The Theatre Bizarre
Down a seedy city street in her neighborhood, young Enola Penny is obsessed with what appears to be a long abandoned theatre. One night, she sees that the front door is slightly ajar and impulsively decides to sneak inside. But there in the dark, decrepit auditorium, a show unlike any other unfolds before her eyes. Its host is an eerie human puppet named Peg Poett who will introduce Penny to six tales of the bizarre: A couple traveling in a remote part of the French Pyrenees cross paths with a lustful witch; A paranoid lover faces the wrath of a partner who has been pushed to her limit; The Freudian dreams of an unfaithful husband blur the lines between fantasy and reality; The horrors of the real world are interpreted through the mind of a child; A woman addicted to other people's memories gets her fix through the vitreous fluid of her victims' eyeballs; And a perverse obsession with sweets turns sour for a couple in too deep.
A grotesque carnival of nightmares wrapped in a midnight movie anthology that revels in practical effects and unsettling atmosphere.
- Six directors each spin a distinct, twisted vision, making it a kaleidoscope of horror subgenres from folk witchcraft to body horror.
- Peg Poett’s eerie puppet hosting connects the segments with carnival macabre that recalls 70s and 80s anthology staples like *Creepshow* and *Tales from the Crypt.*
- Practical effects and makeup by legends like Tom Savini and Robert Kurtzman elevate the grotesqueries beyond typical indie fare.
- Not for the faint-hearted or narrative purists — the film’s uneven pacing and tone reward viewers craving a surreal, visceral horror buffet over cohesive storytelling.
Directors
Buddy Giovinazzo, Tom Savini, Richard Stanley, Douglas Buck, Karim Hussain, David Gregory, Jeremy Kasten
