Four tales with no wraparound story titled TERROR IN TOPANGA, BISHOP OF BATTLE, THE BENEDICTION, & NIGHT OF THE RAT inside a movie structure consecutively.
The first is about a housewife who, despite her husband's warnings to stay in because of an escaped loony who murdered a police officer with a knife, goes out for a pack of cigarettes. Guess who she perhaps bumps into when she unfortunately runs out of gas? This one has a nice build-up, but goes absolutely nowhere which is a shame because it has lots of potential..it simply lacked inspiration by the writer.
The second tale is about an obsessive arcade nerd who just can't rest until he reaches the prestigious Level 13 of a very difficult game called "The Bishop of Battle". When he does, he's thrusted into a new kind of game where the stakes are his very life. To be honest, this one was a bit hokey..the result when he reaches 13 I mean.
My favorite of the anthology has a Priest(Lance Henriksen, with conviction), who has lost his faith because of the frequent human suffering he sees on a regular basis, being terrorized by a psychopathic trucker, whose face is never revealed thanks to darkened tinting on the windows. We do get an indication who the driver might be..an upside down crucifix is hanging from the rear-view mirror. And, the weapon the Priest uses against the trucker also is telling in perhaps who this evil driver is. Tense, well developed little episode with little spiritual elements which aren't too heavy-handed which is a plus.
An unhappily married couple(Richard Masur and Veronica Cartwright)have a MAJOR rat problem. Their house cat finds that out first hand. It has been leaving a path of destruction throughout their house yet the husband wishes to fix the rat problem on his own without paying someone else. The wife, having had enough of her kitchen being demolished, calls a specialist(Albert Kague)and after studying comes to the conclusion that this big rat might be a Devil Rodent, the type from ancient German myth. He says they are indestructible. I know one thing, as presented here, when it lets out a roar it must measure on the Richter scale. The final scene where the couple come face to face with it might be a little too cheesy to fully scare, but I feel the episode overall works quite well.
None of the stories can claim complete originality, but the last two, I believe, are thrilling & creepy enough to rise this anthology as a whole slightly above mediocrity.
The first is about a housewife who, despite her husband's warnings to stay in because of an escaped loony who murdered a police officer with a knife, goes out for a pack of cigarettes. Guess who she perhaps bumps into when she unfortunately runs out of gas? This one has a nice build-up, but goes absolutely nowhere which is a shame because it has lots of potential..it simply lacked inspiration by the writer.
The second tale is about an obsessive arcade nerd who just can't rest until he reaches the prestigious Level 13 of a very difficult game called "The Bishop of Battle". When he does, he's thrusted into a new kind of game where the stakes are his very life. To be honest, this one was a bit hokey..the result when he reaches 13 I mean.
My favorite of the anthology has a Priest(Lance Henriksen, with conviction), who has lost his faith because of the frequent human suffering he sees on a regular basis, being terrorized by a psychopathic trucker, whose face is never revealed thanks to darkened tinting on the windows. We do get an indication who the driver might be..an upside down crucifix is hanging from the rear-view mirror. And, the weapon the Priest uses against the trucker also is telling in perhaps who this evil driver is. Tense, well developed little episode with little spiritual elements which aren't too heavy-handed which is a plus.
An unhappily married couple(Richard Masur and Veronica Cartwright)have a MAJOR rat problem. Their house cat finds that out first hand. It has been leaving a path of destruction throughout their house yet the husband wishes to fix the rat problem on his own without paying someone else. The wife, having had enough of her kitchen being demolished, calls a specialist(Albert Kague)and after studying comes to the conclusion that this big rat might be a Devil Rodent, the type from ancient German myth. He says they are indestructible. I know one thing, as presented here, when it lets out a roar it must measure on the Richter scale. The final scene where the couple come face to face with it might be a little too cheesy to fully scare, but I feel the episode overall works quite well.
None of the stories can claim complete originality, but the last two, I believe, are thrilling & creepy enough to rise this anthology as a whole slightly above mediocrity.