Review by: J.R
Date: 24th May 2008
Mick Garris may not be a 'Master of Horror' like other directors such as Dario Argento or Tobe
Hooper that have worked on this series, but he certainly deserves accolades for coming up with a
series that is made for horror fans by their heroes. The heroes to the horror fans truly are the
directors; as fanatics of the genre we love it when our favorite director hits a home run with a
great horror piece, and we are also their biggest enemies when they royally screw it up.
Garris is known mainly for some of his adaptations of Stephen King novels, such as TV version?
The Shining and Desperation, but this film, Chocolate is taken from a short story of his own,
written many years ago and based on a dream that Garris once had about feeling someone else's
experiences.
Chocolate tells the story of Jamie (Henry Thomas), a recently divorced, extremely lonely food
technician who starts to tap into the experiences of an artist, Catherine (Lucie Laurier), who he
has never met and who lives in another country. As the experiences intrude on his life, Jamie
becomes obsessed with this woman, even more so when he witnesses her, through these strange
experiences, kill her boyfriend, Hooper (Paul Yu). After the murder, the visions suddenly stop, so
even emptier now than before, Jamie uses clues from the visions to seek her out, and confront her.
Garris' entry into the MOH series is unique, as it doesn't go for extreme gore or over the top
characters; it is really a character piece about loneliness and passion. To the gore horror fan it
may seem slow and plodding, even boring, but to those who have patience and like films like Lucky
McKee's May, should enjoy it.
Anchor Bay Entertainment, as with all the MOH discs, has come up with some great supplementary
material for Chocolate.
The featurettes section has some great interviews with Mike Garris, Henry Thomas and Lucie
Laurier. It also has a behind the scenes making of documentary and another called Working With A
Master: Mike Garris, which has interviews with wife/ actress Cynthia Garris; actress Annabeth
Gish; and actors Ron Perlman, Matt Frewer and Steven Weber, who all talk about their experience
working with Garris.
There is an audio commentary by Garris and DVD Producer Perry Martin, which is probably the
most interesting of all the MOH discs, mainly as it doesn't just deal with Garris' film, but also with
the entire concept of the series. Martin's presence on this commentary is great as his questions
drive Garris' comments along.
Other extras on this disc include a portion of a Fantasy Film Festival interview that Garris hosted
with Roger Corman from the late seventies/ early eighties (which is actually pretty interesting),
trailers for other episodes of MOH (Chocolate, Cigarette Burns, Dreams in the Witch-House,
Homecoming, Deer Woman, Jenifer, Incident on and Off A Mountain Road and Dance of the
Dead), a still gallery of on set pictures and a text biography of Mick Garris.
There are three DVD-Rom features: the screenplay for Chocolate and the original short story both
in .pdf form, and a screensaver.
There are also trailers for Masters of Horror, Room 6, Demon Hunter and Quicksilver
Highway.
Inside the amray case for this, and all the Masters of Horror episodes, is a collectable trading card
for the director in question, this one, of course, being Mick Garris.
As usual, Anchor Bay Entertainment has excelled in the production of this disc. The sound and
picture are great and the line up of extras make for a complete package.
Date: 24th May 2008
Mick Garris may not be a 'Master of Horror' like other directors such as Dario Argento or Tobe
Hooper that have worked on this series, but he certainly deserves accolades for coming up with a
series that is made for horror fans by their heroes. The heroes to the horror fans truly are the
directors; as fanatics of the genre we love it when our favorite director hits a home run with a
great horror piece, and we are also their biggest enemies when they royally screw it up.
Garris is known mainly for some of his adaptations of Stephen King novels, such as TV version?
The Shining and Desperation, but this film, Chocolate is taken from a short story of his own,
written many years ago and based on a dream that Garris once had about feeling someone else's
experiences.
Chocolate tells the story of Jamie (Henry Thomas), a recently divorced, extremely lonely food
technician who starts to tap into the experiences of an artist, Catherine (Lucie Laurier), who he
has never met and who lives in another country. As the experiences intrude on his life, Jamie
becomes obsessed with this woman, even more so when he witnesses her, through these strange
experiences, kill her boyfriend, Hooper (Paul Yu). After the murder, the visions suddenly stop, so
even emptier now than before, Jamie uses clues from the visions to seek her out, and confront her.
Garris' entry into the MOH series is unique, as it doesn't go for extreme gore or over the top
characters; it is really a character piece about loneliness and passion. To the gore horror fan it
may seem slow and plodding, even boring, but to those who have patience and like films like Lucky
McKee's May, should enjoy it.
Anchor Bay Entertainment, as with all the MOH discs, has come up with some great supplementary
material for Chocolate.
The featurettes section has some great interviews with Mike Garris, Henry Thomas and Lucie
Laurier. It also has a behind the scenes making of documentary and another called Working With A
Master: Mike Garris, which has interviews with wife/ actress Cynthia Garris; actress Annabeth
Gish; and actors Ron Perlman, Matt Frewer and Steven Weber, who all talk about their experience
working with Garris.
There is an audio commentary by Garris and DVD Producer Perry Martin, which is probably the
most interesting of all the MOH discs, mainly as it doesn't just deal with Garris' film, but also with
the entire concept of the series. Martin's presence on this commentary is great as his questions
drive Garris' comments along.
Other extras on this disc include a portion of a Fantasy Film Festival interview that Garris hosted
with Roger Corman from the late seventies/ early eighties (which is actually pretty interesting),
trailers for other episodes of MOH (Chocolate, Cigarette Burns, Dreams in the Witch-House,
Homecoming, Deer Woman, Jenifer, Incident on and Off A Mountain Road and Dance of the
Dead), a still gallery of on set pictures and a text biography of Mick Garris.
There are three DVD-Rom features: the screenplay for Chocolate and the original short story both
in .pdf form, and a screensaver.
There are also trailers for Masters of Horror, Room 6, Demon Hunter and Quicksilver
Highway.
Inside the amray case for this, and all the Masters of Horror episodes, is a collectable trading card
for the director in question, this one, of course, being Mick Garris.
As usual, Anchor Bay Entertainment has excelled in the production of this disc. The sound and
picture are great and the line up of extras make for a complete package.
| "Their wildest dreams are your worst nightmares" |
|
| |||||
|
Masters Of Horror: Chocolate
DVD/APPROX. 60 MINS/2005/USA UNRATED
DVD/APPROX. 60 MINS/2005/USA UNRATED
| Search Movie Database: |
6
| All written material © 2006 to Present DVD Resurrections. This website is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Opinions expressed in these pages are solely those of the DVD Resurrections. No copyright infringement is intended or implied. |