Amazing Stories

Three short stories based in '50s comic book lore. Spielberg's World War II yarn of a doomed cartoonist saved through the power of imagination is the worst by far: it begins as pulp and sinks into pure slush. The second segment, in which a horror actor dressed as a mummy is mistaken by rednecks for the real thing, is almost worth the price of admission alone: directed by Dear with the speed, flash and wit of Raiders-era Spielberg. The Zemeckis contribution is a heavy-handed but enjoyable spoof, with two pupils terrorised by a headless English teacher spouting Shakespeare. There's salt enough to the popcorn, but as with Romero's Creepshow, the whole is never more than the sum of its parts.