Probably the best thing about this is that it’s narrated by Sir Burgess Meredith but there are a few things to enjoy in the four segments of this Landis & Co-helmed portmanteau (sort of). Unsurprisingly the schmaltzy one is the work Stephen Spielydrawers as he gets Scatman Crothers to snog life back into some coffin dodgers who should in any case have been taking running kicks at daisies many years before and had just become a burden on the state; the Joe ‘Gremlins’ Dante one has probably the most famous image of all since it features a massive scary rabbit thing though the last segment has the most famous story as it’s the old Shatner gremlin schtick but with John ‘knock ’em dead kid!’ Lithgow instead. In fact, it’s so famous you wonder why on earth it needs to be remade. We’d much rather have had that one with Ed Wynn and the stopwatch done over instead. Dan Ackroyd and Albert Brooks flesh out a cast of, it has to be said, relative nobodies.
Lee James Turnock
May 24, 2010 at 2:19 pm
Proud to own this on DVD. What’s not to love? Vic Morrow and that bloke from the Thing. Scatman “You want some ice cream, Doc?” Crothers. Kathleen Quinlan looking stunning. Kevin McCarthy and that creepy-as-shit kid, with classic Chuck Jones cartoons (including ‘Feed Kitty’) playing on all the tellies, and Runaways vocalist Cherie Currie as the none-more-startling mouthless (and disabled) older sister. John Lithgow being brilliant. Annoying brat with a WC Fields doll. It’s all bloody gold.
Richard16378
February 17, 2017 at 7:46 pm
Vic Morrow & 2 child actors died during the making of this when a helicopter crashed onto them.
Tom Ronson
May 23, 2022 at 12:33 am
Yes, it’s astonishing that John Landis continued to have any sort of a career at all after this widely-publicised incident. His portion of the film – an entirely predictable segment about a bigot getting his comeuppance – is easily the weakest of the four, too.
Richardpd
January 21, 2024 at 11:17 pm
I was also surprised John Landis didn’t have the book thrown him even harder for the amount of failings related to the helicopter incident. Apparently Landis & others working on the shoot admitted the were at fault & were treated leniently.
George White
January 22, 2024 at 7:57 am
Also featuring now transphobe Cherie Currie and 25 yo Nancy Cartwright as a 14 year old schoolgirl, cast because even then she was a trained voice actress (having trained under Daws ‘Yogi/Huckleberry’ Butler) and thus had a wide appreciation and knowledge of cartoons.
Richardpd
January 22, 2024 at 10:12 pm
When Nancy Cartwright isn’t voicing Bart Simpson she does voices for other cartoons, including young girls.
Her home site used to have downloadable samples of many of her characters, but were taken off ages ago, probably for copyright issues.