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List Price: $119.84 | | Label: Lions Gate
Salesrank: 61147
Released: March 18, 2008 |
| Our Price: $74.87 |
| Used Price: $52.95 |
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MPAA Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Includes: (lge d22686d) borderland (lge d22671d) mulberry street (lge d22683d) crazy eights (lge d22677d) nightmare man (lge d22674d) deaths of ian stone (lge d22692d) tooth & nail (lge d22689d) lake dead (lge d22680d) unearthed Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 03/18/2008 Run time: 647 minutes
Description of After Dark Horrorfest 8 Films to Die For (Borderland / Unearthed / Tooth and Nail / Crazy Eights / Nightmare Man / The Deaths of Ian Stone / Lake Dead / Mulberry St.):
Monsters are on the minds of the eight directors whose films comprise the 2007 After Dark HorrorFest, which arrives on DVD in an eight-disc set as well as single-disc editions. And it's interesting to note that while there are plenty of traditional monsters on display, from the vengeful spirits of Crazy Eights and Nightmare Man to the rampaging alien in Unearthed, the majority of the creatures causing havoc in the 2007 HorrorFest are all too human, which underscores one of the key functions of the horror genre: to give a face to society's darkest and most pressing fears. The best showcase for these human beasts is Jim Mickle's urban creepshow Mulberry Street, which details the outbreak of a rat-borne virus that turns New York City residents into rodent-like mutants. The monsters themselves are actually the least effective part of the film; rather, it's Mickle's ability to create both a slow-boiling panic and believable characters on a shoestring budget that gives his picture the advantage over the others in the fest. Less agreeable is Borderland, a well-photographed but mildly xenophobic splatterfest about American college students who run afoul of bloodthirsty Mexican Satanists, while Lake Dead and Tooth and Nail recycle overly familiar horror tropes (mutant hillbillies vs. city folk in , and cannibals vs. apocalypse survivors in Tooth). Of the two, Tooth is the more appealing thanks to its name cast (Michael Madsen, Robert Carradine, Vinnie Jones), while Lake offers little more than unrelieved sadism and sexual violence. The Deaths of Ian Stone offers the fest's most intriguing premise--after a terrible accident, a young man (Mike Vogel of Cloverfield) discovers that he is being reborn as different people, only to suffer an even worse fate with each reincarnation--though the reasons for his condition and the introduction of monsters to the story are ill-conceived and ill-advised. As for the remaining titles, Unearthed is simply Alien in the desert (ground already covered with panache by Feast), while Nightmare Man is a HD-lensed supernatural slasher from the usually reliable Rolfe Kanefsky (The Hazing) that's enlivened only by the presence of B-movie stalwart Tiffany Shepis. With so much varying quality in the entries, what the 2007 HorrorFest needed was a rock-solid entry by an established talent, like Nacho Cerda's The Abandoned and Takashi Shimuzi's Reincarnation, which gave some spark to the 2006 festival. Judging by the tepid box office response to this series, stronger names or more careful selection of titles will be necessary for the HorrorFest to remain an annual event. Unlike the 2006 HorrorFest DVD releases, only a handful of the 2007 festival's discs offer extras. It seems odd that two of the weakest entries--Borderland and Nightmare Man--are the only discs to feature substantial supplemental features, including director and cast commentary, deleted scenes, and making-of featurettes, as well as a short documentary on Borderland about the true-life crimes that inspired the film. However, Nightmare Man's extras have a distinct edge thanks to the participation of Shepis, who brings a salty sense of humor to the commentary and also directs an amusing making-of featurette that elicits funny (and honest) responses from the cast and crew. Included on every disc are The Miss HorrorFest Webisodes, a wan collection of reality show-style vignettes that follow a contest to find the festival's new, scantily clad spokesmodel. -- Paul Gaita
After Dark Horrorfest 8 Films to Die For (Borderland / Unearthed / Tooth and Nail / Crazy Eights / Nightmare Man / The Deaths of Ian Stone / Lake Dead / Mulberry St.) Reviews:
Here's To Next Year! 
2008-09-23 - I watched all of the first After Dark Horrorfest and some were good, some weren't that good. I haven't bought them all yet, but I'm working on it, but I was excited to see they had done another year. I started renting them, like I did with last year, and was impressed. These films surpassed the original 8, IMHO. I'll list them in order that I liked them in with a short review.
