Boogeymen

You all remember Freddy Krueger, right? Bastard son of 100 maniacs (don't ask me to explain that in reproductive terms), with really long and rather unusual fingernails and a face that looked like a cheese pizza? Robert Englund, who starred as Freddy in the Nightmare on Elm Street horror series serves up audio commentary on this collection of clips featuring 17 greater and lesser known boogeymen (and one boogeywoman--Camilla from William Friedkin's lame horror flick The Guardian), including Pinhead (Clive Barker's Hellraiser), Leatherface (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Ghostface (Scream), Chucky (Child's Play), Candyman (Candyman), Norman Bates (Psycho), Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th series), Michael Myers (Halloween), and assorted video favorites (Leprechaun, Wishmaster, Blade from The Puppetmaster, etc.). While literally no more than an enhanced trailer collection, the DVD's extras make it a worthwhile purchase: Englund's commentary, onscreen factoids option ("over 500 gallons of fake blood were used in Nightmare on Elm Street"), silly statistics (in the body count category, hockey mask faced Jason was the leader with 191), and a "Name That Frame" game that I'm ashamed to admit I did quite well on. Perhaps the most interesting trivia fact is that serial killer Ed Gein was the inspiration for Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Manhunter, Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal. Sure to be popular with horror aficionados, this is recommended, overall. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)