Mania

Every self-respecting horror fanatic loves anthologies, right? But what to do when you run out of possibilities and already watched all the obvious classics like "Creepshow", "V/H/S", "Body Bags", "Trick 'r Treat", etc.?

Fear not, because there exist a whole lot of worthwhile horror anthologies that most people - even genre fans - have never heard of. For obscure omnibus-horror, seek out "Screams of a Winter Night", "Screamtime", "Freakshow", and "Deadtime Stories". And those are only just covering the 80s! There's another truckload of great anthologies from the 70s and prior.

"Mania" is another example, and I hadn't even heard of it myself. This is probably due to the film being thoroughly unremarkable and anti-spectacular, but still, it has a certain anthology-charm that genuine horror fans are likely to appreciate. "Mania" doesn't have a wraparound story or a host/narrator, and it exists of four straightforward suspense stories with a twist at the end. Every individual tale is simple but effective, and they cover a variety of thriller topics, like framing for murder, lethal dogs, child abduction, and assault. Personally, I found the first two segments "See No Evil" and "Intruder" the best ones. They are predictable and rather silly, but not as predictable and silly as last two segments "Have a Nice Day" and "The Good Samaritan". The only familiar name involved in this cheap mid-80s production is co-director Paul Lynch, who previously made the modest slasher-hits "Prom Night" and "Dog Island".