AGFA Looks To Oct. 27 For The Blu-ray Debut Of Director Doug Ulrich's Scary Tales

The American Genre Film Archive (aka: AGFA) will be teaming up with Bleeding Skull on Oct. 27 for the Blu-ray debut of director Doug Ulrich’s 1993 horror anthology, Scary Tales.

Newly remastered from the S-VHS original tapes (yes, a true independent), this shot-in-Baltimore production, the home of Edgar Allen Poe, of course, features three tales of terror (plus the wrap-around “Storyteller,” which hosted by Ulrich).  

Owing much to the influence of the Amicus anthologies of the early 1970s (The House That Dripped Blood, Asylum, Tales from the Crypt, etc.), Scary Tales begins with the “Storyteller” telling the tale of “Satan’s Necklace” to a bunch of little kids (hello, where’s the parental supervision).   This necklace gives the wearer the power of Satan himself and eventually transforms the unlucky stiff into a human devouring monster … his wife (Ilene Zelechowski) hops in the bath and out comes her beating heart … which signals that Ulrich knows his target audience.

The next story the little tykes get to hear is “Sliced in Cold Blood,” a lurid tale about a cheating wife and the subsequent rampage that her husband embarks upon.   There is a “money shot” in this middle sequence that involves the belly of a fat guy (bar patron).  And, there’s also a young woman being raped (Karen Coker), which our boy stops to help, has second thoughts and kills her too.  

And finally, the “Storyteller,” and the five little kids who are listening to these tales of madness — who by now are traumatized for life — learn the horrors of videogame playing that becomes obsessive in the segment titled “Level 21.”

Yes, movie-making on a shoestring, but for genre fans that’s the whole point of it.   It scares the hell out of the traditional “Hollywood” studios, who spend more money on lunch the first day of a shoot then a gifted “amateur” devotes to the entire production.  

As to bonus goodies, Scary Tales on Blu-ray from AGFA on Oct. 27 includes commentary from director Doug Ulrich, outtakes, a vintage local television appearance promoting the film, some early experimental short films from Ulrich and, as a super bonus, Doug Ulrich’s second feature film, Darkest Soul (1994), is also included here (and we think it might be its home entertainment debut) … a double-bill!!