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Image and video hosting by TinyPic Cast: Udo Kier, Guilford Adams, Suzan Anbeh, Lindsay Goranson, André Hennicke, Kaniehtiio Horn, Lena Kleine, Catriona MacColl, Victoria Maurette, Virginia Newcomb, Debbie Rochon, Tom Savini, Melodie Simard

Director: Buddy Giovinazzo, David Gregory, Douglas Buck, Jeremy Kasten, Karim Hussain, Richard Stanley, Tom Savini

Genre: Horror

Year: 2011

Rating: NR

Down a seedy city street, a young woman is obsessed with what appears to be a long abandoned theatre. One night, she sees the front door slightly ajar and impulsively decides to sneak inside. But there in the vast, eerie auditorium, a show unlike any other unfolds before her eyes. Its host is an odd marionette-like man who will introduce her to six tales of the truly bizarre: A couple traveling in a remote part of the French Pyrenees crosses paths with a lustful witch; A paranoid lover faces the wrath of a partner who has been pushed to her limit; The Freudian dreams of an unfaithful husband blur the lines between fantasy and reality; The horrors of the real world are interpreted through the mind of a child; A woman addicted to other people's memories gets her fix through the fluid of her victims' eyeballs; And a perverse obsession with sweets turns sour for a couple in too deep. But as the stories unfold, something strange is happening to the woman. Something irreversible and horrific. Something that awaits its next audience in THE THEATRE BIZARRE.

"The Theatre Bizarre" opens with a woman who is drawn to a run down theater next door. Once inside, she's treated to a show hosted by a man acting like a living wind-up toy. The movements of those on stage, the lighting and the costumes really set a creepy mood to begin to proceedings. There are six stories in the film's nearly two hour 113 minute run time, the include:

"The Mother of Toads".... A couple takes a vacation in France basically in the middle of nowhere. While they're browsing shops, they meet an elderly woman who draws the man, Martin into her home with The Necronomicon. The tea she gives him puts him under her spell and all hell breaks loose from there. This one wasn't the best of the bunch but it's strange enough to keep your interest.

"I Love You"... A man wakes up in his bathroom with blood everywhere and a nasty cut on his hand. He calls his therapist, who's with his lover, it seems the woman took off days ago and the man seems genuinely worried. She comes home only to tell him that she's leaving him. This one is better than the first film, it's drama at the ou-set leads into a very creepy and bloody ending. I enjoyed this one all around and thought the acting and camera work were both fantastic.

"Wet Dreams" Tom Savini directed and co-stars in this one about a man who has very real dreams about his wife castrating him and feeding his severed member to him during breakfast. This one really plays mind games with it's twisted look at whats real and whats not. I really enjoyed this one all the way to the very end and it is nice to see Savini again in from of and behind the camera.

"The Accident" is a slow, short story about a horrific accident and a little girl that asks her mom a lot of questions which in turn her mom answers with answers that are strange to say the least. This one was probably my least favorite but it is different enough and the music really helps in setting the mood.

"Vision Strains" is the most original and my favorite of the bunch. It's about a woman who kills homeless women and addicts in order to steal their memories but taking their eye fluid and injects them into her own so that she can experience their life stories. This is a very cleaver and well written story that takes the serial killer genre to a whole need level.

"Sweet Dreams" finishes the film off and is easily the most disturbing of all the stories. If you have a weak stomach I am not sure you should watch this one because it deals with people that have over-eating disorders as well as some ever strange fetishes. I did think the ending was clever but this one was really out there and very upsetting.

As far as anthology films go "The Theatre Bizarre" is certainly up there with the best, this is the type of film that true horror fans want not the PG-13, teen horror movies you see in theaters nowadays. So at least for two hours true horror buffs can sit back and take in some horror that isn't afraid to be brave or unsettling. Bravo to everyone involved here, I highly recommend this to all fans of horror that have been waiting to see a film that finally delivers.

The DVD comes with Special Features that include

Trailer

Directors' Commentary

Behind The Scenes

Directors' Interviews

You can order the DVD HERE.

Released by Image Entertainment

***** Out Of *****