An evocative DVD cover design can’t rescue Slaughter Tales, a low-budget, DIY-level horror offering that puts a VHS spin on The Ring. Director Johnny Dickie gets nominal credit for scraping together enough resources to actually complete his movie, but the story here is a yawner, and the acting, suspense and general execution all sub-par — with the supposed justification that the latter is all on purpose.

The story? A no-good teen steals a mysterious videocassette, only to find himself tormented by spirits that accompany the horrible film that lies within. Dickie uses this as a device to then spin off into anthology-style schlock and gore (hence the Slaughter Tales title), but he can’t touch the sporadic brilliance of something like V/H/S, and not only owing to meager means. It’s mainly a matter of imaginative staging and execution. Dickie wears many hats, and boldly charges into the breach, sure. Hell, Troma maestro Lloyd Kaufman even pops up, blessing by association this work. But the best no-budget cheapies showcase some sort of mad brilliance in their willful recklessness, a quality that is decidedly lacking here.

Housed in a regular but clear plastic Amaray case, Slaughter Tales comes to DVD presented on a region-free disc, with a nice slate of supplemental materials. In addition to an engaging if congratulatory audio commentary track with Dickie and some folks from the website VHShitfest, there are two separate featurettes — one of which focuses on the movie’s special effects work, and one of which is a more general behind-the-scenes look at production, seeded with on-set footage. A couple of trailers round things out. To purchase the DVD via Half, click here; if Amazon is your thing, meanwhile, click here. D (Movie) C+ (Disc)