This film introduces three short films that are tied together through John Carpenter himself, as he introduces three people that have died and tells of their fates.
The Good Story(ies): Easily the best story is the first, "Gas Station," directed by Carpenter himself. It tells of a woman's (Anne Draxter) first night on the job at a gas station in the middle of nowhere, run by Bill. (Robert Carradine) She is left alone and begins the usual daily activities inherent with a gas station: serving customers. When one stranger arrives asking for the bathroom, she obliges, and he goes to the bathroom. Another stranger arrives later, and since the first man is still in the bathroom, she becomes worried. She asks him to check the bathroom, and tells her that he is sleeping around one of the toilets. He leaves, and she goes to check on the man. She finds the bathroom empty, and notices Satanic-like drawings on the side of one of the stalls. Trying to report it to police, she hears strange noises in the auto-shop across the lot. She investigates to find the mysterious man killed and Bill as the murderer. After several false endings, Bill is finally defeated by being crashed under a car in for repairs. This works because it showcases Carpenter at his best: females trapped in a situation without a chance to escape; atmospheric settings, and a neat twist at the end. This is the best one in the movie, and also provides about 90% of the total gore for the movie, which isn't a lot, as some have reported.
"Eye," directed by Tobe Hooper and the third of the three stories, is also another great short. It concerns a baseball player (Mark Hamill) who looses an eye during a freak car accident. He receives a transplant, and can soon see again. However, he soon begins to experience strange hallucinations of body parts in his house, and becomes convinced his eye came from a serial killer who would torture and rape his female captors. For some reason, I like this story. It has some nice moments and then some shocking moments. The fact that his hallucinations occur at the oddest times helps to deliver some nice shocks, and Hooper definitely has another great piece of horror on his resume than "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."
The Bad Story: "Hair," the middle entry and the other one directed by Carpenter. This concerns an aging man (Stacy Keach) who becomes concerned with his rapidly thinning hair. Everything he tries is in vain. Desperate, he hears an ad for a new hair transplant procedure and signs himself up. He undergoes the procedure, and overnight has a head of hippie-length hair. Despite his new confidence, he begins to experience terrible pain all over his body, and begins growing hair over his body as well. He returns to the doctor, who laughs it off and tells Keach that the entire procedure is a scam to get his alien race the food they need to survive: human brains. Keach is therefore rendered brain-dead and becomes another helpless meal for the aliens. Despite the neat plot gimmick, this is an uninspired affair. No horror, no scares, no gore, nothing.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Brief Nudity, and a scene of Rape
The Good Story(ies): Easily the best story is the first, "Gas Station," directed by Carpenter himself. It tells of a woman's (Anne Draxter) first night on the job at a gas station in the middle of nowhere, run by Bill. (Robert Carradine) She is left alone and begins the usual daily activities inherent with a gas station: serving customers. When one stranger arrives asking for the bathroom, she obliges, and he goes to the bathroom. Another stranger arrives later, and since the first man is still in the bathroom, she becomes worried. She asks him to check the bathroom, and tells her that he is sleeping around one of the toilets. He leaves, and she goes to check on the man. She finds the bathroom empty, and notices Satanic-like drawings on the side of one of the stalls. Trying to report it to police, she hears strange noises in the auto-shop across the lot. She investigates to find the mysterious man killed and Bill as the murderer. After several false endings, Bill is finally defeated by being crashed under a car in for repairs. This works because it showcases Carpenter at his best: females trapped in a situation without a chance to escape; atmospheric settings, and a neat twist at the end. This is the best one in the movie, and also provides about 90% of the total gore for the movie, which isn't a lot, as some have reported.
"Eye," directed by Tobe Hooper and the third of the three stories, is also another great short. It concerns a baseball player (Mark Hamill) who looses an eye during a freak car accident. He receives a transplant, and can soon see again. However, he soon begins to experience strange hallucinations of body parts in his house, and becomes convinced his eye came from a serial killer who would torture and rape his female captors. For some reason, I like this story. It has some nice moments and then some shocking moments. The fact that his hallucinations occur at the oddest times helps to deliver some nice shocks, and Hooper definitely has another great piece of horror on his resume than "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."
The Bad Story: "Hair," the middle entry and the other one directed by Carpenter. This concerns an aging man (Stacy Keach) who becomes concerned with his rapidly thinning hair. Everything he tries is in vain. Desperate, he hears an ad for a new hair transplant procedure and signs himself up. He undergoes the procedure, and overnight has a head of hippie-length hair. Despite his new confidence, he begins to experience terrible pain all over his body, and begins growing hair over his body as well. He returns to the doctor, who laughs it off and tells Keach that the entire procedure is a scam to get his alien race the food they need to survive: human brains. Keach is therefore rendered brain-dead and becomes another helpless meal for the aliens. Despite the neat plot gimmick, this is an uninspired affair. No horror, no scares, no gore, nothing.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Brief Nudity, and a scene of Rape