TALES OF TERROR 1 - Region 3 DVD review

TALES OF TERROR - Volume 1 - Hong Kong Region 3 DVD (Unicorn release)

First volume of episodes from the Japanese TV series TALES OF TERROR (2005).

Must have missed the small print when I bought this one. There are 8 episodes on this DVD, but the episodes are barely 5 minutes long each! That's under 40 minutes of tales of terror. There's also an interview with the director. For once, the interview is subtitled in english (extras on HK releases rarely are), but this doesn't really compensate for the scant running time.

If you like really short short stories (I mean the one or two page sort) this may be for you. Each little episode hits the ground running and often manages to generate chills in the short time available.

The cover describes the aspect ratio as 4:3, but the image is in fact 16:9 letterboxed within a 4:3 frame (otherwise known as non-anamorpihc widescreen). The subtitles are unfortunately positioned halfway over the lower letterboxing. They are well written and removable, and the optional DTS audio is creepily directional.

Looks like there are 3 more volumes to come...

Max