Before “Tales From a Darkside,” executive producer Richard P. Rubinstein already had this horror anthology series under his belt. “Monsters” had three seasons starting in 1988, cashing in on the huge success the genre had seen in box office sales in the 1980s. The anthology had long been established, and many of these episodes contain stories that easily could have been a lost teleplay from “The Twilight Zone,” but what makes this show uniquely fun is apparent in the very title.
The rise in popularity in the horror genre led to advances in the make-up and special effects, and each episode of this show seems to be showcasing these abilities. With the emphasis on monsters, this provides numerous spectacular opportunities, despite needing to be suitable for network broadcast. Much of the design seems to go into the creation of the monsters themselves, with simplistic plots to be carried out in the half-hour format.
This complete series set is really just a container with all three of the seasons included together in it, but it is certainly the easiest and cheapest way to get all 72 episodes, regardless of the fact that it is not a unique package. All of the episodes from each season are included in one DVD package, with a total of 9 discs in three DVD cases, all fit into a cardboard sleeve. None of the seasons have any special features.