The Scare Film Archives Volume 2: Danger Stories Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

The Scare Film Archives Volume 2: Danger Stories Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf June 13, 2025

There’s always entertainment value when watching educational films from a long time ago. These are clips from different eras of training and, quite often, promotion, and most of these offerings are created to capture viewer attention, using whatever means possible to do so. “The Scare Films Archives 2: Danger Stories” collects thirteen educational shorts for examination, highlighting a few of the weirdest and most shameless when it comes to instructing people on all the safety decisions they might encounter during an average day. There’s horror in the mistakes made around heavy machines in 1980’s “Shake Hands with Danger,” and performance oddity in “Mr. Flame.” The petroleum industry gives themselves a firm pat on the back in 1954’s “Farm Petroleum Safety,” and the surreal is encountered during a talking vehicle strike in “The Day the Bicycles Disappeared.” “The Scare Films Archives 2: Danger Stories” supplies a nice range of offerings, mixing up the absurd and the sincere, delivering an engaging tour of American (and British) health and professional training.

Short Films

“Live and Learn” (12:19, 1951) – Los Angeles Childrens Hospital and the Santa Monica Police Department team up to warn young viewers about the perils of mischief and unnecessary risk, exposing them to the physical dangers of the world around them.

“Why Take Chances” (10:03, 1952) – Jimmy’s ruinous days are recounted in the short, following the boy’s experiences with accidents around his world, including head injuries, stepping on rusty nails, and cave-ins, all because he didn’t use “that big bump on his shoulders.”

“Farm Petroleum Safety” (26:01, 1954) – University of Arizona Tucson and the American Petroleum Institute provide a trip to the “Agricultural Fair,” where a “spectacular farm safety demonstration” is about to begin. Learning that “petroleum is our friend,” a crowd gathers to understand safety concerns about gasoline and kerosene, watching explosive demonstrations handled by professionals. Jim steps up to share a story about his own dance with danger on the family farm.

“The Time of Our Lives” (22:08, “1950s”) – The American Dairy Association and The President’s Council on Youth Fitness deliver an examination of time and the human body, focusing on the value of nutrition, with nothing healthier than a cold glass of milk. Caloric monitoring, exercise, and sleep are also identified as keys to a longer future.

“The Day the Bicycles Disappeared” (14:55, 1967) – The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety produces this understanding of sentient bicycles and their growing irritation with human riders and their disregard for safety. Going on strike, the bikes air their grievances, while a young boy takes careful notes to ensure a happy future for human and bicycle.

“The Dangerous Stranger” (9:50, 1971) – Inglewood Unified School District and the Inglewood Police Department present an afternoon with Officer Kraus, who details the dangers of strangers, reminding children to remain careful with people they don’t know, also offering suggestions on how to deal with predatory situations.

“The Great Betrayal” (26:29, 1974) – Clark Equipment (Industrial Truck Division) brings viewers into the future as cybernetics safety device CY-5 provides a lecture to a room of lift truck operators concerning the value of safety. The main cause of accidents? Human emotion. CY-5 provides examples of mistakes and hot-headedness, trying to impart new wisdom to his middle-aged students.

“Safety Harm Hides at Home” (15:56, 1974) – Karen Kingsley seems like an average suburban American, “youthful, gifted, attractive.” However, she hides a powerful secret. After experiencing a close encounter with alien life The Stellum, Karen becomes Guardiana, working with time-manipulating devices to help keep unsafe kids “aware, alert, alive.” With this “danger motto,” Karen attempts to impart her wisdom to children who need to hear it.

“Have a Good Day, Dear” (15:54, 1977) – Ted is an office worker who scoffs at the notion that people need a reminder to keep their workplace organized. Various scenarios are provided to help understand how wrong Ted is, watching as the employees make critical mistakes that have the capacity to create colossal accidents.

“Mr. Flame” (13:18, “1970s”) – Ashley Burns (Stu Langer) is a living flame tasked with showing viewers around his museum of fire safety, offering examples of positive fire experiences and the many dangers of recklessness.

“Shake Hands with Danger” (23:24, 1980) – Caterpillar provides a journey into the control of physical movement around heavy machines, providing examples of the untrained, overconfident, and careless types who think nothing of cutting corners or acting without thinking when dealing with potentially perilous situations.

“The Attitude Factor” (23:25, 1981) – Barbara (Mary Seibel) has collected an award for “driving excellence,” commanding a bus route for special education students. She once was alert and ready for the road, but that’s faded away, allowing her stress to cloud her judgment when handling the safety of children. Barbara represents many of her fellow drivers, who need to work on focus and professionalism when dealing with others. Otherwise, they become a “countdown to tragedy.”

“Accident Report” (15:19, 1982) – The Brain is ready to provide warnings about danger and maintain awareness of safety, but for Pete, Shirley, and Dan, such instincts are ignored as easily avoidable workplace accidents occur.

The Scare Film Archives Volume 2: Danger Stories Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image presentation for "The Scare Film Archives Volume 2: Danger Stories" is listed as "Thirteen shorts preserved from original 16mm elements." As to be expected from a collection of aged material, wear and tear carries through the selections, with most fighting scratches, jumpy frames, and mild damage. Detail reaches as far as possible, delivering a softer appreciation of educational filmmaking achievements and actors. Color is passable, doing well with bolder primaries, but pinkness is present on the few of the shorts, along with fade. Delineation is satisfactory. Grain is managed at times, with each short offering its own limitations with film-like appearances.

The Scare Film Archives Volume 2: Danger Stories Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA mix provides a straightforward understanding of sound elements from the shorts. Once again, age is noticeable, along with some points of damage. Dialogue and narration is always intelligible, but rarely fresh. Musical support is appreciable, with some of the films maintaining clearer instrumentation.

The Scare Film Archives Volume 2: Danger Stories Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• "Shake Hands with Danger" features commentary by songwriter Jim Stringer, AGFA board member Skip Elsheimer, and AGFA's Tiernan O' Rourke.

• "Mr. Flame" features commentary by AGFA's Brett Berg, Tiernan O'Rourke, and Joe Ziemba.

• "Danger Stories: A Word Salad Symphony" (60:10, SD) is a "remix" utilizing 36 hours of footage originally provided by Something Weird Video.

The Scare Film Archives Volume 2: Danger Stories Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you follow the fine comedy at Rifftrax, some of "The Scare Films Archives 2: Danger Stories" is going to be familiar, especially "Shake Hands with Danger," which is one of their best short film offerings. Presented here, without jokes, it's interesting to see the actual moviemaking in place to bring the central idea of safety to life, even through shock value. This is essentially the experience of watching "The Scare Films Archives 2: Danger Stories," providing a chance to return to the past and see what it took to grab people's attention throughout decades. Some of the selections are silly, a few haven't aged well, but these educational offerings remain compelling in their own ways, finding filmmakers working creatively to sell messages of well- being to the masses.