Chillers

I don't recommend this movie to anyone although my uncle is in the movie I must say this is not the best. Well this might be close to the bottom 100. Like I said this movie is not scary at all, it put up a good try but couldn't make it. So don't see it.

My review was written in November 1988 after watching the feature on Raedon video cassette.

"Chillers" is a so-so example of regional horror filmmaking, heading to the home video market in time for Halloween plus theatrical exposure on its home turf at the West Virginia film fest.

Five-part anthology resembles a road company version of classic "Dead of Night" with folks waiting at a bus station, soon to be en route to Hell where there's definitely room for one more.

The passengers' tales, punctuated by plenty of blood but unimaginative makeup effects, include a young girl romancing a diver who actually died five years ago. Another woman falls for a tv newsman, imagines him talking back to her through the tv set and ends up involved with vampires. Most elaborate fantasy deals with the Ixpe demon of the ancient Aztecs, but suffers from cheap, unconvincing sets.

Lack of interesting twists and absence of name actors sink this one.

Is certainly the best looking from this set, rare for such an obscure gem. Very clear picture and sound. Chillers is an episode film, and usually these don't work too well because not enough time is given in the short segments to build up tension, get to know the characters a.s.o. Here, however, in the 87 minutes the film lasts we are treated to no less than 5 stories that build up very well and involve many unexpected plot-twists. We get zombies, vampires, psychopaths, ghosts and possession plus an unexpected surprise ending (which is given away in the trailer that is included on the DVD, so watch this after the film). A group of travellers are stuck in a bus-depot that has all the hospitality of the one in Rock Bottom, where Spongebob Squarepants and Patrick Star get stranded, and in order to kill time they somehow wind up telling each other their worst nightmares. I won't give away any of the stories here, except that they range from very entertaining to truly frightening. Winner of the prestigious Silver Scream Award by the Acedemy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, and rightfully so, Chillers is a very good horror movie that is one of those examples where a limited budget enhances the creativity of the filmmakers. A truly original visual paperback of great stories.

Intended to be slightly cheesy this film is fun. Locals will be more amused than others but it does have some laughs and scares. Especially effective is Brad Boll's performance as a crazed undead redneck. Definitely worth a rental.

While waiting for their bus, five passengers have just had horrible nightmares and decide to tell them to each other to help killing time. A swimmer, who has lessons in a swimming pool with a dead swimmer, tells the first one. A young boy, who goes camping with two friends and a crazy man as a leader, is the next. Then, a lonely woman, who has an infatuation with the anchor of a late night show, and finds that he is indeed a vampire. A young man, who finds he has the gift of bringing dead people back to life, brings a cold blood criminal back to life. Last, a skeptic professor of anthropology tells to his students about an evil Spanish creature from the Middle Ages called "Ixpe", and a young woman embodies it. When the bus arrives, they have a huge surprise.

"Chillers" is one of my favorite horror movies, but unfortunately it is very underrated in IMDb. I do not know how many times I have seen it, and I still like it very much. It looks like five episodes of "Twilight Zone" joined in the same movie. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Chillers – Passagem Para o Inferno" ("Chillers – Passage to Hell")