Tell Me a Creepy Story

"Tell Me A Creepy Story" is a horror anthology released in 2023. The movie is directed by Samuel Dawe, Félix Dobaire, and Stuart Graham, and written by Samuel Dawe, Félix Dobaire, and Paul Holbrook 1.

The movie features a collection of tales dealing with serial murderers, home invasions, insatiable hunger, and more 1. The storyline includes a beekeeper who accidentally kills his wife before nervously burying her body under his vegetable patch, a child born with an insatiable and increasingly inhumane appetite, and a detective struggling with a number of missing children cases.

The downside is the film does not have a common over-arcing framework or theme connecting the four stories. Some of the stories don't even make much sense. As another reviewer said, its really four short stories with very little in common which each other sown together into a 1 hr and 26 minute run time. My favorite one would be the first one because the sounds of chewing made me uncomfortable and now I understand my sister-in-law who can't stand people who chew with their mouth open. Lol. This first short story made me see things from her point of view.

I won't say don't watch it. Just keep expectations low. It might be a stop gap between other movies or when you have time to kill. I like horror anthologies, but this one isn't successful which is a shame because some of the special effects were pretty good with the first two stories.

This film is a compilation of 4 horror shorts (as opposed to an anthology).

The first film- by Paul Holbrook and Sam Dawe- tells the story of a young single mother who finds herself struggling to raise a boy with an inexplicably insatiable appetite.

As he grows, his need to satiate this hunger takes on more and more extremes.

Ultimately leading to the conclusion of the film.

The second installation of the program is a French film titled Myosotis, by Felix Dobaire.

Which, in my opinion, is the best one of the bunch.

It tells the tale of a beekeeper who finds his wife dead (having been killed by the bees).

Knowing he'd be held responsible, he buries her body under the vegetable garden, instead of reporting the crime.

Only for it to manifest a bizarre Svankmajerian mutation.

That ultimately leads to his downfall.

The third film- by Luke Konopasky- is about a young woman who lives alone.

One day, her water stops working.

So she calls for help.

Only to become the target of multiple mysterious men.

Which forces her to take matters into her own hands.

The young protaganess- played by writer Rita Konopasky- does a particularly excellent job on the acting front here.

With the final film revolving around a rural farm couple, who find themselves being targeted by a religious conman, that is out to get money from them.

Until they bring new meaning to the term "divine justice".

All in all...it's a solid little compilation, of simple shorts, from a number of up and coming directors.

With Felix Dobaire's contribution particularly standing out.

So keep an eye out for what he- and young actress Rita Konopasky-, have to offer on the horizon.

There might not be anything super groundbreaking here.

But it's definitely worth a watch.

3 out of 10 (on average, with Myosotis standing clearly above the rest).

Short tales from UK, France, US and Ireland that do exactly what they promise - creepiness and genuinely unsettling stories. No jump scares or outright gore, but the scenarios will get under your skin and leave you feeling uneasy.

A parent has to live with a nightmare child while all around claim it is normal development; a spouse who wants to be remembered ('myosotis' = the 'forget-me-not' flower); a teenager with some dodgy plumbing; and a preacher with ungodly intentions.

Some stories feel familiar - We Need to Talk About Kevin; When a Stranger Calls - but these are classics of their kind and the tributes are deserved.

The four segments are uniformly strong, so there is no sense of anticlimax, and none outstays their welcome. They treat the audience as knowing adults - we are left to draw our own conclusions about the absentee parent, and to notice the missing phone for ourselves.

It is rare for four completely independent films to come together so effectively. Whoever curated the collection did an outstanding job. Excellent short-story filmmaking.

Disappointing attempt at horror that falls flat on multiple levels. Rather than delivering on its promise of frights, the film relies on gratuitous and repulsive imagery, such as unnecessary close-ups of people eating food, which serves to disgust rather than scare the audience. The directing and acting are subpar, failing to engage viewers or create a genuinely eerie atmosphere. Instead of leaving viewers with a sense of fear, the movie may leave them feeling unclean, akin to the experience of watching a show like "Hoarders." Overall, "Tell Me a Creepy Story" fails to deliver on its genre and is not recommended for those seeking a genuinely chilling cinematic experience.

This is a four part horror anthology that does not have the familiar general over-arcing framework connecting the stories. The lack of this really makes it more of a compilation of four individual, unrelated short films opposed to what we have come to be familiar with as far as horror anthologies go. Some of them being more successful than others, without a connecting aspect It's hard to write a true overall movie review because as stated it's not really a movie...

The first two were shot beautifully. Aesthetically, they were a joy to watch. Intriguing, innovative shots that created two specific, stylized atmospheres. Both of the stories were interesting and entertaining, but they didn't really bring you anywhere. The essence of a good short story is often times hard to capture... finding that balance between keeping it concise yet still engaging and also not so wildly open ended that it feels like a waste of time. The first one was probably my favorite I think, mostly because conceptually I found it very interesting and it had some gnarly body horror. I also quite liked the second one, particularly for some cool monster creating effects and an interesting concept.

I don't like to dwell or harp on the negative but the third one was jarringly unsuccessful after experiencing the first two. The concept was tired and unoriginal and the acting was poor. Not to be too harsh, but I didn't find anything particularly redeemable about it. The fourth one was generally entertaining while also being quite simple. Solid dialogue and acting from the three actors, probably the best of the bunch as far as that goes.

As a whole the only thing connecting these stories, even as a cultivated collection, is the fact that they're horror-based. I thought there was a theme of little to no dialogue as the first three didn't have much, but then the fourth one ruins that notion primarily being centered around constant dialogue.

At the end of the day it was a positive experience but not a special one. I would still recommend, especially for the first two, but I'm not going to be pressuring anyone to put it at the top of their list.