2007
Ten legendary (well, mostly) horror directors are given their due in "The Fearmakers Collection," a three-disc documentary set from Elite Entertainment. The package is a bit misleading in promoting the 10 docs as "full-length," since each runs just under half an hour, but that still amounts to a lot of bang for the buck.
The most fun is William Castle's, primarily because his movies were the most fun. Known more for his gimmicks than the actual flicks they promoted "? "13 Ghosts," "The Tingler" and "House on Haunted Hill" among them "? Castle was all about putting butts into seats. That the movies weren't utter junk was a bonus.
The same cannot be said for Roger Corman, who is responsible for literally hundreds of outright stinkers. That output distracts from the great films he did make, like "X "? The Man with X-Ray Eyes" or the series of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations with Vincent Price.
Other "Fearmakers" profiled include Roman Polanski, Tobe Hooper, Robert Wise, Tod Browning, Jack Arnold, Terence Fisher, Jacques Tourneur and Roland West. There are no extras to speak of, but with 300 minutes of feature, you don't need any.
"?Rod Lott
