Welcome to my first entry of Call the Doc: Documentaries From Beyond! I love a good documentary as much as a good horror film and when the two come together, I’m crazier than Cujo for them. There are so many great documentaries out there, and a few not so great ones, but it’s a genre I welcome with open eyeballs. There’s a lot of great music, art and true crime films that explore the fringes of counter culture, so I hope to feature some of those too. The goal is to have a little fun here. Feel free to comment and post your recommendations, there’s always room on the mantle for more.
Scream Greats may be one of the first horror docs I can remember seeing as a kid so it felt natural that this should be my first entry. I snagged a copy at Rue Morgue’s Festival of Fear this past weekend and was eager to pop it in my player as soon as I had a moment. Released through Fangoria Video Magazine Series and distributed with Paramount Home Video in 1987, Savini’s career had already achieved legendary status. His effects defined the films he worked on and horror fans eagerly awaited each new project he signed on for. The film mingles in juicy clips and rare footage from Savini’s practical effects work on many splatter classics such as Maniac, Friday the 13th part 4: The Final Chapter and The Prowler. The film benefits from insightful and entertaining interviews from his peers George Romero and a young Greg Nicotero, filmed during production on Day of the Dead. Storyboards and step by step demos behind some of Savini’s best effects are equally as fun to watch. The memorable intro with Goblin-esque music perfectly sets the tone to his legacy and plays out like a gritty horror trailer. Savini methodically narrates, “Sometimes it feels like I am an assassin…. I’m hired to go to a strange state and kill people.” The series abruptly ended after the release of Scream Greats Vol. 2: Satanism and Witchcraft. The devil gets his due through mostly hilarious interviews with creepy (not in a good way) cult leaders, demonologists, occult historians and footage of some pretty swinging parties at Anton LaVay‘s pad. Overall, the episode is more than decent and it’s a shame the series came to an end so abruptly. If anyone reading this happens to know, I’d be curious to find out why. Perhaps horror film fans were expecting to see more movie magic from other influential genre effects artist and quickly lost interest when the series shifted their focus. Until next time, see you in the waiting room.
Scream Greats Vol. 1
4 out of 5 fake machetes
Scream Greats Vol 2:
3 out of 5 robes