Death 4 Told

Death 4 Told is what it is- a low budget "Creep Show"-esk horror film filled with cameos and loaded with zombies, gore, haunted houses and cheesy valley girl screams; a b-horror film lover's dream! The film is put together very creatively through the twisted eye of writer/director Bo Buckley and the "star" of the movie, Margot Kidder, gives a wonderful performance backed strongly by a slew of very talented new comers and old hats that should not be overlooked.

This very "un-mainstream" level film is a horror gem that is absolutely worth a peek and I look forward to the future blood-covered delights created by the fearmakers team.

Death 4 Told, an Indie of limited funding (just sounds better than low budget) was well written, directed and acted. The four subtlety linked stories, reminded me of Creep Show, with each tale covering a piece of the horror genre.

I felt the stories were properly sequenced, with the weakest link (which still offered a satisfying level of creep) at the beginning and the strongest as the closer. The resulting buildup easily held my attention through the plot changes. The cast, most of which are newcomers to the screen (as would be expected of an Indie) played their roles convincingly well, that, or casting did a great job.

Judging D4T for what it is, an Indie, not a major motion picture, I found few flaws, and those that were there were forgivable.

I am sorry to say this but if these comments will save someone a few bucks then good. You would be better off buying soup.

I actually know some of the folks in one of the vignettes and while they did a great job with what they were given I must say the first segment was truly - not good. Uninspired, unoriginal, guys is rubber masks and so on. Come on. I suppose there are some folks who will love the "camp" aspect of this but Roger Corman did better stuff, and probably with less money. I like Corman but his time has passed by now, please, for heavens sake, move the genre forward or leave it to others.

I was truly happy to see Ms. Kidder acting again and doing a decent job. I was wondering if any self respecting agent should allow her to be part of any production with such low goals/values as this one but, she does pretty good, again, given what she was allowed to work with.

Look, I'm no expert and have dabbled in making shorts and so on. I like the scary stuff but this was not it. To slap the sub title on this as being from the "Master of Horror"? Really? Where is the horror? Buckets of blood are not scary, mental scares stick with you - "White Noise" stays in your skull, "High Tension" stays in your head, "Cigarette Burns" has staying power. This will hopefully fade away.

Again, it pains me to say all this but save your dimes kiddies and buy some pop-rocks, or better yet, an old MiniDV camera and make your own films.

Congrats to Bo and everyone involved for getting this far but really, is this on par with other films that have been commercially released? If it was made for the love of the genre, kudos. If it was made hoping to make a million dollars, sorry. If it was made as a stepping stone and learning experience, that's great. What's next?

On the positive side, you can see a definite ramping up of quality from the beginning to the end. I don't doubt that in time this team could do something great. Better stories, NO rubber face masks and better sound and I'll be right in line to see it. Keep at it. We're watching.

S.

Having seen a lot of the promotional material for this film I was enticed by the presence of Margot Kidder. When I finally finagled a way to see Death 4 Told, I was pleasingly surprised by the sure performance of Ms. Kidder and the effervescent presence of Alicia Goransen. It's not on the level of the Amicus anthology classics and there's not many surprises in any of the 4 short stories that you can't see coming a mile away but you will still enjoy each of them because the acting is pretty good and the mood holds up pretty much throughout. After watching it once I wanted to watch it again the next day so that's a pretty darned good gauge that it's a better than decent film.

Death4Told is a fun ride. It takes you through four different stories and the lives of the characters which inhabit each film. I say each film because, each story could be a film all by itself and you would enjoy watching anyone of the four films alone. The unique way all four are linked together is interesting. Do not blink though you may miss a few of the links. The film starts you off slow, letting you get your feet wet then picks up a lot midway. By the end you are racing down on a roller coaster at breakneck speeds. Once you pull into the station after your ride you want to ride again. I enjoyed my experience watching Death4Told and I am sure anyone who loves scary, horror, indie type movies will also have a great time