I remember seeing a video of this when I was really young. It didn't scare me then and it certainly didn't scare me now. The main difference being that when I was a nipper I wasn't bored out of my mind whilst watching it or else I'd have never gone back to it tonight.
So, we have three interlinking Stephen King adaptations, some of which star James Woods, That bloke from Airplane and Drew Barrymore.
The first story, "Quitters Inc." is quite funny and there are some great lines, with a pretty menacing Alan King as the suit from the company. Overall this story lags in places. The tone doesn't seem quite right. It's nowhere near as menacing as it needs to be and Alan (Back To The Future/ Predator) Silvestri's score is fucking abysmal here.
The second tale, "The Ledge", sees matey from Airplane having to circumnavigate the ledge of a high rise after pissing off the local casino owner and mobster. While none of the films here are in any way scary, this episode certainly ramped up the tension. The vertigo-like wooziness and the sucker-punch jumps give way to moments of elation and humour. It's funny how in 2 decades I still hadn't forgot the, "try this you flying shit-house" line. My favourite chapter for sure with a great ending.
The third and final part, "General" showcases an extremely dorky Drew Barrymore. The troll (yes there's a Troll... what of it?) coming through the skirting board is pretty freaky even now. He looks like a hairless Ewok fucked a Fraggle. The noises he makes remind me of Slimer... in fact... it's the same dude.
The story is weak though and like the first, suffers from dragging scenes and a lack of suspense.
There are a few nods to Stephen King's other works throughout which I thought were a nice touch. As previously stated, the music is a bit sucky in places and the AWFUL cover of Sting & The Police's I'll Be Watching You is a crime against hideously generic 80's pop.
I was going to give this 3 Stars with no "Like", but this movie does something quite special in a couple places that you rarely see in a movie or on a tv series. One of my biggest on screen peeves is when you hear thunder at the same time you see the lightning flash on screen. It sounds silly, but it takes me right out of the picture as that only happens in real life when the storm is directly over you (geek). This film does the whole "thunder and lightning" thing quite realistically and for that reason alone I give it the extra kudos.
I'm a sad fucker... what can I say?
Not an essential anthology. Certainly not as good as Body Bags or Creepshow but if you have a hard-on for Stephen King, Trolls or James Woods (not Drew Barrrymore you sicko), then give it a go.