Me D
A really fun movie, Gas Station will please those who know a lot about horror, Hair will bore you, and Eyeball actually isn't half bad.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
04/09/24
Full Review
Jeff M
This horror anthology gets a pass just based on its cast alone. In addition to Carradine, Keach and Hamill, we have Debbie "Blondie" Harry! Sheena Easton! Twiggy! David Naughton! Supermodel Kim Alexis! Not to mention appearances by horror icons Carpenter, Hooper, Wes Craven, Sam Raimi and Roger Corman. Even for non-horror fans like me, this is an event. And thankfully the three segements themselves almost live up to the talent involved. Very reminiscent of the CREEPSHOW movies, this is good old-fashioned horror just the way I like it. Scary, yes, but with a sense of humor, not to mention a wink and a nudge to its predecesors. And I would be hard pressed to pick a favorite. The first has a HEADLESS ROOMMATE AND OTHER TALES OF TERROR vibe to it. The second is a more humorous and creepy than scary tale. And the third is certainly the most gory and disturbing of the bunch. I had a grand old time with this one and look forward to watching it again to see what I missed the first time.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/10/24
Full Review
sean s
A trilogy of horror stories hosted by John Carpenter. The Stacey Keach story of the man obsessed with his hair stands out the most in my memory for being funny and horrible at the same time. Worth a watch if you are bored.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
bonezone84
criminally underrated horror anthology that is an absolute must see for John Carpenter fans.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/22/23
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Shayla S
This is a cult classic
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
12/14/22
Full Review
Audience Member
Body Bags is a 1993 anthology horror movie produced by Showtime. It was originally meant to be an anthology horror series, likely to compete with the hit HBO series Tales From the Crypt. When Showtime did not continue the series, the episodes that had already been filmed were put together and aired as a single movie. Regardless of the reason for its cancellation, Body Bags is an entertaining anthology film thanks to the talent involved.
The setting is the overnight shift at a morgue where a ghoulish, corpselike coroner examines different body bags and shares the details behind the gruesome deaths. John Carpenter directed the first two stories and also plays The Coroner. You can't help but compare him to the Crypt Keeper from Tales From the Crypt, even though one is a person in makeup and the other is a puppet. The Crypt Keeper is far more decayed and has a bigger personality but both are high energy characters that love death, gory details, and making jokes. There is hard rock music playing in the background of the interstitials with The Coroner and you can tell John Carpenter is having fun with the character.
In the first story, The Gas Station, Alex Datcher plays a young woman working the overnight shift at a gas station. At first she only has to deal with odd customers. Then she finds herself being stalked by a deranged psycho killer played by Robert Carradine. The second story, Hair, stars Stacey Keach as a man obsessed with stopping his hair loss. He seeks out a radical hair growth treatment that actually works but has sinister side effects. In the final story, Eye, directed by Tobe Hooper, Mark Hamill plays a baseball player that loses an eye in a car accident. He undergoes an experimental eye transplant but soon begins to have macabre and murderous visions.
Any horror anthology is likely to feel uneven and Body Bags is no exception. The Gas Station is a well-made but basic slasher story. It's not fresh but not stale either. Things pick up with Hair, which leans heavy into comedy. Naturally this story about a hair transplant gone wrong delves into body horror but it's watchable because of its fun tone. Though it is not especially explicit with visual or makeup effects, it feels more graphic than it actually is due to the subject matter. Keach, who usually plays a heavy or tough guy, does a good job playing a lighter, insecure character. Eye is similar to The Gas Station in that it is a well-made short film that covers familiar territory, but this story is more of a psychological horror, with some gory effects too. The reason Eye holds together and feels as dramatic as it does is thanks to Mark Hamill's solid performance.
Body Bags uses some early CGI effects, which like most early CGI effects do not hold up, but the rest of the horror sights are practical visual effects and special makeup effects which go a long way. It might not be for everyone, either because of its light but macabre tone or the horror visuals, but it's clear that Body Bags wants you to have as good a time as The Coroner is having. Watch for cameos and appearances by: Wes Craven, Sam Raimi, Debbie Harry, Twiggy, Tom Arnold, Charles Napier, Tobe Hooper, David Naughton, David Warner, and legendary B-movie producer-director Roger Corman. I love horror anthologies but I'll admit that most are made up of more misses than hits. Body Bags is better than most and makes for spooky fun Shocktober viewing.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/27/23
Full Review
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