DVD release (region 2, seven-disc box set)
Directed by John Landis, John Carpenter, Dario Argento, Mick Garris et al
Starring George Wendt, Meat Loaf, Ron Perlman, Jeffrey Combs
Release date Out now

From serial killers to a reworking of a Poe classic, from demons to viruses: a stunning medley of chillers from this Emmy award-winning show, written and directed by the true modern day masters of the horror genre…

On the eve of season three hitting US screens, the first box set of Masters of Horror series two arrives on DVD. As with previous releases, this one also comes in an attractive package, but it’s the quality of the episodes which make it a must buy.

John Landis, for example, presents Family, a black comedy about a delusional man (George Wendt) who picks people off the streets, kills them, and boils them down to skeletons to feed his obsession. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen Norm from Cheers bathing a little old lady in acid.

Then there’s John Carpenter’s Pro Life, which blends a social comment about abortion with the tale of a demonic birth. Ron Perlman stars as the father stopping his pregnant daughter from making what he thinks is a big mistake.

Dario Argento’s Pelts (based on an F. Paul Wilson short story) sees Meat Loaf’s fur trader getting his just desserts when he buys a batch of magical racoon skins, while Joe Dante’s The Screwfly Solution posits what would happen if a virus turned all men into violent psychopaths.

Re-animator director Stuart Gordon chooses Poe rather than Lovecraft as his source this time, offering a version of The Black Cat with the writer himself as the main character (Combs). Masters of Horror creator Mick Garris directs Valerie on the Stairs, about a writers’ evil halfway house, based on a brand new Clive Barker treatment. And finally Wrong Turn director Rob Schmidt contributes The Right to Die, a revenge tale about a woman in a car accident. The perfect entertainment to while away those autumn evenings.

As before, there’s a veritable Aladdin’s cave of extras, including director biographies, making of featurettes, PDF scripts, audio commentaries, a close-up on FX, storyboards – the works. Paul Kane

VERDICT: 9/10
A snapshot of horror in the early 21st century, this is one library of anthology shorts that’s screaming out to be collected.