In Amazon.com's review of the Nightmare on Elm St. DVD box set, Halloween's Michael Myers is the "father," Friday the 13th's Jason is the "son," and NOES's Freddy Krueger is the "unholy spirit." In my opinion however, as best said by Freddy Krueger, "THIS IS GOD." I couldn't think of a better box set to be created. As a huge fan of the Nightmare on Elm ST. series (which can be seen on my reviews for the NOES 4 soundtrack on amazon.com), I was so excited to see the collection released on DVD that I bought it, then bought a DVD player so I could watch them. My friends thought I was a little nuts since I already own all 7 on VHS, but any true fan understands. Freddy isn't an icon, he's a part of history among all the greats (probably won't be taught in school but oh well). Many of today's top horror films run along the same lines as NOES where the killer(s) have personalities rather than going on a killing spree for who knows what dull reason (as so many horror films of the past exhibited). This box set does have it's small disappointments, however: NOES 5 is rated R. I have the unrated version on VHS and thought they'd use that on the DVD. And, at least on my dvd player, the labyrinth on the 8th disc has glitches but can be worked around with the chapter search. I was also surprised that scenes included in the criterion collection laserdisc of NOES 1 weren't included, i.e. the one where Nancy's mother tells Nancy that she wasn't an only child, Freddy killed her sibling years before. Yet these faults are small in contrast to what the box set does have, like interviews, behind the scenes footage, commentary, intervies, and much, much more.... I only hope that when other series are put onto DVD in the future, they have features close to those in the Nightmare on Elm St. DVD box set.

If you love the "A nightmare on Elm Street" movies, this is for you. EVen if one or two aren't that great, this boxset is way easier than buying the four or five dvd's you love. I mean, 7 movies , a bonus 8th disk and a booklet descussing all 7 movies for only 80 dollars is a very good price.So, instead of looking at the two or three small things it doesn't come with, you're better off looking at the positive of it. However, if you only like maybe one or two of the films, you're better off buying just those dvds. THis is only for fans whom enjoy the majoroty of the series films. ( if you don't, lets face it you're simply wasting your hard earned money) Now, for those of you who haven't seen these films I will give a short run down of them ( with NO spoilers)

A Nightmare on Elm Street part 1 - Classic film and the best of the series, Freddy is probably the most frightening in this one, a cult classic. Even if you hate the rest, i'm sure you will love this one. It starts out as a young teen girl's (Heather Langenkamp) friends start dying in their sleep by you guessed it Freddy Krueger, as the movie goes on you learn a little about Freddy's history and how he came to be,Johnny Depp's movie debut. I give this 5 out of 5 stars.

A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2. How do you follow up a great movie like the first? Well, eh. They really didn't, one of the worst installments in the series right after the best (go figure)

A young man moves into the same house as the girl from the first movie (Heather Langenkamp) and Freddy uses his body to come back, this movie suffers from havin a poor leading man and a leading woman that is too ditzy, however Robert England doesn't dissapointed and is as scary as the first, making this atleast watchable. I give it 2.5 out of 5 stars....

A Nightmare on Elm Street part 3 This right here, should have been part two, bring's back Heather Langenkamp's character and her father, this time she finds some teenagers in a mental institution, who have been having some pretty bad dreams..... this movie has strong acting by every character (even the ones who don't stay very long) here Freddy gets a bit of humour, while staying scary though ( the humour isn't over done like in future movies) I give this 5 out of 5 stars.

A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 4. sees the return of the surviving members of part 3, however, if you loved, part 3 the first 20 minutes or so might be a little vexing to you.Features a new hero (lisa) and her often dim witted yet charismatic boyfriend. This movie isn't great but definetly good has good actors and a few bad ones, Freddy is still Freddy and this is one of the better sequals. I give this 4 out of 5 stars.

