An anthology of four separate stories with no wraparound tale: 1, a woman goes out at night to get cigarettes despite the fact that a maniac is on the loose; 2, A teenager risks everything to defeat a game in a video arcade; 3, A priest trying to restore his faith in the desert is menaced by a supernatural force; 4, A family finds their house's rodent problem is more serious than they could ever believe.
Subgenres: anthology, action
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A decent anthology. The first tale is an urban legend with a nice twist, the third is a fairly engaging tale buoyed by Lance Henriksen's performance, and the fourth features an interesting concept that balances some pretty lame special effects. No, my problem with theis anthology has to do with the second of the four stories. The cinematic fascination with video games seems, luckily, to have been confined to the mid-eighties (1991 Nintendo commercial The Wizard aside). The result is a dated tale that tries to generate fear from the fascination with video arcades,a fascination that just isn't around anymore. The predictable story doesn't help either, nor does Emilio Estevez's shirtless pretty-boy appearance (how does he play video games all day and still have time to hit the gym?). Then again, maybe I'm way off-base here, and there will be some kind of nostalgia factor at work for some of you. (Sep 12, 1999) | ||||||
