Well, it looks like it's the week of the short film, doesn't it? After two Bent's, I now move on to Fangoria's Blood Drive, a collection of independently-produced short horror films that represent the crème de la crème of a recent Fangoria-sponsored film competition. Of course, I've always loved Fango almost as much as I love movies, so with Blood Drive I was looking forward to a winning combination.

Things certainly started out nicely in the effectively creepy The Hitch (the contest's official winner), which finds a man and his wife driving through the lonely countryside while the news on the radio describes the finding of a mass grave containing the handy-work of a vicious local serial killer. Down the road, the man meets a young woman who is scared by the stories of the killer and begs him for a lift out of the area. As we must know by now, giving strangers lifts is never a good idea, but exactly who will be the one in danger here? Sadly, the answer is a little convoluted, but the spooky atmosphere more than makes up for this problem, making The Hitch a worthwhile short.

A Man and His Finger continues the good start established by Hitch, telling the story of a man who, while being a little too careless in his lettuce-chopping, accidentally slices off his finger. After leaving to bandage his hand (of course, there's no need to go to a hospital or anything), he comes back to discover not only that his finger is gone, but that it is alive and skittering around the house like a cockroach. Eventually he catches the missing digit via mousetrap, and soon a warm relationship springs up between the two. But what is this man to do when he finds his finger longing for love?

Next up is Inside, a perplexing little avant-garde horror film that seemed to be about a haunted house that causes suicides - I think. It's all very stylish and atmospheric, but painfully confusing as well, which really only served to remind me why I'm NOT an 'avant-garde cinema guy' in the first place. Of course, this is all just opinion in the end; I can't tell you for sure what you'll enjoy. Give it a shot; the worst it can do is vex you.

On that note, I found the next short, Shadows of the Dead, to be similarly perplexing. I'm not sure if it was the late hour of my viewing or if the film just had shoddy narrative construction, but I couldn't quite manage to make sense of the plot. I gleaned that there are zombies over-running the world and a doctor defending himself from them. I believe there may be a twist ending, but if it's what I think it is then it's probably implausible. Oh well. Moving on...

Mr. Eryams is an interesting little haunted house story in which a ghost-hunter is invited to the home of a woman who has been seeing apparitions. Things start out nice and creepy and there's a lot of style, but again, a twist that is seemingly impossible if I understand it correctly. Is it just me?

That question carried over with me into the next short, titled Disturbances. In this, a woman watches TV, on which they talk about a woman accused of murdering her children being found not guilty. The picture of this woman on the screen lets us know that the woman being spoken of is the one watching TV. There are some glassy-eyed dolls on a chair nearby. The woman gets up and goes to the bathroom, then comes back, where the TV is still talking about the child murderess being acquitted. After a few more shots of the dolls, the TV, the woman in the chair, and the woman in the bathroom, there's some ghostly activity. Any guesses as to what supernatural beings might be angry with her? Is it really as simple as that? I wondered to myself. It seemed to be.

I crossed my fingers as the seventh and final short started. Luckily, the gods deigned to smile upon me, and I had the pleasure of viewing Song of the Dead, a humorous little zombie film. After an amusing text prologue with some cute nods to current events, we meet a young man walking through the woods. After a bit, he finds a zombie feasting on a corpse and is, unfortunately, bitten. After running off, he collapses, dead. Soon, however, his corpse begins to twitch, then rise, then...sing! This time I could be sure: it was as simple as it seemed, but it sure was enjoyable. Of course, it could have stood to be a little longer, but I guess in the end it's better that it left me wanting more as opposed to wearing out its welcome.

So, it looks like we ended up with a little bit of a mixed bag, at least from my perspective. Of course, that's of little surprise, as short films tend to be of either the love it or hate it variety. Still, it's fun to get a sampling of what America's everyman-horrorfiends are up to and interested in, and, even though I didn't like everything on Blood Drive, I was glad I got the chance to check it all out.

As for the technical details, everything is about as good as can be expected considering the variety of the sources. The ones shot on high-end equipment are obviously sharper and clearer, have better sound, etc., whereas the ones shot on more consumer-level equipment show it, particularly on The Hitch, which has a lot of grain (though this adds nicely to its eerie atmosphere). All in all, I think this is the best condition we'll be seeing these shorts in, and, luckily, it's quite acceptable.

Of course, Fango, being the consumer-friendly magazine that it is, has decided to augment its package with a few interesting (if unrelated) supplements that are sure to satisfy a much broader fan-base than some of the films. Starting things off are animated menus hosted by Rob Zombie, who serves as a guide for the DVD. The menus are simple and easy to navigate, and the hosting is a nice touch that adds to the package.

Next up, we get an interview with Stan Winston that lasts about a half-hour and covers a good deal of territory during that time, from Stan's life to how he came to be the FX mogul that he is today. The featurette is an interesting watch, both for the information it imparts about the history of film FX and for Stan's autobiographical narrative in particular.

Even more compelling, however, is the 17-minute featurette on Clive Barker. In this interview, conducted in his home and studio, Barker discusses his writing; paints; and talks about his new book, Abarat 2. This is by far the most interesting portion of the interview, as Barker's enthusiasm for his bizarre fantasy world is contagious. Itâs refreshing to see a man so passionate about his work, and I guess that is what makes this featurette a good addition to the disc, as behind all the shorts, like Barker's paintings, there must have been a similar infectious enthusiasm.

Finally, be on the lookout for an easter egg (it's not hard to find - Zombie pretty much gives away its location in his narration) that contains an interesting 12-minute tour of Stan Winston's effects studios.

Overall, I'd say Blood Drive was a success. Not all of the films were exactly my type, but I'm sure different viewers will like different entries better or worse than I did. Anyway, no matter what your opinion is on the shorts, the entertaining bonus interviews make this a worthwhile package for horror fans and Fango lovers. Give the Blood Drive a try, if for nothing else than a new experience.