A Nightmare on Elm Street part 5 Sees the return of Lisa. The story is Freddy comes back and is turning her unborn baby into a prodidgy of himself. The plot is one of the best, just not acted out very well. Freddy gets a little too funny. Yet is full of likable heros. Also goes deeper in Freddy's history While it isn't the best it is far from the worst and one of the most under rated in the series. I give this 3.5 out of 5 stars.

A Nightmare on ELm street part 6. One of the worst, plot is not thought out well and freddy goes over the edge with humor, few people die and the deaths take way too long. However, you learn the most about Freddy in this movie and that is the main reason to watch it. The plot is, that there is only one more kid left on Elm Street (our old pal Freddy did away with the rest) however the final kid has a bad case of amnesia and can't recall anything. Features scenes with a pre-teen human Freddy and a teenage human version of him, with a guest appearence by Alice Cooper as Freddy's drunk abusive father. (maybe somebody should have told poor old Freddy just because you were abused, you shouldn't abuse others) I give this one 2 out of 5 stars.

Wes Craven's New Nightmare The biggest turn in the series, Freddy gets an upgrade and for the first time, is in the real world. With this plot, the "A nightmare on Elm Street" films are just that films. Heather Langenkamp stars as herself and Wes Craven is in it as just Wes Craven, however when Heather's son starts believing in him, he comes to life, when Wes finds this out he flees. ( I would have loved to have seen a Wes fighting Freddy scene.) A new twist is just what the series needed after part 6 but i'm glad Freddy went back to the world of fiction in "Freddy vs Jason" good film. I give this 4 out of 5 stars.

So in conclusion if you love the "A Nightmare on Elm Street" series Buy this now. Enjoy

Freddy Krueger. Jason Voorhees. Two characters in the American horror film canon that simply refuse to go away. Literally, since both are impervious to lasting physical injury. You can set these guys on fire, stab them, dissect them, blow them up, do just about anything you want to them and they keep coming back for more. How many films have both of them made at this point? Twenty? It feels like a hundred. The combined box office and home rental take of the "Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Friday the 13th" franchises must be close to a billion dollars by now, so when New Line Cinema acquired the rights to make future Jason films they knew they were on to something big. Finally, they thought, they could put together a film containing both Freddy and Jason. New Line spent years developing just the right script for the showdown every horror fan wanted to see. Hence "Freddy vs. Jason" cleaned up big time at the box office last year, making so much money that plans for a sequel should be a foregone conclusion. Until New Line figures out how to make lightening strike twice, content yourself with the DVD version of the film.

"Freddy vs. Jason" reintroduces us to good old Springwood, the home of the late but definitely unlamented Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund). Things have changed in the old neighborhood since Freddy went on his dreamscape rampages back in the 1980s and early 1990s. The adults in the area figured out an excellent way to get rid of the man with the frayed sweater and razorblade gloves forever, or so they hope. They simply removed every reference they could find in newspapers and magazines about Freddy Krueger. Go to the library to do some research on the man, as one of the characters does in the film, and you won't find a darn thing. Why go to all the trouble of a news blackout?... Easy. The kids can't dream about Freddy if they don't know he exists. And if they can't dream about him, they can't perish horribly. There are a few kids that know the ghastly secret, like Will Rollins (Jason Ritter), but the authorities have him and the others tucked away in a high security mental hospital under the influence of the powerful anti-dream drug Hypnocil. Before Rollins unceremoniously went to the hospital, he spent a lot of time with his gorgeous girlfriend Lori Campbell (Monica Keena) and her friend Kia Waterson (Kelly Rowland). Lori doesn't learn what happened to him until Freddy decides to come out of retirement.

