By Ian Jane
Horror doesn?t have to be feature length. Television has a long and sordid history of bringing fright fans some of the best that the genre has had to offer over the years, and thanks to the magic of DVD, those of us who appreciate these things are now able to enjoy series? and specials both old and new again ? this time without commercials and on our own time!

While the second season of the Mick Garris produced Showtime series Masters of Horror hasn?t been the raging success that we all had hoped, there have been a few decent episodes here and there. The most recent releases from Anchor Bay Entertainment ? Right To Die from director Rob Schmidt (best known for Wrong Turn) and The Screwfly Solution by Joe Dante (who needs no introduction) ? don?t necessarily represent the best that the series has had to offer but they?re not without merit. Schmidt?s entry is topical and interesting in that it deals with a man whose wife is burned horribly in a car accident. She keeps passing away but the marvels of modern technology keep bringing her back, causing her spirit to become restless and more than just a little cranky. It?s well written and well acted with some solid kill scenes and decent effects work. Dante?s entry, his second for the series, is (like his previous Homecoming) a fairly political piece which tells the story of a mother and daughter trying to make their way through the United States to safety once a virus turns the entire male population into a gang of killers. The strength of Dante?s entry lies not in the pacing or the actual ?horror? elements but in the script, which is quite smart and fairly engaging. It?s interesting to see Jason Priestly, best known for Beverly Hills 90210, show up in a prominent role. Anchor Bay has done their usual bang up job on the discs, including some tasty bonus features.

Also recently release to DVD is Hex ? The Complete Series. This British series about a teenage girl named Cassie who, when not dealing with day to day college drama, hangs out with her lesbian roommate. When she discovers an antique vase and cuts herself with it, she?s given magical voodoo powers. Unfortunately, this draws her to the attention of Azazeal, an angel who has fallen out of God?s good graces. With the premise setup, the show tells the story of how Cassia deals with her powers, her social life, and a fallen angel who doesn?t like her very much. Could have been an interesting series, right? Well, yeah, it could have been, unfortunately it?s not. The premise is decent enough and the show looks really good but the scripts are weak and Christina Cole, who plays Cassie, is just too pretty to be believable in the part.

Those who did dig the show should enjoy the set as it does include some deleted scenes and a good behind the scenes documentary ? it?s simply a shame the series wasn?t as interesting as it could have been.

Love it or hate it, Mystery Science Theater 3000 has been a fan favorite for years now and Rhino has been doing a great job with their boxed set collections. The latest, Volume Eleven, includes four public domain films (three from Joel and one from Mike) presented here with the commentaries from the cast that make the show so much fun. The first film, Ring Of Terror, tells the story of a super bright medical student named Lewis Moffitt who finds himself on the end of a fraternity initiation ritual gone horribly wrong. It?s a terrible film that?s ripe for the picking and Joel and his compatriots do a fine job skewering the material. The Indestructible Man is up next, and despite the fact that it stars Lon Chaney Jr., it?s also a pretty horrible film. Chaney plays Butcher Benton, a criminal on death row who is to be executed for a robbery. After Benton is killed, his corpse is acquired by a scientist who brings him back to life, now with bonus invulnerability powers! Tormented, the third film, is a Bert Gordon movie about a man named Tom who is soon to wed his fiancé, Meg. A few days before they tie the knot, however, Tom?s old flame shows up and after an intense meeting at a lighthouse where she tells him she can?t let him marry Meg, she falls to her death ? of course, before you know it?s she?s haunting him from beyond the grave. While the quality of the film is a little better than the two that came before it, that doesn?t stop Joel and the ?bots from ripping into the picture. Last but not least is Horrors Of Spider Island, a popular entry which tells the story of a group of dancers who crash in the ocean and wind up on an island where the man they?re traveling with is bitten by a radioactive spider causing him to mutate into a giant spider monster himself. Rhino has included trailers for a few of the movies, a Video Jukebox featurette, a Tormented Reunion featurette and a few other goodies. Good stuff all around!

The long awaited DVD release of Twin Peaks Season 2 has finally arrived thanks to Paramount. While one could argue that the series isn?t specifically ?horror? it?s still ten times creepier than anything else mainstream television had to offer at the time and there?s definitely going to be some cross over appeal for genre fans. Paramount?s set looks and sounds very nice with a few interesting extras included in the form of Log Lady intros for each episode, interviews with most of the cast and crew members and more. It would have been nice to see Lynch involved in the set (even if it?s well known that he doesn?t like to explain his work), but aside from that, there?s little to complain about here.

On the horizon, be sure to keep an eye out for Tales from the Crypt Season 6, available on DVD July 24th from Warner Brothers. While this isn?t the series? best season, there are still some true gems here and guest appearances from oddball supporting actors like Rita Rudner, Isaac Hayes, Terry O?Quinn, Benicio Del Toro, Mark Dacascos, Wayne Newton, Corey Feldman, R. Lee Ermey, Ben Stein, Travis Tritt, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini and the lovely Sherilyn Fenn. This season is guaranteed to be a lot of good, sinister fun. Warner Brothers has been doing a very nice job with the full season boxed sets so far, all signs point to that trend continuing with this, the penultimate season of one of the greatest horror anthology series of all time.