cult film freak: LOW BUDGET BRITISH ANTHOLOGY HORROR FLICK 'SCREAMTIME'

Dione Inman in SCREAMTIME Year: 1983 Rating: ***1/2

"They're British," says New York lowlife Vincent Russo after stealing three video rentals, "I can tell by the way they talk." But it's more than that: the mellow pace and steady acting punctuates British cinema while SCREAMTIME involves a wraparound story where two thieves insert and eject short films that they and we are viewing...

And the best is the first, THAT'S THE WAY TO DO IT, about creepy puppet Punch handled by an old man with a nagging wife — plus a goading stepson whose girlfriend Dione Inman becomes the "final girl" as the deaths leading to her climactic chase are predictably well-deserved...

Followed by DREAMHOUSE where a married woman is tortured by images of the title location's past: This one's more cerebral and a bit plodding yet ultimately saved by a fantastic twist, which is all DO YOU BELIEVE IN FAIRIES amounts to: a dirt-bike racer housesits for two ecentric old ladies... and while a Punch puppet is the first tale's tiny killer, here it's a slew of Garden Gnome statues led by wide-eyed Kim Thomson's telekinetic Fairy Queen ghost. And it's lucky those East Coast punks actually robbed a London video store since Britain's super-cheap horror flicks are usually worthwhile: Like a broken antique clock can't tell time but is still magnificent to look at, there's plenty here to savor.