gavin6942 Compilation of three short horror films: "That's The Way To Do It", "Dreamhouse" and "Do You Believe In Fairies?" plus some linking material...Part one features a puppeteer who simply is not appreciated by his family -- they think his love of Punch and Judy is just silly. Well, that sort of attitude is not going to stand, and they begin being killed. But who is the killer? The puppeteer or the scorned puppets themselves? This section is pretty much your standard fare. Not necessarily great, but 1980s slasher fans should enjoy it enough.Part two features a couple who have moved into their "dream home", but it is not quite finished yet. The wife begins seeing blood in the bath tub, hears rats in the attic, and other strange things. Is she crazy, or is the house really haunted (or worse)? This section more or less revolves around jump scares (technically called "bus" scares), so if you like sudden images mixed with a loud noise, this is for you. It actually gets grislier as it progresses if you like that...Part three features a dirt bike rider who needs some extra money, so takes up work in a group of old women's garden. They warn him to respect the fairies and garden gnomes... and he does not take them quite as seriously as he should. This one has all the makings of a "Tales From the Crypt" episode, and I am kind of surprised they did not rip off the idea (or maybe they did).

Paul Andrews Screamtime starts in New York as two friends Ed (Vincent Russo) & Bruce (Michael Gordon) steal some videotapes from a shop, heading back to an apartment to watch them the tapes turn out to be horror films...First up is 'That's the Way to do it' in which an ageing puppeteer named Jack (Robin Bailey) gets grief from all sides of his family & when his wife & stepson want him ti burn his cherished Punch & Judy puppets people start turning up dead...Then it's 'Dreamhouse' in which young married couple Tony (Ian Saynor) & Susan (Yvonne Nicholson) move into a new house, immediately Susan starts to see violent visions & hear strange noises but Tony thinks she is having a nervous breakdown...Finally it's 'Garden of Blood' sees a broke teenager named Gavin (David Van Day) decide to rob the house of a pair of rich elderly sisters but hadn't counted on their stories of Fairies being true...This English production was apparently directed by Stanley A.Long & Michael Armstrong under the pseudonym Al Beresford with Long credited as a producer too & Armstrong credited with the screenplay & casting, the British horror anthology had been very popular with the likes of Dead of Night (1945), Tales from the Crypt (1972), Asylum (1972), The Vault of Horror (1974), From Beyond the Grave (1974) & The Monster Club (1981) to name but a few & one has to say that Screamtime tries to recreate that golden era with mixed success. The linking wraparound story looks to have been filmed by someone totally different & is at odds with the rest of the film in tone & style & I assume is there to add a bit of American-ness to it. The three stories are fairly solid but the low budget & obvious lack of resources don't help. From killer puppets to terrifying visions to killer Garden Gnomes one has to say that the makers tried & the stories could have been better with more money spent on them, they all take place largely in the same location with minimal special effects. At just under 90 minutes each story runs about 25 minutes long & I would probably say that the second story Dreamhouse is the best with a neat twist ending & was considered good enough for a full length feature film remake Psychosis (2010) which is also quite good. These anthology horror films can be great but rely on striking twist endings which is where Screamtime falls down a bit, while Dreamhouse is impressive, unexpected & memorable the other two are a little tame & predictable.The production values are alright if cheap looking, the special effects vary with the living Garden Gnome surely one of the silliest things I've seen in a while. A little rough around the edges technically how can that kid set the Punch & Judy show on fire with an unlit electric lamp?! Some of the acting & death scenes are also poor with the Garden Gnome strangling a guy coming across as really camp & the shots earlier where row's of Garden Gnomes scare the geezer is hard to take seriously. There's a bit of gore, there's some blood splatter in the first story, some gory stabbings including a cool slit throat in the second & not much of anything during the third story. The stories do have a certain grimy low budget atmosphere that I liked, a sort of sleazy vibe to them that appealed.Filmed here in the UK & in New York. The acting varies, some of it is quite good while at other times it's awful. Jonathon Morris who played Damien is probably best know for played Adrian in the sitcom Bread (1986-1991), Kim Thompson who plays Lady Anne has since found fame in the UK appearing in over 200 episodes of Emmerdale while David Van Day was one half of 80's pop group Dollar.Screamtime is fairly enjoyable for what it is, the three stories vary in quality but they are all decent enough & they all have their own moments whether it's creepiness or silliness or gore. I can't say Screamtime is brilliant but it's a worthwhile watch especially if your a fan of horror anthologies.

movieman_kev Two hoodlums steal a few short videotapes from the local mom & pop video store and go back to one of their female friend's apartment to watch them. After surprisingly minimal amount of protesting from the girl who claims to have a hot date, they all settle in to watch some movies. The first, about a bullied puppeteer, is easily the worst of the bunch, the acting is all right, but the story is pretty uninspired, however if you can make it through this dull segment, you should be good to go as the following two stories are markable better. The second about a haunted house is less original than the first story but it's helped along by some good acting and a few effective scares. The third and final tale revolving around old ladies and mystical creatures is a throwaway but i got some enjoyment out of it. All in all this film is not amongst the better horror anthologies by a long shot, but you could do worse. The "Dreamhouse" segment makes the film worthy of a view alone.Eye Candy: Marie Scinto gets topless

FieCrier This was a decent horror anthology movie. Two New Yorkers steal some videos from a video store, and take them to a female friend's apartment to watch.In the first one, an old man loves doing Punch & Judy shows for kids, and takes meticulous care of his puppets at home. His wife is fed up with it; they don't make enough money, and she wants him to burn them and move with his stepson to Canada for reliable work. We then see his family being attacked by a wooden board. Has Punch come to life, or has the old man gone nuts? This one wasn't all that good, but it wasn't terrible.In the second one, a couple move into a house their father was unable to sell. The wife sees a boy bicycling in the yard that no one else notices. She hears noises, and sees blood in the bathtub, then on a knife in the kitchen, then on the bannister. She starts seeing other people in the house, and then starts seeing those people bloody or dead. This one was quite a bit better.In the last segment, a young man races motorcycles, and works at a clothing store. He needs more money, which his boss offers to loan him. He takes a job gardening for a pair of old ladies to make the money he needs to pay his boss back. They're quite eccentric, believing in fairies and gnomes, and a pact their 16th century ancestor had with the fairies to help conceal her affairs from her husband. The young man discovers the old ladies have a chest full of money, and he decides to rob them with the help of his younger brother and a friend. This one was pretty good too.Finally, the wraparound segment brings everything together.