Scary Movie Alternatives for the Halloween Season: Oct 7, “Pet Shop of Horrors”

indexEveryone has their staples for Halloween watching, like John Carpenter’s “Halloween” and “Nightmare Before Christmas.” But be forewarned, gentle reader, because your master of Scarimonies (God, I sound like the Crypt Keeper), Dukey Flyswatter, will suggest some gems and themes that may have flown drastically under your radar, like a schizophrenic Vampire Bat. 

Week One: Horror Anthology Films. Often referred to in Europe and England as Portmanteau films, they contain a selection of stories during the course of a normal feature running time.

Friday Oct, 7th “Pet Shop Of Horrors” (1999)

Directors: Various. Stars: Manaya Onosaka,Toshiko Seki, Miho Yamada.

This offbeat anime was a popular TV series that ran for ten volumes, featuring stories adapted in a somber mode from a bestselling Manga by Matsuri Akino. Bizarre deaths are occurring all over Tokyo, and the only connection is that all of the victims bought an exotic pet from Count D and his unusual pet emporium. Count D is an enigmatic, genderbending figure whose speech could either be wisdom or smart-sounding garbage. Either way, the detective assigned to the case has big issues about his own homophobia, which in the end, only complicates things. Nope, this is definitely not a kid’s cartoon. Each of the pet emporium’s clients has had a big loss in their life and Count D serves to help them with his special pets, but there is a contract to sign, with big penalties should you not follow the instructions. Think of it as a slightly pervy and more modern take on The Twilight Zone. I got this from a used VHS bin from Rockaway Records ages ago. Amazon has the complete collection and you can stream individual episodes on YouTube, Dailymotion and Watchcartoononline.com.

Dukey Flyswatter

About Dukey Flyswatter

Dukey Flyswatter, (AKA Michael), is a native Angeleno with strong roots in the underground scene since the 70's. He is a screenwriter (Blood Diner, Star Slammer), actor(Surf Nazis Must Die, Betty Page:Dark Angel, etc.), freelance writer. He is best known for his Horror Metal rock group, Haunted Garage, which he founded in the 80's and has now reformed, with him taking his usual role as lyricist and singer.
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