Lore

A group of friends camp out and tell scary stories. A guy meets with two thugs whom he owes money to, and a monster shows up. A mother and son move into a new home and are haunted by an ethereal woman. A guy signs up to wife swap but ends up in a cult ritual. A masked killer shows up at a movie theatre.

It's low budget, but well-acted, shot, and scored, with some effective scares and practical FX. The stories are a tad predictable and there was a pair of annoying non-resolutions. The final story has some inside-jokes for movie buffs.

It's worth a go for horror fans, but there's nothing especially remarkable about it.

Saw this last night at the Tees Valley International Film Festival at the Arc in Stockton on Tees.

No huge budget but they were able to tell the four stories really well.

The acting was pretty decent and the effects were well done.

Set around a campfire with four campers each telling a tale with the Night King, Richard Brake holding court as the very creepy Darwin.

I particular like the opener 'In The Shadows' which had a very good monster. A bit of a nod to Alien set in a poorly lit warehouse and a guy trying to escape a couple of gangsters and finding they were the least of his worries.

The ending to this was quite clever.

The other three each had their moments and overall it was nicely shot.

Rufus Hound as a swinger and Bill Fellows as the night watchman in #1 were well known names but the rest of the cast not so.

But everyone did a good solid job.

The TVIFF has been showcasing new talent all week and this a very good example of what can be achieved even without Hollywood style funding.

Well done to all involved.

I gave this anthology an extra star for Richard Brake alone, maybe the best character actor in horror...and the most underrated. If you want proof, go to YouTube and check out his Doomhead monologue, from 31--another case of Richard Brake being the only good thing in a mediocre/bad movie. This is standard mid-size town horror festival anthology. Acting isn't terrible but the only believable, only menacing character is...Richard Brake's character, of course. Four young people meet Brake's character in the woods--no I don't know his character's name--for a "once in a lifetime experience".

Basically, they're taking turns telling scary stories around the fire. First segment isn't bad; a little predictable, but the acting was okay. Second segment was kind of pointless. The third segment was okay, I like the black humor and the nod to folk horror (obvious nod to Kill List) and the last should appeal to slasher fans...not my favorite subgenre, but I know I'm in the minority.

He biggest problem with the film is that Brake is so believable when the other characters were pretty much very unbelievable young adults (why the hell would you follow and extra-creepy Brake into the woods for an unnamed "once in a lifetime experience"?).

Filmmakers, I'm begging you--give this man the horror movie he deserves. He is effortlessly sinister in that uneasy still way that is far more realistic and far scarier than some screaming maniac. He's the only thing worth watching in 31. He was the scariest character in Barbarian. He was funny-creepy in Mandy. But for the most part, I find myself watching unworthy movies just to see Richard Brake. As far as this movie goes? It's not awful. Not even that bad, by Tubi standards...but it isn't nearly good enough to waste a perfectly good Richard Brake.

I wasn't expecting a lot out of this since most anthologies I've seen are a mixed bag of good & bad short stories. The setup was good & the stories around the campfire gave me 'Are You Afraid of the Dark' vibes.

I've never seen Richard Brake before, but his performance was great. His few lines were well spoken & his facial expressions really gave him the proper creep factor. I wish he'd had a bigger role.

The other actors did fine. They were able to make their roles as friends gone camping believable.

The stories told were ok to pretty good. My favorite is the movie theater one. That one had the best acting & best antagonist in my opinion.

The frame story leaves much to be desired. The synopsis is misleading since the consequences are vaguely shown in a blink & you'll miss it scene & whatever happened to the story tellers is left to your imagination.

SCORE: Frame Story - 4 Tales - 6 Overall - 5 Recommend - Watch on Tubi if you're interested. If you miss it being free I suggest a cheap rental, like $2 max.

Heading out for a special trip, a group of friends on a ghostly tour of the area find themselves stranded in the woods and asked to partake in a local tradition telling stories about a fable that haunts them.

The Good Stor(ies): Shadows-On the run from creditors, a small-time criminal trying to get to safety is terrified to learn the warehouse he chose as a quick sanctuary is home to a ravenous creature hunting them down one by one. This was a fairly enjoyable starting point for the film with a lot to like about it. The simplistic setup offers a fun enough time here with the reason for the group to go chasing after him and why the warehouse is chosen with the resulting reveals about the creature inside allowing a couple of solid jump-scares featuring the creature popping out of nowhere to conduct an attack. The creature itself and the attacks that follow are quite fun using the setting to it's advantage with the cheesy gore being decent enough to counteract the lone flaw here in the expected twist that occurs which is somewhat underwhelming how it all plays out yet still doesn't detract from the rest of the segment.

The Hidden Woman-Following their grandmother's death, a woman and her son are tasked with cleaning out her mansion house which soon turns the house's resident ghost after them for disturbing her space. This was a fairly fun Gothic horror throwback feature. The main setup that puts them in the creepy house and the different exploits that exist while they slowly come to realize someone else might be in the house with them carries a lot of the weight here as it moves along. With the secretive nature of everything, strange noises coming from the house that no one could've made, and hints that there's a mysterious figure there who's not a figment of their imagination offer up some chilling times here, and help hold this one up over the lone issue here of the ghostly figure never having any urgency or sense of fear about it for what it's trying to accomplish.

Cross Your Heart-Hoping to spice up their marriage, a couple decide to try out a night of swinging with a second couple but are soon thrust into a horrifying situation when the true intentions behind the meeting is revealed. There was quite a lot to like with this segment. The brief bits throughout here managing to offer up a bit on their relationship and what's going on between the two is a great start, as is the clearly one-sided meet-up that shows how the relationship is supposed to be carried out which provides for a great time in letting the reveal about their true purpose there come about. That brings about some fun chasing and stalking throughout the hotel as things go on, eventually resulting in a rather enjoyable reveal at the end that could've used more time to spell out the point of everything. Still, there's quite a lot to like with this one.

The Keychain Man-Heading to a special screening, a group of friends trying to enjoy a new movie premiere witness a concession stand clerk snap and turn into a hulking killer taking out everyone inside the theater. This was a massively enjoyable slasher outing that comes off quite well. With the great setup allowing for the kind of logical explanation and motivation for the rampage, the series of chases and ambushes throughout here bring about a string of brutal and impressively-handled kills that utilize the surroundings of the situation quite nicely alongside the fine stalking pieces inside. Given how quickly it all sets everything in motion, starts the rampage, and lets everything play out inside the theater, there could've been more time developing everything as the exceedingly brief running time doesn't do it much favors, but as with the other segments here is really all that holds it back.

The Bad Stor(ies): The Campfire-Heading out for a special trip, a group of friends on a ghostly tour of the area find themselves stranded in the woods and asked to partake in a local tradition telling stories about a fable that haunts them. This proved to be a decent enough wraparound segment but doesn't have much else going for it. The genesis of using the group's trek out into the woods as a means of using their storytelling ventures as a lead-in to tell the story for the next segment in the anthology is a highly effective one getting this one all the necessary steps to get this going. There's not much else between the stories as there's no real deviation between any of the different introductions that are used as it unjust shifts to the next one so these features feel rather simple and repetitive which knocks this down somewhat.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.