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Short film anthologies have been a mainstay of the horror genre for a long time. Most consist of three or four pieces, sometimes with introductions or a framing story to tie them together. Some provide a point of entry for up-and-coming filmmakers to show off raw talent, while others give established genre veterans a chance to play without the pressure of a major studio production. The best examples are tight, atmospheric works that hit hard without the fancy trappings of bigger-budgeted films. Many others are just passable, and more than a few are weak, unoriginal exercises in genre cliché. Unfortunately, George A. Romero Presents: Deadtime Stories: Volume 1 falls into the latter two categories.
Best known as the father of the modern zombie film—and having already been involved with several successful anthologies, including Creepshow and Tales from the Darkside—Romero serves as an executive producer and on-screen emcee for this trio of horror shorts. Aside from doing his best impression of the Cryptkeeper, it’s unclear whether he had much involvement in the actual making of these films, as they mostly lack the inventiveness and eye for satire that he’s previously demonstrated.
The first short, Valley of the Shadow, follows a woman who’s leading an expedition into Africa to find her missing husband, who had been studying a rare plant in the area. Her party soon finds itself under attack from natives who may have been connected to his disappearance. It’s probably the weakest section, with sluggish pacing and a goofy last-minute flourish that seems bizarrely out of place.
The second, Wet, has the most intriguing concept of the set—though, admittedly, that isn’t saying much. A reclusive man finds a strange box near his isolated beach home, and he learns from a nearby antique seller that it holds part of a mermaid. Though warned that mermaids are dangerous even after being killed and dismembered, he’s your typical horror film protagonist, so he does exactly the opposite of the smart thing. What happens next is hardly unexpected, but it occurs in a suitably chilling way.
Finally, House Call follows a country doctor in the early 20th century as he treats strange symptoms in a teenage boy who believes that he may have been bitten by a vampire. While the performance by the doctor is fairly strong, the atmosphere fails, and the twist ending is utterly predictable.
These three are presented as the first volume in a series, but if the rest prove to be as lifeless and short on ideas as these, they needn’t have bothered. There are many better horror anthologies out there—and much better things that George Romero could be doing with his time.
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