First off, the box lets you think this is a movie - nope. It is, in fact, a compilation of three short films, with no "wraparound" story. They don't even try. Each ends with its own closing credits sequence. How is this a "film"? Beats me. Secondly, not one "tale" makes sense - and the "plot twists" are predictable (to say the least).
Segment one involves aliens that looks like humans. In low-budget movies are there any other kind? I'm not sure of the exact details. It seems a girl on the lam, in her father's "Bugmobile" (he's a pest exterminator), runs into aliens in the desert. They stalk her for a while, and the story eventually ends. I like this segment as it has no dialogue (the little there is is indecipherable) and the story is incoherent. The 8mm porno-film is a nice touch, though. Next, we follow a man who murders(?) a girl and leaves the scene. Soon, he is picked up by a passer by and...SURPRISE...it turns out he is dead and she killed him! See this for the tacky looking devil (who appears to be a car salesman/lonely old man). The "computer", and I use this term loosely since this is the eighties, constantly sends the deceased criminal messages. Creepy (if you have a Commodore 64 phobia). The film concludes with a wonderful tale of a detective watching over a whore. This delightful little story has not plot and is devoid of any continuity. For quite some time, we thought the lead character was dead, but we were wrong. It seems Terrifying Tales is never quite this clever.
In conclusion, some horror anthologues suck. Others stink. This one sets a new standard for bad filmmaking. We here at the cheesebrothers have deemed Terrifying Tales a craptacular of immense proportions. See cars drive. See poorly lit scenes. Hear a musical score that belongs in a 1970's middle school documentary on sex ed. Watch as the negative is badly underdeveloped. Laugh as you try to decipher what each director had intended to do.
In the end, one is left to wonder "if these are the tales the distributor purchased to include in this film, what the hell did they turn down"?
The low point: A miniature town in the first story. It looks like little Timmy has built himself a lego city! Now, let's film it and use that for a backdrop in a horror film.
The high point: For the most part, story two makes sense!
The bottom line: The worst anthology ever released. Makes a wonderful cure for insomnia.
