the first one but the story interested me. There was a little bit of a twist to this and some good effects in places. I think it was a straight-to-DVD release and it showed.
The Howling
I only bought it because it was cheap. I can't stand Dee Wallace's voice and the story was stupid. I read the Gary Brandner novels when I was at school and they were a lot more erotic than any of the films. This, of course, came out at the same time as "An American Werewolf in London" which was far better.
Howling II
This was cheap from Big Lots too so I grabbed it. I saw it when it first came out and it was crap. I don't know why I expected it to be any different on DVD because, obviously, it wasn't. I can't believe that Christopher Lee was in this. Mind you, it's certainly not the worst thing he's ever been in.
Ils (aka Them) is in my R2 folder.
Isle of the Dead & Bedlam
A double-feature which I should probably move to the bottom shelf. I haven't watched either movie since they were on BBC2 in the early '80s so I'm just waiting for a rainy Saturday night when the mood is right to watch them again. It may never happen and I probably wasted my $3 in Big Lots on them.
I Walked with a Zombie & The Body Snatcher
Yes, I bought this at the same time as the double-feature above. I have actually watched these movies again last year. I liked "I Walked with a Zombie" more than "The Body Snatcher" but Karloff was really good in the latter.
In a Dark Place
It's another version of "The Innocents" and not a very good one either. I got it from the ex-rental section of Hollywood Video for $2.99 because it had Leelee Sobieski in it. I almost sold it at a yard sale last year but decided to keep it for the artwork.
In the Mouth of Madness
I have a slightly amusing story about this movie which leads in to why it took me so long to actually buy it on DVD. This was shown ad nauseum by both Channel Four and the ITV networks in Britain back in the day. I'm sure it was on each station 5 or 6 times a year and maybe even more than that. I even recorded it on VHS at one point rather than ever buy it but taped over it. Then, when I first came to America nearly 13 years ago, it was nearly Hallowe'en and guess what I saw when I switched on the hotel TV? Yes, that's right, "In the Mouth of Madness" was playing on something like AMC or TNT and repeated over and over again. Having not seen it for a while, I decided to get it from the pawn shop last year. I watched it just before Hallowe'en but couldn't be bothered to review it. Yes, it's a great film but I've seen it too many times.
Innocent Blood
John Landis' follow-up to "An American Werewolf in London" but this time about vampires. I bought this as an ex-rental VHS in England because it was one of the first tapes to be protected by Macrovision. Nobody could copy it and I know because I tried. The technology didn't even exist then for home pirates to break the encyption and it really annoyed me as an owner of a double VCR. Of course, I wouldn't dream of doing anything like that now. With the prices of DVDs being what they are nowadays, I have no need to pirate anything anyway. This was $3.99 from FYE nearly four years ago.
The Innocents will go here when I find a copy.
Inside
No, this isn't the French horror. I did have that one which I bought for $15.99 from FYE but, after watching it only once, I hated it so much that I swapped it with someone from a popular horror podcast at the time, for a brand new copy of "The Return of the Living Dead" (which I talk about more when I come to it later). This version of "Inside" is from 2006 and is a teenage version of "Misery" in a lot of ways. I really liked it but I'm slightly annoyed that it is now turning up on Echo Bridge multi-packs. I actually paid full price for this too from FYE before I realised that there were other places to buy DVDs in America.
Interview with the Vampire
When I was at University, everyone was reading Anne Rice. A year after leaving, this movie came out and there was all kinds of moaning about Tom Cruise not being right as Lestat. I'd just started as a video reviewer for a vampire magazine and I really enjoyed the film apart from not being able to understand half of what Brad Pitt was slurring with those fangs in. It's a story which actually improves the more times you watch it (and think about what motivates the characters) but it's still highly flawed. Kirsten Dunst is the best part. I'm tempted to say that I got this from Big Lots, but it could have been from from the pawn shop. It was originally from Big Lots thoughand has the scored through UPC.
The Invasion
From FYE's used section, I only bought this because of Nicole Kidman. She can do no wrong in anything as far as I'm concerned. I even liked her in "The Golden Compass". It's a remake of a remake (of a remake?) of course, but it isn't as bad as lot of people might have you believe.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (remake)
One of the earlier remakes which a lot of sci-fi/horror nerds rave about. I attempted to watch this again fairly recently and found it horribly dated. You already know that I can't bear to watch Brooke Adams in anything with all her "teeth and eyes acting", but, back when I was a child, I found a couple of the scenes scary in this. They don't work anymore and I spent most of the film trying to decide if I fancied Veronica Cartwright or not. I'm sure this came from Big Lots for $3.
The Invisible
I watched this on a movie channel but fell asleep before the end. As usual, I had to buy it as an ex-rental from Blockbuster not because I couldn't have just rented it from somewhere but because they were going out of business (and I liked the price). I can't remember a lot about it except that it was more of a supernatural mystery than a horror movie and actually made me feel quite emotional at the end. It's something which I will definitely watch again. I highly recommend this movie.
Invitation to Hell
Suffice it to say that I remembered this from the days of VHS as being a lot better than it actually was. My girlfriend of that time didn't get how much I enjoyed it either or my strange "man crush" on the late Robert Urich. I grew up watching everything he did from "Tabitha" (the sequel to "Bewitched") to "Vegas" and beyond. It's really sad that he's no longer with us. "Invitation to Hell" is still a neat story but it's very dated and by Wes Craven (so you know the score). I was a bit naive once upon a time and used to think that Wes Craven was a really good horror director. This was worth having for $5 of my DVD store credit but I really shouldn't keep it.
I'm half way through. I can hardly believe it! Of course, I'm only fooling myself because the bottom shelf will need to be split up into 6 sections and will take ages to go through. In reality, I'm only a quarter of the way through my Region 1 DVDs at this point and I still have another shelf and a half before I get to the worst part anyway.
I hope I'm not boring you too much with all this. Let me know if I am and I'll post something more interesting for you to read. I'm starting to wish that I'd done this as a YouTube video but I suppose I have to finish it now.
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