Review of Body Bags (1993) by Ryan S — 19 Sep 2010

Not a bad little anthology film, but considering John Carpenter and Tobe Hooper worked together on it... it should probably be better. The first story isn't anything new, really, just your basic serial killer story, but they set the atmosphere and everything really well and despite it not really being anything new, it's still quite frightening.

The second story is very disturbing as well and ends with a neat little twist. The third one is very interesting as well, with Mark Hamill is a very different role, but he does quite well. So all three stories are quite good, the last two, especially the second, are very original whilst the first, like I said, isn't actually original, but it's still great.

The wraparound segments, with John Carpenter, are great as well and he makes a great "Crypt Keeper" sort of character, with the disturbing demeanor and dark humor. However, you can tell this was original supposed to be the beginning of a TV series and not a movie, it just doesn't have a film feel to it, not really sure how to explain it, it just really feels like something you'd see on TV.

For fans of John Carpenter and Tobe Hooper it's worth a watch, as long as you don't go in expecting it to be another Halloween or Texas Chainsaw Massacre, or a combinination of both. It's not a groundbreaking horror film, like those two, but it's definitely entertaining.