The frame story for the humdrum anthology film Deadtime Stories aka Freaky Fairy-Tales (1986) has porn hound Uncle Mike telling his wee nephew Brian inappropriate bedtime stories, beginning with "Peter & the Witches" about a fisherman's son sold to witches. By a glamour the two ugly witches can look beautiful to the men they snare with their spells.

They raise Peter to help them seduce a virgin into their lair, with their long-term goal being to resurrect their third sister. Peter screws up their plans. It's told much too hastily, but if it had been better paced, it would still have been too slight a story to justify filming.

The other two tales of the set are not of the "Peter & the Witches" medieval fairylore sort, but are modern-setting equivalents. "Little Red Riding Hood" is about Foxy Rachel & the werewolf who is trying to get his hands on some strong downers before the moon rises. It's a dreadful story with a joke punchline.

"Goldi Lox & the Three Baers" is about a girl psycho killer with psychic powers on the lam after escaping from the asylum. She meets a family of lunatic thieves, the Baers, & they join forces to defeat the police. This is the only one of the stories that is at all effective as to humor, thanks to some pretty crazy performances, but it's still pretty weak.

At last the frame story "The Boy Who Cried Monster" concludes with a hasty fizzle & the viewer is left shaking her head in wonder that anyone would waste money producing films that can't even rise to the level of shlock.

copyright © by Paghat the Ratgirl