Writer / co-producer / director Mick Garris keeps his tongue firmly in his cheek with this goofy pair of stories, which are told by kooky, mysterious character Aaron Quicksilver (Christopher Lloyd) to people he meets during his travels. Quicksilver, who's quite a sight to behold - Lloyd is decked out in red wig, dog collar, and man-in-black wardrobe - is both a collector of antiquities and tales, and is obsessed with exploring America's dark underbelly.
First, he encounters new bride Olivia (Melissa Lahlitah Crider), whose husband Kerry (Raphael Sbarge) has gone off to get help after their car has broken down in the desert. To pass the time, he tells her the story of Bill Hogan (Sbarge again), who encountered a greasy psycho hitchhiker (Silas Weir Mitchell), and how Bill is saved by an extremely unlikely object, a novelty item of a set of chattery teeth. Based on Stephen King's story "Chattery Teeth", this segment features a cast also including Veronica Cartwright ("Alien") and has good desolate desert atmosphere. This is, in the end, one of those things that you can't possibly take seriously. It benefits from the sturdy acting of its cast.
Then we move on to an adaptation of Clive Barker's "The Body Politic", which is definitely the more interesting of the two stories - its main conceit is a good one - but also ends up going in a blatantly comedic direction. Quicksilver regales pickpocket Charlie (Matt Frewer) with the story, about plastic surgeon Charles George (another role for Frewer) whose hands kick-start a local revolution of human hands, which want to leave the "tyranny of the body" and secure their freedom. Frewer really does a good job in this segment and helps you to buy into his characters' situation. Special effects are variable, but it's undeniably a hood to see so many severed hands in one place (Christopher Hart, who'd played Thing in the "Addams Family" feature films, performs the same sort of duties here).
Garris works with a great bunch of actors here, people who are always a treat to watch, with the inimitable Lloyd having a high old time as our merry storyteller. Popping up in supporting roles and bits are Garris's lovely wife Cynthia, Bill Nunn as a psychiatrist, Bill Bolender, and sexy Amelia Heinle, with Garris and Barker themselves and John Landis doing the cameo thing. This is overall fairly lightweight stuff that's not too memorable in the end, but it *is* reasonably fun for the duration.
Six out of 10.
First, he encounters new bride Olivia (Melissa Lahlitah Crider), whose husband Kerry (Raphael Sbarge) has gone off to get help after their car has broken down in the desert. To pass the time, he tells her the story of Bill Hogan (Sbarge again), who encountered a greasy psycho hitchhiker (Silas Weir Mitchell), and how Bill is saved by an extremely unlikely object, a novelty item of a set of chattery teeth. Based on Stephen King's story "Chattery Teeth", this segment features a cast also including Veronica Cartwright ("Alien") and has good desolate desert atmosphere. This is, in the end, one of those things that you can't possibly take seriously. It benefits from the sturdy acting of its cast.
Then we move on to an adaptation of Clive Barker's "The Body Politic", which is definitely the more interesting of the two stories - its main conceit is a good one - but also ends up going in a blatantly comedic direction. Quicksilver regales pickpocket Charlie (Matt Frewer) with the story, about plastic surgeon Charles George (another role for Frewer) whose hands kick-start a local revolution of human hands, which want to leave the "tyranny of the body" and secure their freedom. Frewer really does a good job in this segment and helps you to buy into his characters' situation. Special effects are variable, but it's undeniably a hood to see so many severed hands in one place (Christopher Hart, who'd played Thing in the "Addams Family" feature films, performs the same sort of duties here).
Garris works with a great bunch of actors here, people who are always a treat to watch, with the inimitable Lloyd having a high old time as our merry storyteller. Popping up in supporting roles and bits are Garris's lovely wife Cynthia, Bill Nunn as a psychiatrist, Bill Bolender, and sexy Amelia Heinle, with Garris and Barker themselves and John Landis doing the cameo thing. This is overall fairly lightweight stuff that's not too memorable in the end, but it *is* reasonably fun for the duration.
Six out of 10.