Ten Best Anthology Movies/Shows
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ORIGINAL HEADING:
Here’s another blog I made. Another one?
Really? Oh well, I like lists so
this blog contains lists only. Unlike my
Best/Worst of the Year lists posted on my other blog (one of many), Best and
Worst Films Archive, this one will contain top ten lists for specific
genres. Whenever people ask me what my
favorite movie is, I never have a definitive answer so these entries will give
you a general idea of what some of my
favorite films are. Agree or disagree, I
don’t give a ‘eff’ (that’s your right)…
*Read any previous lists in the
archive section at the bottom or by clicking on arrow at top left*
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Anthology
movies. Anthology shows. Those cinematic equivalents to the literary
short story, often with a wraparound segment (in movies) or a host introducing
them (in shows). You know I love them
(if you know me even just a little).
They don’t take up too much time no matter how often you revisit them,
and usually they engage you enough without overstaying their welcome with added
filler. Being too short isn’t
necessarily effective either, hence why I wasn’t the biggest fan of The ABCs of Death. As you can see, I made it an even ten by
picking 6 movies and 4 shows. I could’ve
easily made ten for each, but I didn’t feel some deserved the honor despite me
being a fan. Now, as with most of them,
be it films or shows, rarely are all the segments hits; sometimes there are
more hits than misses, more misses than hits, an equal amount of both, or
extremely good hits amongst the mixed bunch that make the entire film worth
watching (“The Thing in the Woods” alone made Nightmare Cinema great, and “Amelia” is the only segment that makes
Trilogy of Terror memorable). Creepshow
2, Tales from the Hood, and Trick ‘r Treat are examples in which all
the segments were good. I’ll admit to
being a fan of Creepshow 2 more than Creepshow and that’s partly due to me
seeing it first. I do still like Creepshow (obviously, if it’s on the
list), two of the tales not being great (“The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill”
and “They’re Creeping Up on You”), but I enjoy the other ones enough to
consider myself a big fan; nostalgia plays a big part for both films too. Don’t even get me started on Creepshow 3. Chillers
is an enjoyably cheesy Eighties film that completely works despite its obvious
low budget, and I could argue with myself that I included Cat’s Eye just to make a combined even ten, but I don’t dislike any
of the segments at all and two things solidify my admiration for it---nostalgia
and Stephen King. Of course I like other
anthology movies, such as A Christmas
Horror Story, Terror Tract, Chillerama, Black Sabbath (how can a film that inspired the name of a
pioneering metal band not be significant?), and some even made my ‘best of the
year’ list during their release, i.e. Nightmare
Cinema, All the Creatures were
Stirring, Ghost Stories, and V/H/S/2 (that sequel being my favorite
of that franchise), but none of them have left enough of an impression to be
labeled as my personal favorites (and, yes, that can always change in the
future). As for the shows? To be clear, an anthology show is not the
same thing as an anthology series. An
anthology show is one where every
single episode is different for every single season (i.e. The Twilight Zone, Tales from
the Crypt, Are You Afraid of the
Dark?, etc.), whereas an anthology series
is one in which each season contains a different story and characters (i.e. American Horror Story, True Detective, Channel Zero, etc.). Tales from the Crypt and Are You Afraid of the Dark? are two of
my all-time favorite shows; I very much like the animated Tales from the Cryptkeeper too, for nostalgia as well as standing
the test of time. As much as I like The Twilight Zone, I have a
confession---I haven’t seen every single episode of the original or Eighties
series, but I’ve seen enough to know I’m a fan (I own both so one day I will get
around to seeing every single episode); I never saw the 2000s version and I
wasn’t the biggest fan of the recent Jordan Peele revival, so when I say The Twilight Zone is one of my
favorites, I’m specifically talking about the original series, thank you. Yes, I have liked other anthology shows, such
as Masters of Horror, Fear Itself, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Night
Gallery, Tales from the Darkside,
Black Mirror, and I was even a big
fan of the recent Creepshow series
available on Shudder, but none stick out in my mind as being favorites or hold
any kind of nostalgic factor as much as the ones listed. The Goosebumps
television series came out at a time when I thought I was “too cool” for it (or
perhaps “too old” since I was never “cool”) , even though I did watch some of
them at the time, and I’m a bigger fan of the books than the show, but I did
still enjoy the show (I’ve seen all the episodes over the years); I also like
R.L. Stine’s other series, The Haunting
Hour, but haven’t seen all the episodes (I will definitely buy a collection
if ever released) and definitely haven’t read all the pre-adapted stories. I was really disappointed with Hulu’s
anthology series, Into the Dark; I
mean, they were all movies instead of short segments, but I think I maybe liked
three of them and didn’t even think they were too rave-worthy. Anyway, here are the anthology films/shows
that do stand out for me (even though I just explained the lists above)…
Six Favorite Anthology Movies
1. Cat’s
Eye
2. Chillers (1987)
3. Creepshow
4. Creepshow
2*
5. Tales
from the Hood*
6. Trick
‘r Treat*
Four Favorite Anthology Shows
1. Are
You Afraid of the Dark?* (original series)
2. Tales
from the Crypt*
3. Tales
from the Cryptkeeper
4. The
Twilight Zone
*indicates a standout title
---Sean O.
5/25/2020
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