Tales from the Other Side

OMGosh... where do I start? The whole "Hansel and Gretel" shtick has been played out to death. I'm not giving away anything to say that you can see that coming a mile away. But the stories...

For starters, the filming is amateurish. The camera is obviously handheld - you can see it shaking and bobbing all over the place and it's worse in some scenes than others. Then, of course, there is the lighting. Like always today in hollywood, they light scenes with 4 watt night light bulbs that they try to pass off as 100 watt bulbs - i.e. Lamps and ceiling lights only cast a very faint glow over the entire scene. But them, in other scenes - especially outdoor scenes - the shots are completely blown out! They can't even be consistent. Finally, the audio changes from scene to scene - hissing and popping one minute and crystal clear the next... Complete amateur hour.

Then there are the stories themselves!

"Flicker" is alright as far as stories, go, but it really doesn't make sense. A guy gets a job as a video editor for a funeral service, but starts seeing things in the film that wasn't really there. I guess had it been fleshed out longer, it could have made for an interesting episode on TV.

"Petrified Boy" is just ridiculous. A circus performer has a "petrified boy" who comes to life and starts killing if exposed to light. :rolling_eyes: This one is told as a story within a story within a story.

"Crystal Ball" is about the only one that's even worth watching. My only question is what kind of a person steals a crystal ball from a fortune teller thinking that that will fix her crumbling marriage? But over looking that, meh.. it's ok.

"Either/Or" is just offensive. In this one, mental patients claim to hear the Voice of God. The doctor has got to be one of the most smartarsed, patronizing excuses for a doctor I've ever seen. How this is supposed to be a "horror" story, I have no clue. Doesn't even fit the overall tapestry that they are trying to weave here.

"Blood Red" is about two artists who are broke and a chick who knows how to make them rich. Trying not to give anything away here, but I want to know how someone who is tied to a cross can commit murder AND suicide!?

Finally we have "Krampus versus Elf." This one is a short stop-motion claymation disaster. No plot, no story, no talent.

Honestly, don't waste your time...

I very often have the impression (rather certainty) that the people who give the ratings have serious mental problems... 🤣🤣🤣 I will start watching the movies rated under 2...

I can cope with bad acting, videography and sound etc provided there is a story worth following. But there isn't. In any anthology you expect a few duff ones which will be bolstered by some corkers. But these are all duff. There's no effort to the writing, and it ruins the film.

I lost count of how many stories were shown, but they were all rubbish. More often than not they would end with you wondering why they even bothered. Either that or you would be wondering where the rest of the story was. The cinematography itself wasn't that bad, and the costumes were passable. But the story itself was just non-existant.

Only couple stories were good, there rest either just not scary at all or kids friendly unless scary marry was omitting some details lol. Some actors were good other not so much. A bit waste of time.

I agree with the body of the review by the prior writer -- so I won't waste my time writting anything. The only thing I would add is that the last story in which the mother is reading to two boys at bedtime, "Krampus vs. Elf"; I could not understand a word the mother was reading because of the poor sound quality -- and there WAS no STORY - it was terrible!

It is unofrtunate that this outfit didn't have a bigger budget - well, a budget! The concept held such potential, but they descended into vulgarity and incoherent nonsense resulting in a missed opportunity that could have been something great! With a little bit of effort they could have really had something here! I wish that some one would purchasee this and do a remake. It would be a great intro to an anthology of GOOD stories. A wasted opportunity.