Krueger, you see, despises the fact that the Elm Street kiddies don't know about him. In order to once again torment the descendants of his oppressors, he resurrects the dreaded Jason Voorhees (Ken Kirzinger) to stir things up in his old neighborhood. Jason does an excellent job of instilling the appropriate amount of doom and gloom in the kids, partly through his beastly appearance and partly through his penchant for imaginative killings. In one case, he folds a kid up in a bed. Hardly disturbing, right? Well, it is when the poor chap's heels are touching the back of his head! Voorhees's antics soon know no bounds. He shows up at a rave in a cornfield just in time to massacre scores of kids in particularly heinous ways. Jason kills so many people, and keeps on killing more, that it puts a serious crimp in Freddy's plans when he shows arrives on the scene. He wants all the children to himself, which means Jason has to go back to hell posthaste. Problem is, the masked maniac isn't going to do it without a little help. The result is the fight, a slam bang, take no prisoners tete a tete that is breathtaking to behold. Neo and Agent Smith can't compare to these two. Freddy and Jason squaring off translates into a lot of blood and a lot of broken bones. Any humans who happen to get in the way are hamburger.

"Freddy vs. Jason" is a massively entertaining film. It's not a traditional slasher film although there are slasher elements in it. It's not a character driven film, either, except for the two killing machines. The entire film exists solely as background for the final showdown. Sure, some of the effects up to this point, including the shadow Freddy and Kelly Rowland's nose flying off, garner a chuckle or two. But the fight scene stands center stage. The best part has to be when Freddy dumps dozens of long pieces of rebar down on an unsuspecting Jason, several pieces of which turn the hockey masked maniac into a giant shish kebob. Or maybe the best scenes include the battle at the lake where Freddy and Jason exchange blows resulting in huge gouts of black gore. Whichever part you like the most, the conclusion to the film won't disappoint. Given the emphasis on the fight, it's sort of disappointing we don't get to spend more time with the always beautiful Monica Keena. She's the sort of young lady I never tire of seeing in a film. I would tune in to watch her sit around in sweat pants and a grungy T-shirt eating breakfast. In "Freddy vs. Jason," though, she's one step above cannon fodder. Pity.

The amount of supplements included with the film stagger the imagination. A commentary track with director Ronny Yu, Robert Englund, and Ken Kirzinger heads the list. You've also got a "jump to a death" option, trailers, an intriguing documentary on the special effects, interviews about the difficulty in bringing the film to fruition, and a lengthy text article from Fangoria magazine about the myriad scripts penned by many writers over the years. I highly recommend this film for those viewers looking for a great way to whittle away a few hours. I'll be watching it again soon.

"The House of the Devil" is an assured little film that fondly invokes horror films from the 1970s and 1980s. Many people are going to complain that this movie is slow and boring, but they are missing the joys of this type of film making completely. The best horror is a slow burn leading up to the proverbial poo hitting the whirling blades. You have time to begin to care about these characters, before something terrible happens to them and it cuts deep.

The plot: a college student is ready to move out of her dorm and into a nice rental home, but needs to make some quick cash to pay the first month's rent. Responding to a flyer requesting a babysitter, she will get much more than she bargained for.

The final twenty minutes, while rapid-paced and bloody, do not live up to the promising tension built up by the rest of the movie. However, if the end was a bit of a letdown, overall the movie was very well done. This is not the action-packed gore fest that some people might be expecting. Instead, it is a solid throwback to horror films that used setting, tone, atmosphere, character-building, and music to build up to the scary!

High praises to Director Ti West with this excellent attempt. House of the Devil avoids current pratfalls and absurd, over-the-top rubbish that placates most new horror flicks. Thumbs up for that. This is more of a subtle, intelligent suspense story that will challenge your wits.

However, it's far from perfect. This movie doesn't deliver anything very original with the premise. Another college student/babysitting type of setup. But the idea of a satanic cult touches on a sensitive nerve that is all too disturbing.

But the Devil never really gets his due. This movie has solid acting, good character development, and creepy sound effects. Unfortunately, not much of a payoff for your patience. The story tiptoes along, and finally reaches a frightening bloody climax. Too bad it ends so abruptly.

Overall, House of the Devil is a well told story that includes a little gore. Just not much else happening. 3.5 stars.

