Movies
[DVD Review] ‘Attack Of The Mutant’ and ‘Ghost Beach’
If you grew up in the 90’s, odds are R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series acted as your horror training wheels; a gateway into the genre that substituted slime for blood and had strange – sometimes disturbing – twist endings. Starting with the publication of Welcome To Dead House and Stay Out Of The Basement in July 1992, the franchise would go through seven different incarnations (including one that was marketed but never published) and sell over 350 million copies worldwide in dozens of different languages. In 1995, the powers that be decided it was time to adapt it into a horror anthology show for kids. 
Working within the range of $14 million per season, the Canadian-made series was of surprisingly high quality aesthetically and, for the time it was made and the budget constraints it had, featured decent practical and CGI effects. The episodes, as well as the books they were based on (a handful were created just for broadcast), all featured the same plot structure which placed the youthful protagonist(s) in a new situation that removed them from their normal surroundings while melding horror with humor and putting a twist on things during the last few minutes. The books got kids interested in reading and no matter how basic and unchallenging the material was, at least it got them to flip the page.
The televised version, on the other hand, was and still is pure camp, with occasional episodes that come across as demented. The “Goosebumps is rated GB-7, because it may be too spooky for children under seven” disclaimer holds true for a few including A Shocker on Shock Street, which is memorable because of the twist ending that has a character tortured with electrocution after its revealed that some of the children are robots testing out a theme park; for Tales From The Crypt, that’s nothing new but for a show geared towards 7 to 10-year-olds (some of which haven’t read the source material), it’s a bit much. Years later, I come to find out that episode specifically was heavily edited by the BBFC and several others were never aired in the UK. But, regardless of that, most of the episodes are in good fun and are a hoot for the age group they’re intended for.
Out of the 74 aired episodes (Cartoon Network is rumored to be broadcasting the unaired episodes of the series sometime soon, some of which premiered on DVD), only 5 have yet to make their way to DVD after the two recently released volumes, which include Attack Of The Mutant Parts I and II, Phantom Of The Auditorium, Ghost Beach, The Barking Ghost, and Be Careful What You Wish For. Out of all the aforementioned episodes, only Mutant is noteworthy because it’s much more action and fantasy oriented than horror, and it has a fun – but brief – Adam West cameo. The rest are unmemorable in the grand scheme of things, but they’re fun time wasters. The DVDs have no bonus features, which is a shame, but none of the releases have them so it’s not a huge surprise.
Like Are You Afraid Of The Dark?, Goosebumps is a decent gateway into horror. It might not have the level of unfiltered weirdness that Eerie, Indiana had – which is my favorite children’s genre show, probably because Joe Dante was a creative consultant – but the nostalgia you’ll feel from the handful of good episodes makes the series worth a watch.
It was almost one year ago that Warner Bros. brought the entire original A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise to 4K in one massive 7-movie collection, with the limited edition SteelBook version of the set quickly selling out and becoming highly sought after. But we’re happy to report tonight that the SteelBook set is currently back in stock over on Amazon!
While supplies last, grab the Elm Street SteelBook collection for $154.99 right now!!
Orders placed for this re-release are scheduled to begin shipping out September 15, 2026.
[Related] Freddy’s Back: New ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ Movie in the Works at Paramount
From New Line Cinema, the collection includes the original seven films – A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985), A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988), A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989), Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), and Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994) – along with the uncut versions of A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Dream Child.
Two BRAND NEW SPECIAL FEATURES for this set include:
- Boiler Room Confessional: The king of slashers, Robert Englund, takes us on a journey through the dream world, sharing what inspired Freddy Krueger, his rise as a cultural icon, and the legacy of A Nightmare on Elm Street, plus his favorite kills, scenes, and more.
- Freddy’s Footnotes: Robert Englund and original A Nightmare on Elm Street filmmakers revisit iconic scenes, revealing the movie magic and chaos behind our favorite nightmares. Pull back the curtain and relive epic moments through the eyes of those who made them.
Here’s the full breakdown of included Special Features for each movie…
A Nightmare on Elm Street
· Ready Freddy Focus Points
· Commentary with Wes Craven, Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, Ronee Blakley, Robert Shaye, and Sara Risher
· Commentary with Wes Craven, Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, and Jacques Haitkin
· Alternate Endings – Scary Ending, Happy Ending, Freddy Ending
· The House that Freddy Built: The Legacy of New Line Horror
· Never Sleep Again: The Making of A Nightmare on Elm Street
· Night Terrors: The Origins of Wes Craven’s Nightmares
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge
· Freddy on 8th Street
· Heroes and Villains
· The Male Witch
· Psychosexual Circus
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
· Behind the Story: Burnout
· Behind the Story: Fan Mail
· Behind the Story: The House that Freddy Built
· Behind the Story: Onward Christian Soldiers
· Behind the Story: Snakes and Ladders
· Behind the Story: That’s Showbiz
· Behind the Story: Trading 8’s
· Dokken Dream Warriors Music Video
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
· The Finnish Line
· Krueger, Freddy Krueger
· Hopeless Chest
· Let’s Makeup
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
· Behind the Story: Womb Raiders
· Behind the Story: The Sticky Floor
· Behind the Story: Take the Stairs
· Behind the Story: Hopkins Directs
· Behind the Story: A Slight Miscalculation
Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare
· 86’D
· Hellraiser
· Rachel’s Dream
· 3D Demise
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare
· Commentary with Wes Craven
· NEW – Boiler Room Confessional
· NEW – Freddy’s Footnotes
· Becoming a Filmmaker
· Filmmaker
· An Insane Troupe
· The Problem with Sequels
· Two Worlds
· Welcome to Prime Time: It Really Happened
· Welcome to Prime Time: A Childhood Memory
· Welcome to Prime Time: Sometime in the Early 80s
· Welcome to Prime Time: So It Began
· Welcome to Prime Time: Beauty and the Beast
· Welcome to Prime Time: Making the Glove
· Welcome to Prime Time: Shapeshifter
· Welcome to Prime Time: The Shoot
· Welcome to Prime Time: The Revolving Room
· Welcome to Prime Time: All’s Well that Ends Well
· Welcome to Prime Time: Talalay’s Tally
· Welcome to Prime Time: It Couldn’t Have Happened
· Welcome to Prime Time: Alternate Ending Version
· Conclusion: Where Gothic Plots Come From
· Conclusion: Why We Like Gothic
· Conclusion: Sadomasochism
· Conclusion: Freddy vs. Pinhead
· Conclusion: Freddy’s Manic Energy
· Conclusion: Creating Lasting Characters in Horror
· Conclusion: No More Magic Tricks
· Conclusion: Monster with Personality
· Conclusion: Freddy as Sex Machine
· Conclusion: Campfire Stories
The Elm Street collection is available in this collectible SteelBook packaging (exclusive to Amazon) and as a standard 4K collection that’s also available now over on Amazon.
You must be logged in to post a comment.