Horror Pack is a horror movie subscription box that sends you four surprise selected brand new sealed DVDs (or Blue-Rays) each month.
This box was sent to us for review purposes. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).
This is a review of the monthly DVD, $19.99 a month, box.
The Subscription Box: Horror Pack
The Cost: $19.99 a month + free US shipping. The Blue-Ray plan is $24.99 a month + free US shipping. Save with longer subscriptions.
ACTIVE DEAL: Save $3 off your first month!
CODE: HORRORPACKMSA
The Products: Receive four horror movie DVDs each month
Ships to: US, Canada for $6.00, and Worldwide for $18.00!
Check out all of our Geeky Subscription Boxes in the Subscription Box List!
Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: rate, review, and follow this subscription on the Horror Pack profile page!
I feel like I must preface this review by saying that I love horror movies, but I do not own a DVD or Blue-Ray player. I am a "cord-cutter" and sold my DVD player long ago. I'm going to lend my horror knowledge, coupled with ratings online and DVD costs to determine if the quality received makes sense as a subscriber.
Oculus (2013) - Value $8.62 on Amazon
I actually saw this in the theater with MSA's own Sarah! Both of us recall it being pretty good, actually. We both love horror movies, and Sarah happened to know that WWE Studios produced this. I didn't realize they produced non-wrestling movies at the time, but they do, and they kind of know what they're doing. I just rewatched the trailer and got chills, so I'm chalking this up to a win for Horror Pack. It's a well-written and produced horror movie with decent acting that received a nationwide theater release.
Anneliese: The Exorcist Tapes (2011) - Value $6.94 on Amazon
This has baaaaad reviews all over the place. The sheer volume of horror movies that are produced yearly is out of control, and a lot of them are ridiculously bad. After reading a bit about this particular one, it falls under the "mockbuster" genre, which I knew about but not by name until now. Basically, these are super low budget movies put together to look a lot like major studio theater releases that go straight to DVD around the same time as the "blockbuster" to confuse movie goers and trick them into renting it. I know about it first hand because I fell prey to it years ago (when video stores were still a thing) when the Josh Hartnett movie, The Black Dahlia came out. I wish I could remember the similar name of the one I rented because it was SO SO SOOOOOO BAAAAD. It looked like it was filmed with a video recorder from the late 90s, in a weekend, starring people who had never acted before (it probably was). It became immediately clear as soon as we started watching it that I grabbed the wrong DVD. Well played!
ANYHOW, apparently, this one is based on an actual famous exorcism that went down in the 70s, which a few other large movies (like the Exorcism of Emily Rose) were based on. It contains actual footage from the exorcism (which I hear is part of public record), which I admit is tempting, but I will have to believe the reviews on IMDB that say this is unwatchable. Sadly, I couldn't find a trailer for this.
Eight Legged Freaks (2002) - Value $4.99
I know this one! It has David Arquette in it (seems legit) and is of the comedy/horror genre. Basically, a small town gets attacked by giant mutant spiders, which is pretty much my nightmare. After watching the trailer, it's apparent that CGI was still pretty bad in 2002, but that kind of lends itself to the comedy/horror genre just fine. I bet this has a few good jokes in it and I'd be willing to watch this for a bad movie night with friends if only because I used to have a little crush on Mr. Arquette back in the day.
Croc (2006) - Value $7.99
Oh boy. Looks like we have another TV movie (SyFy Channel) trying to cash in on all that Sharknado money. The reviews on this summed up are "this is bad, but I've seen worse", much like all the other animal attack franchise movies that never make it to the theater, and probably barely to DVD. The cover naturally has some cleavage photoshopped on the poor actor who looks like she's about to be devoured by the blood-hungry crocodile. This is a part of the "Maneater Series" which also brought you such classics as "Yeti: Curse of the Snow Demon", "Rise of the Gargoyles", and "Grizzly Rage". This would be a fun romp to watch with a gang of people screaming at the tv.
UPDATE: Horror Pack let us know " all Blu-ray subscribers get the same 4 Blu-rays each month and all DVD subscribers get the same 4 DVDs each month. However, the Blu-ray and DVD titles are not the same."
Verdict: It looks like Horror Pack has a good mix of newish theater-released horror, less recent cultish campy horror, hokey SyFy channel, and straight up wasteful "mockbusters" in their selection this month. I'm not clear on whether everyone who subscribes gets the same four DVDs, or if it's a total crap shoot across the board. I know a lot of people who still collect DVDs (even VHS if we want to be real), so there is obviously a market for this subscription, and if I were to buy these four on Amazon, it would be about $29.00. Since this subscription is only $19.99 shipped, it's like getting a brand new DVD for free. In my opinion, a lot of horror fans seem to run the gamut and love campy, serious, cult, and truly terrifying films all at once, so I think this would please a subscriber. I personally love Takashi Miike (bow down), but also 100% saw Pirahna 3DD in the theater with my best friend because it was freaking hilarious. If this were a digital subscription service, I'd consider it.
Would you consider subscribing to Horror Pack?
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