The Stuart Gordon Presents Box Set (2006)

The Pit & The PendulumCastle FreakDeathbedBonus Disk- William Shatner interviews Stuart Gordon Product Description

Beds, Bloods, and Bad Neighbors - Three Movies and a Pinch of "More"

Since everything in the set is all Stuart Gordon and since other reviews will cover what each movie is about and undoubtedly add opinions on each, I'll try to cover the highpoints of what comes with the box set. I also want to add that each movie captures a different timeframe - and different audience - in Gordon's career, so each has a different flair. I was a little surprised to see this released as a box set, truth be told, but the addition of Deathbed is actually odd when associated with Gordon at all.

To the movies:
The best of three, by far, would have to be Castle Freak; Jeffrey Combs and family, including his deaf daughter, inherit a house that has a family secret now roaming about in a not-so-happy disposition. This has a lot of gore, a bit of oddity, and a lot of Jeffrey Combs - something that I'm partial to in a Gordon film. It won several horror awards in its day, making it a film that people seemed to appreciate.
Pit and the Pendulum is something of a different take when it comes to the whole "Pit and the" affair, with a Grand Inquisitor finding some faces amongst the fairer sex and waiting to unleash a wonderfully apt torture device into some unwilling flesh. We find Combs making a cameo here, too, and the film taking its time with a few gory tidbits. Last amongst the features is Deathbed, a modest movie that makes something of a horror centerpiece of out of - you guessed it - a bed, allowing it to siphon off terrors of the emotional sense and make them more of the all-too-real persuasion.

About the movie extras:
First and foremost, Deathbed is the only film presented in widescreen. I was a little disappointed in this because I wanted a widescreen of Castle Freak in the ballpark, but having a movie seldom seen in widescreen is a good thing. Sadly, Deathbed is also the cheapest of the three; although shot in the mid 90's it is more of an atmospheric piece and, sadly, it is the only film that doesn't have Jeffrey Combs in it. Each film comes with little features, keeping it basic with "the making of" and little "blooper reels" thrown in here and there, so ther esin't much to add in that department.
I like extras, too, don't get me wrong when I say this, but extras aren't the selling point I want when I buy. They are a luxury, given with movies I would have already wanted on my shelves.

To the extra disc:
The extra disc is really a glorified interview disc, but the interview is actually entertaining because it's William Shatner talking to Stuart Gordon about the movies and a few other things. He also sets down with the cast of Castle Freak, most noted amongst these Jeffrey Combs, and the interviews would be run-of-the-mill but Shatner, again, is funny in that respect.
Also included as an extra - trailers of all these movies and some more Stuart Gordon movies!

Is this a buy? It really is hard to say that because it honestly depends on what you're after. A Gordon audience is mainly what this set targets, and it not including any of his most known films kinda proves that. This doesn't detract from the series for others happening upon it with interest, though, adding a place at the pixilated table that normally isn't set. July 18, 2007

Two out of Four is pretty darned good.

Worth it for Castle Freak and Pit & The Pendulum, obviously. Deathbed is a decent low-low-low-budget SOV flick, competent though not at all scary -- and it could've stood to be a little edgier, too. Pit & The Pendulum seems to be a foreign print, judging by the non-english on-screen title card, but the movie is in english, so don't worry. Both this and Castle Freak are full-frame transfers, but CF is definitely the Unrated Director's Cut. Looks decent enough, anyway -- and Castle Freak really deserves to be rediscovered. June 27, 2007

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