The Horror Show
Scare Package
by Various Directors
If you’re a frequent reader of this illustrious website you know I love a good anthology. I really enjoy an anthology with a great wrap around story and Scare Package delivered on one of the best wrap arounds I've seen. It doesn't mean all of the segments were gold, but I consider anthologies like pizza, even a mediocre pizza is a good one.
It starts off with a bizarre set up; the actual core story doesn't even start the film off. Eventually we see that what we thought was the beginning is just a guy telling Rad Chad, owner of Rad Chad's Horror Emporium, his movie idea. This is technically the first segment called “Cold Open” and it's pretty clever. Back to the wrap around, Rad Chad's Horror Emporium is a glorious video store full of schlock & B-grade horror films that give us our other segments. Rad Chad is training his new employee, Hawn, while dealing with his number one customer, Sam, being a jealous jerk cause he wasn't hired for the position.
The number one rule for Rad Chad's Horror Emporium is A.B.C: Always Be playing video Cassettes. This is where the fun starts. We get some interesting stories and not all of them are winners, but the ones that nail it are so good. I'd say that five out of the seven are great.
I'm not really going to go into all of them, but I will say the stand out ones are “One Time In The Woods”, “M.I.S.T.E.R”, and “Horror Hypothesis.” My absolute favorite is “One Time In The Woods.” It has a lot of gore, stupid humor, and so many gratuitous clichés. I almost pissed myself laughing at this segment; it reminded me of something Troma would put out, but with no boobs.
This was made for people who love horror. There are so many cute nods to other franchises. I have enjoyed watching it over and over just to see what else I can see. Plus, you gotta love any movie that has Joe Bob Briggs in it. He is such a legend!
As fans of Horror we all know how the movies work. We all know the rules and nothing brings me more joy than when movies go meta. Scare Package goes meta in the best way. I just discovered that one of my favorite sites for horror themed tee shirts have Scare Package merch. I loved this movie so much I'm getting some! Scare Package is streaming on Shudder, so you can enjoy it and you don't even have to worry about late fees!
Robin Thompson, HMS
The Horror Show Menu.