This is an awesome Horror movie. I loved it. It was great to see Ashley in something other than a Twilight movie.

Its about time. What more can we say? Anchor Bay has decided to release its ultimate DVD edition of George A. Romero's epic Zombie film, Dawn of the Dead. Here are the specs.

DISC 1: The origian unrated director's cut. NOT THE EXTENDED EDITION, which is not truly Romero's director's cut. This disc includes commentary with George Romero, Tom Savini, and Chris Romero along with Theatrical trailers and radio spots.

DISC 2: The extended edition, often mistaken for a 'director's cut.' This disc includes an additional 12 minutes of glorious footage. Also includes commentary by producer Richard Rubinstein, who also helmed the recent Dawn of the Dead remake. The disc has a commercial for the Monroville Mall and a memorabilia gallery.

DISC 3: The Dario Argento cut. This version of the film has less humor and more drama, released in Europe with additional music from Goblin. This version includes commentary by all four stars of the film.

DISC 4: This disc contains several documentaries including the all new THE DEAD WALK (75 min) and the classic DOCUMENT OF THE DEAD; a feature-length documentary shot during the making of Dawn of the Dead. This disc also includes home movies from the set and a tour of the Monroeville Mall with actor Ken Foree.

Buy this DVD set, you won't be sorry. Even if you haven't seen the film, for any zombie fan, this is a must own.

Though The Thing shocked with its new level of gore when it came out in 1982, popular taste has pretty well caught up to the gore factor. Now fans will be able to see it all in Blu-ray high-def.

The Thing takes its title from the influential 1951 sci-fi classic The Thing from Another World, a film it otherwise resembles only in similarity of location and a few plot points. (If you're interested in a less scary, more campy, funnier black-and-white version, with women in it, check out the older one.) The location is an isolated antarctic research station, cut off from radio contact with the outside world, where Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David and several other men unknowingly take in an alien creature that can adopt the form of members of the crew as it destroys them. They quickly find themselves in a desperate and paranoia-inducing situation, each not knowing who among the others might be an alien waiting to kill him. Internal organs are spread into view in various creative ways, while violence and tension build.

Director John Carpenter specializes in gritty, intense, violent suspense, and he doesn't disappoint here. Though it didn't do very well when it came out, maybe because it was up against the much cheerier alien E.T., it has become a favorite since.

The movie has already been released in HD at the same 1080p resolution the Blu-ray will have, so the transfer should be of similar quality. The HD transfer is very good, with strong color and good detail and sharpness, definitely improved over the standard DVD. The sound will be English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, with French DTS 5.1. There will be English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles.... *Update* 19 September: The early reviews verify that the transfer is high quality, as expected, with excellent picture and good sound (not much surround in a movie this old).

*Update* Universal has said in its promotional material that this release will include the extra material from the current DVD, but according to the early reviews, that isn't true. First, here are the special features announced in the main press release:

-- audio commentary with star Kurt Russell and director John Carpenter
-- U Control Picture in Picture
-- U Control tutorial
-- BD-Live

In addition, most of the 84-minute making-of documentary from the older DVD has been incorporated into the Picture in Picture (PIP) feature, meaning that you watch it in pieces in a window along with the movie. The rest of the special features from the older DVD aren't included. Just as a reminder of what those old features are, missing here:

-- outtakes
-- deleted stop-motion animation
-- work-in-progress visual effects footage
-- behind-the-scenes location footage
-- behind-the-scenes photos
-- storyboard and conceptual art
-- annotated production archive
-- original theatrical trailer

Again, those are old features that Universal has *not* included on the Blu-ray.

I'm not into gore, but the suspense is well done here, and Kurt Russell is in his element. Fine video transfer and good commentary make for a good package, but the missing features from the older DVD mean you may want to keep the old one too.

Overall a really nice set for fans of oldie horror movies! Image quality is not always crystal-clear, but then these films used to look pretty grungy when they used to show them on late-night TV anyway!