Masters of Horror: Season 1, Vol. 1 [Blu-ray]

Before buying: Know that this doesn't contain all the special features that are on the dvds. So if you, like me bought the dvds first, and expected the blurays to contain the same contain, Nope!. Blu-rays ONLY contain the commentary. Dvds Contain: commentary, behind the scenes, photo galleries and sometimes interviews with actors/actress'.Review time!Cigarette Burns is my absolute favorite episode. It is about finding a film called "La Fin Absolue Du Monde" (The absolute end of the world). The reasoning behind this, is NOT because i'm a Norman Reedus fan, while he is a good actor, his acting is a bit flat in this. However, that does not detract from this movie (they only had ten days to shoot it). I'm not going to go in depth into this movie because it's something you have to see to believe. Commentary tracks are decent.Dreams in the Witch House: It probably would have done better with more time, since it's a bit boring, then it crams it all in as an after thought. It's about a college student who rents a room in an old house. Then some kooky stuff happens, and mice, and things. It's well acted but rather boring.The Fair-Haired Child: A decently acted, but slightly over-done story. However! it has Lori Petty, and that's always good. I really don't know how to describe it without giving away anything. The commentary is really sweet though. You can feel the love and thought that went into it

This first volume of season I of Masters of Horror is a pleasure in every respect. Cigarette Burns, one of the highlights of the series, benefits greatly from an excellent Blu-ray presentation and an audio commentary by John Carpenter, as well as a separate commentary track by the episode's writers. Another standout episode, Dreams in the Witch House, is given a similar treatment, with a nice commentary by director Stuart Gordon (who directed the best episode of Fear Itself, "Eater"), actor Ezra Godden, and DVD producer Perry Martin. Unlike some commentary tracks which simply restate what is occurring onscreen or wander aimlessly, these are focused yet relaxed conversations filled with plenty of tidbits of information about the production. The final episode, Fair-Haired Child, wasn't one of my favorites initially, but watching it again while listening to the commentary track with director William Malone and writer Matt Greenberg, I found it much more interesting than I had originally thought. Picture and sound quality are, of course, excellent.

Love this TV series.

if u were a fan of tales from the crypt back in the day, you'll like this

I myself am a Horror Buff, I like good creepy but funny Horror and Masters of Horror gives that to the audience, each story has excellent characters and really good storylines, I hope that the series lasts a while since they really don't have any good show since Tales from the Darkside and Friday the 13th.

Great bed time stories! Or something to watch on a cloudy rainy day!

It was ok purchased for Me being a fan of John Carpenter ...buy all his movies

Picture quality

Well you need to take your pick of which one the best of these three episode you like.

