A teenager receives a videotape in the mail he didn't order. He calls up friends looking for an active evening, but multiple attempts fail because most are busy. So he tears off the wrap to the tape and pops in the VCR. A hall with running human parts (upper torso, arms and head in motion) embedded in the walls leads to a room where Vincent Price awaits, ready to introduce the anthology of tales which make up about an hour. Price returns at the end to close it out. Clearly, Price was approached for a quick payday and couldn't resist.
"A Little Fishy" deals with a guy fishing at a lake, eyeing an apple that draws his appetite, taking some bites, finding, much to his alarm, a hook line which drags him by the throat (he swallowed it while chewing into the apple) into the water. What set this in motion is not known. The fisherman becoming the fish, with the apple tossed out in the hopes of luring another human to the lake. "Coffee Break" has this speeding delivery van driver lost in some backwoods rural community of Harmony, pulling up to an old timer's home for directions. Because his van blares loud rock music and temperament is rude and harried, the kid doesn't exactly ingratiate himself to the local who tells him he should slow down and have a nice cup of coffee up the road at Harmony Café. Undeterred, the kid takes varies roads in front of him with the same results: he returns to Harmony seemingly unable to escape this neck of the woods. If he'd just stop and have that cup of coffee "Who's There?" follows a plump jogger taking the scenic route who walks upon a woody area with creatures having escaped from a wildlife preserve somewhere nearby. Is his life in danger or are they not as dangerous as it seems? "Jonah's Dream" features a prospecting widow toiling away in the hopes of that gold find on her mountain. While the locals in the nearby town think she's wasting her time, nonetheless, the widow continues on. Well, one night a noise from her barn sparks interest, and the widow finds a peculiar spaceship having crashlanded on her property, leaking fuel and steam, seemingly about to explode. But through this the widow just might find her gold "Think Twice" has thief encountering baggage bum in urban squalor, stealing the man's diamond which glows at his breath, providing him what he so desires. The thief doesn't realize that the diamond isn't meant for him, paying a price for crossing the bum and taking what was his. Matthew, the teenager watching the video tape, is actually addressed by Price after the tales are over from the television screen. Matthew looks at the box and sees his name introduced under Price's, with a nightmare featuring several of the characters he just watched. Matthew can't just turn Price off he won't allow it. Price, in postal uniform, giggles because another "customer" will be chosen for his "wall".
The tales did little for me, I must admit. I didn't necessarily mind any of them. I was just rather underwhelmed. Price's involvement, especially at the end, is fun if slight. "Escapes" won't have me forgetting what Price done much better in "From a Whisper to a Scream" a year later. The 80s didn't offer Price anything of particular significance, but his appearances give those few films he was a part of some rub just because of the value of his name and association attached to them. He offers a sinister laugh at the end of "Escapes" but you see him for perhaps approximately seven or eight minutes, not enough to salvage uneventful stories with little in the way of thrills.
"A Little Fishy" deals with a guy fishing at a lake, eyeing an apple that draws his appetite, taking some bites, finding, much to his alarm, a hook line which drags him by the throat (he swallowed it while chewing into the apple) into the water. What set this in motion is not known. The fisherman becoming the fish, with the apple tossed out in the hopes of luring another human to the lake. "Coffee Break" has this speeding delivery van driver lost in some backwoods rural community of Harmony, pulling up to an old timer's home for directions. Because his van blares loud rock music and temperament is rude and harried, the kid doesn't exactly ingratiate himself to the local who tells him he should slow down and have a nice cup of coffee up the road at Harmony Café. Undeterred, the kid takes varies roads in front of him with the same results: he returns to Harmony seemingly unable to escape this neck of the woods. If he'd just stop and have that cup of coffee "Who's There?" follows a plump jogger taking the scenic route who walks upon a woody area with creatures having escaped from a wildlife preserve somewhere nearby. Is his life in danger or are they not as dangerous as it seems? "Jonah's Dream" features a prospecting widow toiling away in the hopes of that gold find on her mountain. While the locals in the nearby town think she's wasting her time, nonetheless, the widow continues on. Well, one night a noise from her barn sparks interest, and the widow finds a peculiar spaceship having crashlanded on her property, leaking fuel and steam, seemingly about to explode. But through this the widow just might find her gold "Think Twice" has thief encountering baggage bum in urban squalor, stealing the man's diamond which glows at his breath, providing him what he so desires. The thief doesn't realize that the diamond isn't meant for him, paying a price for crossing the bum and taking what was his. Matthew, the teenager watching the video tape, is actually addressed by Price after the tales are over from the television screen. Matthew looks at the box and sees his name introduced under Price's, with a nightmare featuring several of the characters he just watched. Matthew can't just turn Price off he won't allow it. Price, in postal uniform, giggles because another "customer" will be chosen for his "wall".
The tales did little for me, I must admit. I didn't necessarily mind any of them. I was just rather underwhelmed. Price's involvement, especially at the end, is fun if slight. "Escapes" won't have me forgetting what Price done much better in "From a Whisper to a Scream" a year later. The 80s didn't offer Price anything of particular significance, but his appearances give those few films he was a part of some rub just because of the value of his name and association attached to them. He offers a sinister laugh at the end of "Escapes" but you see him for perhaps approximately seven or eight minutes, not enough to salvage uneventful stories with little in the way of thrills.