The Macabre

Eric Mathis' The Macabre is not for every audience member. From director / creator Eric Mathis and co-story creator Rolfe Kanefsky (POOL BOY NIGHTMARE, ART OF THE DEAD), THE MACABRE has a team that consists of two female producers (Esther Goodstein and Liz Mathis), an autistic producer who has overcome so many obstacles to achieve his dream (Drake Teer), and a combat Afghanistan vet creator and director (Eric Mathis). Loaded with horror megastars and with a legendary DOP involved (Howard Wexler), the film's launch trailer is introduced by Kevin Smith!

Eric Mathis has managed to create a project that is a modern day throwback but that is also timely and relevant in today's current events. This horror anthology is developed in such a way that it incorporates urban folklore like the terrifying "Mothman" and "The Salem Witch Trials"! Grime House Films makes horror fun again while also respecting the past but staying current with the future! This will be the "R Rated" horror anthology that fans have been screaming for and it will be relentless in its delivery as a new modern classic!

I wasn't expecting too much from what is obviously a B horror movie on the surface before viewing. From the description, it seemed like a fairly entertaining prospect to see while munching a bag of popcorn on a throw away Saturday night.

Upon viewing, wow - po rn acting puts this to shame. On top of it, the story is wildly meandering, the set designs and scenes are poorly chosen and frankly distracting to the point of hilarious amateur hour.

The other reviews here, particularly "simon_cook" are unbelievably generous and I question their sanity as this movie can not be taken seriously on any plane of comparison.

It would seem that this was a project that did not have people with movie making experience, including an editor and director with far too much creative freedom, and far too little constructive criticism to ever give this a chance.

With a plethora of other contemporary B horror movies out there to draw upon, the producers, director and editor have missed the mark so far on this one, you'd think they were trying to re-invent how movies are produced.

I wish this "film" could fall into the "it's so bad it's good (or funny)" category, but this feature is an insult to movies that even loosely belong there.

So when the first started I thought it was going to be a very average serious film, with a decent set up... I was wrong, this is gloriously terrible. I loved it, and had so much fun. If you are into bad horror, this could be a fun film.

Naturally being an anthology some stories are stronger than others, and I will admit that I was disappointed in the Mothman one.

However this film has Japanese Kappa creatures sucking souls out of people's a-holes, which is really accurate to the myths. But seeing it on screen, looks as hilarious as you'd expect.

I also think the end has some fun little twists, and I got a giggle out of it.

Oh My Gosh. Where do I even start. The wrapper was a good , if not overused, premise - girl gets picked on and plans revenge. Just like any low-budget flick, they didn't bother spending too much on extras. Apparently, the five 'students' that this story revolves around were the only ones who attend this school. Oh sure... we HEAR about all the other 'kids' that the goth girl invited to her party... but we never see anyone else. At the party, to which only four people were invited... can someone explain to me why there was a need to hire, not just a valet, but two!? When the guests arrive, it is dark outside, yet when everyone walks inside, the sun is shining in the doorway behind them. :eye_roll: I was expecting a different twist once the party got going, and the ending was not expecting... so that was good...

The stories themselves... The first one was ok. Really bad acting and for a bar on a weekend night... once again the lack of funds for extras really shows. As with the main wrapper, it's supposed to be night, but at times it looks more like broad daylight filmed through a neutral density filter and other times it flips from sunny to pitch black just like that. But it was a good tale with an ending that you won't expect. I'd have given that story alone four stars, maybe higher if they'd done a better job producing it and better acting.

The second story... holy 'ell. You've got a couple in the middle of the DESERT (keep that word in mind) and they are walking a ways off the road in the DESERT (with no car in which they arrived to be seen) and they walk up to a block building in the middle of the DESERT. They tell the old man there that they are looking for a good place to camp. He tells them that the FOREST is haunted and that they don't want to camp there. Just then, another guy drives up and, he too is looking for a place to camp. This is the busiest DESERT I have ever seen. And throughout the story, everyone keeps calling this DESERT a forest. There isn't a freaking tree to be seen, but ... sure. We have the same problem with day and night that we've seen throughout the rest of the film, with the added bonus of the couple changing clothes from one scene to the next.

The final story... all I will say about this one is that it rainbow approved.

Now, had I known that the 2022 horror movie "The Macabre" was a horror anthology, then I might have skipped on it, as I am not overly keen on anthologies. And for some reason then the majority of horror anthologies tend to be some rather dubious ones.

The narrative in between the segments was fair enough, though the demonic mask was exactly just that; a mask. And it was plainly visible, even audible too, as it distorted the actress's voice and just didn't look natural when she was speaking.

The stories were, as it always goes for horror anthologies of very various degrees of entertainment and enjoyment. So writers Kirsten James, Rolfe Kanefsky and Brian Lewis didn't botch it all up here.

Needless to say that I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in "The Macabre", but I will say that the actors and actresses put on fair enough performances generally speaking. Nothing outstanding though, but fair enough taking into consideration the level of production.

Visually then you're not in for a spectacle of outstanding effects. However, I will say that whatever special effects were in "The Macabre" worked out well enough in favor of the movie. They had that particular lovable low-budget feel going on for them.

Sure, if you enjoy horror anthologies, then there is some enjoyment to be had here, I am sure.

My rating of "The Macabre" from director Eric Mathis lands on a four out of ten stars.