User reviews

The first of these is about a beautiful young woman, suffering with a man who is at death's door. She has taken a lover and they will be together when the older man dies, so they say. She is passionate and impatient as she watches her husband walk the edge. She decides to take matters into her own hands and buys a type of voodoo doll from an old woman in the woods. Whatever happens to the doll, happens to the intended victim. For example, while the thing is in a cloth bag, the man goes temporarily blind. Unfortunately, these kinds of things don't always work for the best. She tries to burn the doll but it is made of green wood and won't burn. Of course, her husband is in agony. Then she throws it into the swamp. When you're in bed with evil in these stories, there are consequences.

The second is about a career college student, played by Joel Gray, who has a fascination with his lineage. He is practicing witchcraft, attempting to call up the spirit of his ancestor, Jedediah MacBane, who apparently had the ability to kill people by sending forces against them. He is obsessed, bringing his best friends into the equation. He kills his rich uncle, played by Howard Duff, because the young man's future is dependent on this man's estate. There is a stipulation that if the younger man doesn't find gainful employment in six months, he will be cut off. This is a pretty frightening episode and, like the first, has that Macbeth element of taking matters into one's own hands.

'I'll Never Leave You - Ever' - A young woman stuck married to a sickly older man has an affair with a younger man, and in order to be with him uses voodoo to finish off her husband, but the plan goes quite wrong indeed... Graphic tale is quite merciless and grim though also presents its story in starkly stylish terms.

'There Aren't Any More MacBanes' - Joel Grey plays a young man and black magic student who conjures up a demon to get rid of his rich uncle in order to inherit, but finds that the demon doesn't then want to leave... Another grim but effective tale with a memorably scary female monster.

'I'll Never Leave You - Ever.' Written by Jack Laird, based on a story by Rene Morris. The lovely Lois Nettleton stars as Moira, a 19th century woman stuck in a marriage to the sickly Owen (Royal Dano), who stubbornly clings to life. In the midst of an affair with the dashing Ianto (John Saxon), Moira turns to a voodoo priestess (Peggy Webber) for help in eliminating Owen. Naturally, things don't turn out in the ideal way for Moira, especially as Owen does NOT perish quickly, but suffers for a while (in the most profoundly disturbing moments of the segment). While this segment ends in an unfortunately too-abrupt and not very satisfying manner, this is for the most part VERY good stuff, with an incredible amount of foreboding and atmosphere. And the viewer can possibly take some pity on both Owen *and* Moira; due to Nettleton's sad-eyed, affecting performance, her character comes off as a bit more sympathetic than would otherwise be the case. Saxon and Webber lend solid support.

Directed by Daniel Haller ("Die, Monster, Die!", "The Dunwich Horror").

'There Aren't Any More MacBanes'. Scripted by Alvin Sapinsley, based on a story by Stephen Hall. A perfectly wormy Joel Grey stars as Andrew MacBane, a lazy, unambitious ne'er-do-well who's content to leach off the family fortune. Before his disapproving uncle (Howard Duff) can cut off his inheritance, however, Andrew meddles in witchcraft and has the old man killed off. But then he finds out about the insatiable appetite of the beast, and that it's not going to go away any time soon. Grey is entertainingly sleazy in this great segment that features sound contributions from Duff and Darrell Larson as one of Andrews' friends. There's some true creepiness to enjoy here, but scenes with the beast work best when we DON'T get too good a look at it. As a result, the resolution is not as effective as it could have been. But this is still a great macabre ride to take.

A very young Mark Hamill turns up around the 38 minute mark as a messenger boy.

Directed by John Newland, whose credits include the memorable 1973 TV movie "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark". So this segment was in good hands.

Eight out of 10.