...and you can look at that statement in different ways, by the way. First of all, it's a mess because of all the gruesome and extremely violent scenes. Your wildest imagination doesn't even come close to some of the explicitly shown scenes here. Entire parts of this movie are just plain sick, disgusting, offensive, brutal and they bring you close to puking your guts out. Now, I love horror movies and I am very 'pro-violence', but I do think that it has to lead somewhere !! Is that too much to ask ? Cradle of Fear is just a series of utterly sick and twisted thoughts. The "movie" contains out of four separate chapters connected by a wraparound story. This results in endless showing of torture, murder and sickness only to find out that the victims have something in common. Not very informative, if you ask me. And yet - it has to be said - the basic plot idea surely HAS potential. It's about a cannibalistic hypnotist who made a deal with the devil himself to avenge himself and cause misery and death to everyone who was involved in his trial. Personally, I think that is an interesting topic, so they should have focused on that a little more instead of wanting to create the most disgusting movie ever.

Secondly, the whole production of this movie was a mess. They didn't have much of a budget and they spent it all on fake blood and guts...Tons of it !! The acting performances are a joke and some of the worst I've ever seen. Any other special effects besides the make-up looks very amateurish ( Like that attempt to a realistic car crash, for example ). There's no tension or atmosphere to detect anywhere...not even an attempt to build up one.

Cradle of Fear is a failure and a missed opportunity to say the least. With the presence of death-metal icon Danni Filth ( from the band Cradle of filth..get the link ? ) this movie is obviously only meant for the eyes of twisted teenagers who try to be controversial. Troubled girls and boys who take pleasure in worrying their parents by watching crap like this. And then people keep complaining that the amount of suicides and juvenile delinquency is increasing...Bah. I can imagine that this movie can cause a lot of damage when you're easily influenced or dispose of an unstable mind. For every self-respecting horror fan, this movie is an insult.

Cradle of Fear is set in London where police detective inspector Neilson (Edmund Dehn) is investigating the brutal murder of a young woman named Melissa (Emily Booth) which brings back memories of an old case he worked on about a child abuser & murderer named Kemper (David McEwan). As more bodies pile up it seems that hypnotist & Satanist Kemper has been using demonic forces to murder the children of those that helped put him behind bars...

This English production was written & directed by Alex Chandon & I simply can't believe some of the positive comments I have read about this seriously crap film, I think Cradle of Fear was trying to be an anthology horror film but the four individual stories suck & it's so badly made at times it becomes hard to watch. Story number one involves a goth girl who has sex with the 'Man' played by Cradle of Fear front-man Dani Filth & then a mutant baby bursts out of stomach at the end & it's over, there's no story here & I wouldn't even call the ending a twist either just some random happening that ultimately means nothing except to have a gore effect. The second story is equally terrible with two lesbian thieves robbing an old man, in the end all three end up dead in a story which is a straight rip-off of the Father's Day segment from Creepshow (1982) just without the character's or cool effects. The third story is a take on the old limb reattachment plot, think the likes of The Hnad (1981) & Body Parts (1991) but substitute an arm for a leg, sure the twist on the tale is amusing at first & probably the films only original concept even though the basic premise is still a rip-off. The fourth & (thankfully) final story warns of th dangers of internet addiction, a guy becomes obsessed with an internet site selling snuff films which they make themselves & by the end the guy comes full circle in a really predictable twist that I saw coming a long, long way off. The wraparound story is also lame & makes little sense, the least said about it the better really. At two hours long Cradle of Filth felt like it went on forever, the character's are poor, the dialogue is poor, the stories are poor, the twists are poor, the pacing is poor & the whole film is a real mess with nothing to recommend it. The single best moment of Cradle of Fear is the moment when Nick runs a tramp down in his car, his wife Natalie says he should have a look, Nick looks worried & nervously gets out of his car only to check his bonnet & say with great relief that there's not even a scratch on it & then they both speed off leaving the guy in the middle of the road.

One thing I will say about Cradle of Filth is that the makers tried to fill it with as much gore, sex, depravity, freaks, dwarfs, mutants, monsters, puke, amputated limb stump sucking & kissing & awful rock music as possible. Virtually all the female cast get naked, there's a couple of shower & bathing scenes as well. There are at least two vomit scenes. There's lots of blood including a ripped-out throat, a ripped in half head which is then stamped on, an attempted abortion using a pair of scissors, a mutant baby bursting out of a stomach, people are battered & beaten, stabbed, have broken bottles shoved in their eyes, a guy has his leg cut off, heads are cut off, throats are slashed, guts are rip-out & someone has half their head blown off in one of the films few decent CGI effects. Talking of the effects they are mostly poor & diminish the impact of the gore, it all starts looking a bit goofy & cartoonish with water thin blood & just bad make-up effects. One other really bad aspect of Cradle of Filth are the sound effects which are awful, just listen to the comedy sound effects at the start as Dani Filth is beaten up, I am not sure if it was deliberate but it just sounds goofy & weird.

Filmed in London the video quality is awful & my cheap camcorder can produce a better more film like picture quality, it just screams cheap & amateurish. Besides the amount of gore the only other thing going for Cradle of Fear is the presence of Emily Booth who I do like & even though she overacts she at least does try to act. Booth now presents the Horror Channel over here in the UK & they show Cradle of Fear & during her intro she said she never got paid a penny for being it which says everything.

Cradle of Fear is a terrible horror anthology with four of the worst, most predictable individual stories I have seen. Usually in these anthology films there's at least on great story but not here. At two hours it's far too long & despite the constant gore & depravity & the wasted presence of Emily Booth this is a pretty awful film.

CRADLE OF FEAR is a shot-on-video horror anthology film from cinema bad boy Alex Chandon, and starring Dani Filth from the heavy metal band CRADLE OF FILTH. Filth is clearly no actor and thankfully limited to appearing in the nonsensical wraparound story, so at least the viewer can watch the four main tales collected here without his presence.

This movie was described as a tribute to the likes of the Amicus film ASYLUM, but viewers looking for similarities between the two titles are likely to be sorely disappointed. Because CRADLE OF FEAR is trash of the highest order: incredibly gory trash, it has to be said, but trash nonetheless. Every cast member gives stilted and embarrassing performances, the stories could have been (and probably were) written on the back of beer mats, and everything as a whole is a waste of time.

The first tale is about a one night stand that goes horribly wrong. There's ample gore in this one, and some quite extensive nudity from the willing Emily Booth, and that's about it. The second tale is about two robbers who fall out and is merely an exercise in bloodshed. The third story is about a George Michael lookalike who loses his leg and becomes desperate to get another. Eileen Daly strips off for the role and there are some incredibly awful CGI car effects. The final story is about a snuff website and is the longest and most boring of the lot. Anybody who's a fan of the classic British horror anthologies of old, or even American ones like CREEPSHOW and CAT'S EYE, should stick to them...