As always, excellent deliver, bluray quality could be better

excellent and fast shipping

Masters of Horror Series 1 Vol 1 contains 7 episodes from the first season- and I am highly impressed with what is on offer.You could say I'm old school in the fact that I actually mistrust television and film of the past 15 years or so. The quality just doesn't seem there, from the acting, to the direction right down to the production. There doesn't seem much soul in there. Of course there is good television out there, The Wire for instance was fantastic, but it's few and far between. So why am I going on about quality TV and reviewing a horror show? Because the production on MOH blew me away. So not everything is perfect about the show? True, some episodes aren't so good, sometimes there is no horror or blood. But what holds up in every one of these 7 episodes is the quality of direction, production and script. No lie- It's all there, and it's this that makes (so far) Masters of Horror a clear winner.So lets look at the episodes on offer:First up is Cigarette Burns directed by John Carpenter. I'm a big Carpenter fan and I was very curious with this one, given that the last few Carpenter efforts have been under par. I'm pleased to say that Cigarette Burns is a great episode, the best on the pack. It has a great story- much like In the Mouth of Madness- Carpenters movie from 1994, and it flows really well. It is the most violent and outrageous story Carpenter has ever tackled. It feels as though Carpenter is having a go at Hollywood, and how the industry turned it's back on him when he directed some movies that flopped at the cinema- well heres his personal revenge story- and what a great one it is. I tell you, you will feel uneasy for a few days after watching this one- It's a real thrill ride.Dreams in the Witch House is a Lovecraft story, and was always going to be difficult to put onto screen. But director Stuart Gordon does a sterling job. The trick here is that not much happens in the episode until the final ten minutes, but the script alongside Gordons direction keeps you peeled to a very entertaining story.The same can be said for Don Cosacarelli's Incident on and off a Mountain Road- which follows a woman's torment as she is being chased by some sort of crazed psycho. The story plays out well and too a flashback drop back. I have a lot of time for Cosarelli and his work, even though this seems different territory for him as it's basically an A to B story as oppose to some of his wackiest material.Series Creator Mick Garris directs Chocolate and this has been singled out as the worst episode from the set. Whilst I would agree, I would also argue that Chocolate is not a bad episode. It's directed well, has a tight script that keeps you watching and for me the acting is good enough. Chocolate stars Henry Thomas the little kid from ET. I think he does a fine job. The biggest problem is the climax which is a let down and also you ask yourself, 'will I watch this one again'? and the answer is probably no.Talking about endings the same could be said for Lucky McKee's Sick Girl. Now this episode rides along nicely. Involving two beautiful lesbians and loads of strange and bizarre insects. However Sick Girl is let down by the ending- which basically feels like a slap in the face for coming along with the ride. Unfortunate as for 45 mins I really enjoyed this episode. Quite sensual in places.This brings us onto Deer Woman which is my second favourite episode. The title says it all, it's about a legend who is part woman part deer. OK it may sound silly, but the episode works. There is some gore, some chills but most of all the acting all round is perfect. It's all lead by the excellent Brian Benben- I know great name- but he is terrific here as the blow out detective hot on the case. There isn't actually that much blood or 'deer action', but again it's the direction and dialogue that make up for that. This is also directed by John Landis and there is a quite wonderful quote thrown in about a werewolf case in London. Great.Finally we come to Homecoming, perhaps one of the most controversial episodic televison events there has been in America in the past decade. Homecoming attacks the Republicans- and has dead soldiers coming back to life to vote the party out. Whilst the premise sounds a little wacky- the episode is about hitting home how absurd the recent war in the middle east has been. Sadly a majority of Americans didn't understand this episode. Check IMDB and how many reviews give this 0/10. I mean really. Does any film or episodic television deserve a 0 mark. Based on what? Because Joe Dante got under some peoples skins? Put your politics aside and enjoy fantasty and film for what it is. Homecoming as an episode message delivers heavily and at times is a valiant effort. It doesnt always hit it's mark but it's a decent episode. Granted it must have been a hard one to stomach for any family member that had someone die in the war, that I can understand, but not someone that just wants to base hating this episode on politics. No thanks, thats not needed here.All in all MOH is a great TV series- like I said when the chips are down sometimes the acting always comes through- thats what makes the show a success in my eyes, you feel comfortable coming back for more.Oh and I must mention there is 21 hrs of extras- yep you read that right. Amazing, eh?Here are my rankings for each episode. Best to worst.1- Cigarette Burns 5/52- Deer Woman 4/53- Incident on and off a Mountain Road 4/54- Dreams in the Witch House 4/55- Homecoming 3/56- Sick Girl 3/57- Chocolate 2/5

3 more episodes from Masters of Horror. Cigarette Burns by John Carpenter is a bit like In The Mouth Of Madness in style but featuring lots more gore and some disturbing imagery. Starring Norman Reedus, now famous for Walking Dead.I really got a kick out of Dreams In Witch-House directed by Stuart Gordon. Anything adapted from H.P Lovecraft is worth anyones time!Was not really a fan of The Fair-Haired Child. As much as I like Lori Petty, there wasn't really much going on I haven't seen before. Directed by William Malone who's only good film was The House on Haunted Hill remake.