Lore

This was a movie that I got the chance to see thanks to Amelia from Strike Media. She sent over the screener along with the press release. Seeing that this featured Richard Brake was something that worked in its favor. I also saw that this was an anthology film, which I tend to be a fan of when they're done right. I was curious if this would fall into that.

Synopsis: four friends arrange a ghostly excursion. Their guide asks them to each tell the scariest story they have ever heard, but little do they know, those stories would have major consequences for them and others.

We start this out with a group of friends from the synopsis that are going on this hiking trip. There is Dan (Miles Mitchell), Mark (Dean Bone), Donna (Sally Collett) and Sally (Samantha Neale). They meet their guide, Darwin (Brake). He informs them that the others canceled that morning, so it is just this group. They find a clearing where they'll camp for the night. It is here that Darwin produces little wooden totems for them to burn while they tell stories. Each one gives theirs in turn, starting with Mark.

It is from here that I'll briefly introduce their stories. First is 'Shadows'. It tells about Daniel (Andrew Lee Potts) who gets chased into a warehouse by two big guys. They claim that Daniel owes them money. Inside this building, there could be something much darker and scarier. There could also be a more logical explanation as well.

Dan then tells the next story which is 'The Hidden Woman'. Hannah (Jennifer K Preston) and her son, Charlie (Theo Preston), go to a relative's house that passed away. They are there to settle the estate and decide if they want to live in this house or to sell it. She finds an old phonograph in the basement. It is from here that the spirit of their relative could be haunting them.

It then goes over to Donna for our next tale called 'Cross Your Heart'. This has a married couple of Cath (Katie Sheridan) and Steve (Rufus Hound) at a cheap hotel on their anniversary. He wants their marriage to be more adventurous, which means here 'swinging' with Luna (Alana Wallace) and her husband. They get much more than they bargained for as it doesn't seem like sex is what is in store, as this couple might be in a cult.

Then the last story, which Darwin and her friends need to convince her to tell, falls to Sally. It is called 'The Keychain Man'. We saw a trio going to see a movie. Gareth (Finbar Healy) waits on them. He's a giant of a man and something goes wrong with the computer. He calls his boss over, Mr. Robinson (Davey Hopper). This isn't the first time this has happened and Gareth is berated. People can only take so much punishment before they snap.

This then ends with our wraparound story as this group's stories might not be completely fiction.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is on the most surface level here and say that I'm glad we don't have a huge team behind this. There are three directors and four writers. All the stories have a similar enough tone while having different subject matter. None of them feel out of place, which is good. Plus, we have a wraparound story which is what I prefer when it comes to my anthology films. Since these are all done by the same team, I'm going to talk about story wise what I like about each story but come back together for the other aspects. I should say here that for the most part, we are getting generic themes and ideas, but it still works well enough.

Let me start with 'Shadows'. What we have here is an interesting story. We get up to speed quickly and this shadow creature we see is great. I do think this will rub people the wrong way with the reveal. I did predict it when we got to a certain point. It still was solid.

Then over to the 'Hidden Woman', I thought the set up here works. Getting Hannah and Charlie to the house makes sense. What I like is that they're not bound to it. They stay there to get a feel for it and will decide what to do. Using this phonograph to start the haunting was solid. What works best here is something they do with this ballet dancer. That got under my skin. What is funny as well is that they call out Dan as to how it could be true.

"Cross Your Heart' spoke to me with the cult aspect to it. This is another one that I predicted what was going to happen when something happened. What I love about it though is that this reveal works well as 'revenge' story. There were also things that were brought up early that played back into the climax for it that made me smile. Not necessarily doing anything new, but still effective.

Ending out with 'The Keychain Man', I'm a sucker for setting a movie in a theater like this. Not only that, but you are going back to the old school slasher style work as well. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of that subgenre, when it is done right, you have me on board. I also like that were following a group of movie buffs. There is also levity with another movie goer and a younger employee. Where it takes thing also helped.

I'll say though that the biggest disappointment for me was the wraparound. I like what they do with why they're telling stories. Darwin is creepy and this group of friends feel like they know each other. There are just things as this plays out that fully didn't make sense. I think I understand who Darwin is. His warning is something that came back to me. I just don't fully get what they're trying to do and we need just a bit more to drive that home for me.

Let's discuss the acting then. I'll go vague here due to the number of actors over all the stories. I'll say that Brake is great in his role. It is more of a cameo, but it works. Potts fit in his role as the lead of 'Shadows'. The two guys with him and the security guard he meets work as well.

Credit to whoever is playing the creature. It does appear that the actors in 'Hidden Woman' are mother and son. That does make sense. There is a natural feel to them, plus Theo comes off as a creepy kid well. Sheridan and Hound do seem like a couple with issues. Wallace is attractive so she fits the character of Luna. Steven Blades, Christopher Mulvan and Sammy T. Dobson are good as the trio for 'The Keychain Man'. Healy also brings good size for Gareth. I've already said that the group for the wraparound also feel like old friends. In general, the acting is good with no issues.

All that is left then is filmmaking. I'd say that overall, the cinematography was good. What they did with the framing helps here. I like the atmosphere this builds. None of the stories feel out of place, which is something that can ruin an anthology. I'm glad that they went practical with as many of the effects as they could. There were times where I'm guessing that it was CGI. Not enough to truly notice. They go brutal with deaths, which made me smile. Other than that, the soundtrack fit was needed.

In conclusion, this is a solid anthology film. What I think helps here is that we have the same creative team behind it. That helps keep a similar feel across the shorts so none of them feel out of place. I like the variety of stories that we get. That also helps. The acting is good across the board. I'd say that this is well-made. The practical effects, cinematography and framing lead the way. This is one that I rather enjoyed my time with and would recommend giving this a watch if you get the chance. It is out on VOD now.

My Rating: 8 out of 10.

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.

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.

I knew this wasn't going to be the best of horror films when I chose to watch it. When Richard Brake took the screen, I was happy. I just wish there was more of him.

There was actual humor and Easter Eggs, which I appreciated. The special/make up effects were good in some places and really lacking in others.

I am already looking forward to Lore II if the movie poster was any indication of future plans!

The acting was pretty good. I do not have high standards after a handful of flicks I have watched; characters were believable.

When it comes to anthologies, like Tales From the Crypt, I am a fan. Any monotony is broken up by the change of theme. The writers did a good job of making each tale very different from one another.

Needs more Richard Brake. His talent adds genuine creepiness that you can't just learn. His role in the movie was appropriate and done well!

I gave this movie a 6/10

Note: The dancer's teeth were too perfect.

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.