Screamtime (1983)

Two hoodlums steal a few short videotapes from the local mom & pop video store and go back to one of their female friend's apartment to watch them. After surprisingly minimal amount of protesting from the girl who claims to have a hot date, they all settle in to watch some movies. The first, about a bullied puppeteer, is easily the worst of the bunch, the acting is all right, but the story is pretty uninspired, however if you can make it through this dull segment, you should be good to go as the following two stories are markable better. The second about a haunted house is less original than the first story but it's helped along by some good acting and a few effective scares. The third and final tale revolving around old ladies and mystical creatures is a throwaway but i got some enjoyment out of it. All in all this film is not amongst the better horror anthologies by a long shot, but you could do worse. The "Dreamhouse" segment makes the film worthy of a view alone.Eye Candy: Marie Scinto gets topless

I watched this film when i was about 14 and spent the next decade hunting for it after it became deleted, i recently came across it and watching it now i can appreciate it in its silly 80's glory! Bad acting, a jump from an American start where two guys steal some videos from a video shop and then hide away in a female friends flat to watch them. For some unknown reason all the films they watch are British and star some familiar faces of the time. All three short films have a kind of twilight zone type feeling to them, the grainy 80's backdrop for me made it more eerie than the typical horror you see these days, of all the short films it was the second one 'Dreamhouse' that got me...a woman seeing horrific images of people being slaughtered before her eyes in her new home, even going as far as calling in a medium, her husband thinks shes crazy and it has a very intense bloody climax that had me grossed out as a 14 year old but not so much as a 30 year old! Over all its a typically poor film, hence why it was possibly deleted, but maybe for a fan of the older stuff, or Hammer house of horror, this may be worth a watch.

This was a decent horror anthology movie. Two New Yorkers steal some videos from a video store, and take them to a female friend's apartment to watch.In the first one, an old man loves doing Punch & Judy shows for kids, and takes meticulous care of his puppets at home. His wife is fed up with it; they don't make enough money, and she wants him to burn them and move with his stepson to Canada for reliable work. We then see his family being attacked by a wooden board. Has Punch come to life, or has the old man gone nuts? This one wasn't all that good, but it wasn't terrible.In the second one, a couple move into a house their father was unable to sell. The wife sees a boy bicycling in the yard that no one else notices. She hears noises, and sees blood in the bathtub, then on a knife in the kitchen, then on the bannister. She starts seeing other people in the house, and then starts seeing those people bloody or dead. This one was quite a bit better.In the last segment, a young man races motorcycles, and works at a clothing store. He needs more money, which his boss offers to loan him. He takes a job gardening for a pair of old ladies to make the money he needs to pay his boss back. They're quite eccentric, believing in fairies and gnomes, and a pact their 16th century ancestor had with the fairies to help conceal her affairs from her husband. The young man discovers the old ladies have a chest full of money, and he decides to rob them with the help of his younger brother and a friend. This one was pretty good too.Finally, the wraparound segment brings everything together.

"Screamtime" is one of those anthology films, like "Creepshow," and while it's not as good as the George A. Romero classic, it's effective.The plot is about two guys who steal three videos from a video store. They go back to one of their girlfriend's apartment to watch them.The first video is about a "Punch and Judy" puppeteer whose family wants him to get out of the puppeteering business since it doesn't make much money for the family. Then his stepson burns down his puppet show stage and soon after is murdered on the beach, seemingly by the Mr. Punch puppet. Then later at his house his wife is also murdered. Has Mr. Punch come to life, or is someone else to blame?The second video is about a married couple moving into a new house. The wife begins to see grisly visions of a murder that seems to have been committed there. But is the house really haunted?The third video is about a guy who competes in dirtbike races, but needs some money. So he gets a job working odd jobs at the house of two elderly women. They tell him about the fairies that guard the house and the garden gnomes that work for them. He dismisses what they say, but takes an interest in the money, gold, jewels, and other valuables around the house. So he gets two of his friends to help him rob the place that night. But the fairies and garden gnomes really are alive and attack the intruders.Finally, the video tape thieves and one of their girlfriends get attacked by elements of the three videos they stole.If you give this low budget movie a chance you may be pleasantly surprised by it. The three films were shot in England with the connecting device about the video tape thieves shot in New York City. The puppets in the first video are creepy looking. The ending of the second video will shock you. The third movie gets a little spooky in the dark house; tiny floating lights fly by the camera unseen by the burglars, a room is suddenly full of garden gnomes, etc. This movie is perfect for horror movie connoisseur.