1) Borderland: This one received massive rave reviews and so I kept it for last. Needless to say, I wasn't disappointed. Not a very familiar cast, but the story sounded good. Started off like torture-porn, but at the end, I was mortified. I think it helped that it's based on a true story. Shocking, gruesome, and downright scary. Sean Astin was phenomenal in his role. I recommend this one.
2) Frontier(s): While not being an official selection, I consider it part of the series. I hated Hostel. I'm not afraid to say it. This one was what Hostel should have been. In French, but very scary. Similar in style to Borderland, but stands on its own. The acting is well done and the effects are top notch. Superb ending.
3) Mulberry St.: This was the first that I saw, and I loved it. It started off slow, but the pacing really paid off in the end. Excellent acting and character development. Some shocks and jumps to be had. Very creative. The ending was the best of all of them. No real familiar faces in the main roles, which helps suck you in. You think of them as real instead of a face you see all the time.
4) Nightmare Man: This is a very cheap, poorly acted mess, but I really like it for some reason. Some scenes are genuinely creepy, and sometimes bends the rules of horror movies, but the ending was downright hilarious. Seems unfocused on where it wants to go, but it's not for everyone. The ending does seem to tread near the line.
5) The Deaths Of Ian Stone: This isn't so much a horror story as it is a sci-fi story as another reviewer said. Excellent concept and acting make it quite compelling. Slowly the story is unfolded, but the more that's revealed, the less I'm interested. The ending almost ruined a perfectly good story.
6) Lake Dead: The unfortunate titling of this one didn't make me all that interested, but I was quite surprised. It had some good effects and some pretty good acting, but the story seems kind of slow up until the end. Predictable and unexciting ending to a nice little slasher. Had real potential.
7) Tooth And Nail: This one was the one I wanted to see first, but held off. It had one of my favorite subjects of horror; cannibalism! I liked the look of the cast, as well, but Michael Madsen, Vinnie Jones, and Robert Carradine are unfortunately cast. Had potential, but slow pacing and unexciting death scenes make it a bit of a snoozer. Ending, while good in parts, doesn't make up for the rest of the film.
8) Unearthed: An okay concept, poorly executed. The creature seems to have every skill short of magical powers. It seems very inconsistent with the creature. You don't get a very good view of it and the characters aren't very interesting. You don't seem to care for any of them and hope they die, but you barely get to see that. The ending slightly makes up for it.
9) Crazy Eights: Incredible cast! That's all it has going for it. I'm sure this will appeal to some, but seems too jumpy. There isn't much for scares or violence in this and the characters don't seem that interesting. The film is bizarre and afterwards, I still haven't figure out what I had just watched.
I recommend these films, and the original 8. I'm looking forward to the next batch. They can't seem to get here fast enough. These films seem better than most of the low-budget horror movies that I rent often. Take a chance, and let this annual event keep going.
Aliens Creature 
2008-08-12 - Great!! Picture reminds me of the Aliens Creature But this one will scare your Pants off.. Much Powerful then Aliens Creature...
After Dark Horror Fest 2 
2008-05-14 - I bought the first Horrorfest pack and this second collection is better.
Lake Dead - This is a seriously sick and twisted movie; it was excellent.
Crazy Eights - A supernatural type film with a suspenseful start and a great finish.
The Deaths of Ian Stone - The harvesters were excellent, but the plot wasn't as good as the other films.
Unearthed - A good "alien" type of movie and the female sheriff should just stop drinking!
Tooth and Nail - a survival film of what would happen if the world ran out of gas in 2012; good.
Mulberry St. - This was excellent;do not eat when watching.
Nightmare Man - This had good scares and good twists.
Borderland - This is based on a true story which makes especially sick; good.
All of these movies are excellent for horror film fans; enjoy!
Horror Buff
2008-04-19 - For those of us who are horror buffs and work too much owning a business, it is difficult to get out to the theatre. There are never enough horrors playing anyway. That's all we watch. So getting this "Horror Fest" package is just great. It keeps a great selection of horrors around to watch when WE want to watch them. ANd the movies are great too. Keep them coming!
Lenny & Kevin
Great product, Great movies
2008-04-18 - This product was shipped fast, arrived in excellent condition and the movies are fantastic to watch. A+++
