Weird Fiction

This is a homegrown (a crowd-funded production by fans) and straight-forward horror anthology, obvious homage to Tales from Crypt TV show. Actors seemed to re-appear in the different vignettes, each story spooled by a host called The Collector (whose laughter is definitely from Tales from the Crypt).

This film is for hardcore 80s horror films, in some of the stories have referenced particular scenes from films like Nightmare on Elm St. Part 2. It's effects are mostly practical, with the "man-in-rubber suit" conventions. The average viewer will probably not get it's charm referencing 80s horror.

Most likely, it will disregarded as a low budget horror production. But it definitely has "heart" from horror movie fans. Its charm is what most mainstream productions like American Horror Story have appropriated from recent independent horror that uses 80s aesthetics from synthesized electronic music to visual title cards.

One of the stories that stood out was one, an unlucky romance between a psychotic and a vampire. other stories delved into monsters, sci-fi and murderers. It's good comfort horror celluloid; this for 80s fans of popular horror cinema.

All too often we see horror flicks pumped out that rely on reboots, jump scares, C-rated cameos and...Christ are we adapting copy-pasta now?

Weird Fiction breaks that mold while paying homage to the golden age of horror films. Viewers are led through four stories with vastly different themes; each one a traditional genre with modern twists applied to them.

We are chaperoned between stories by The Collector; a Crypt Keeper-esque character with a heart of mold. Played delightfully by writer-director Jacob Perrett.

Episode one, "Goodnight, Daddy, " is a throwback to classic slasher flicks. Including a fantastic Inside-The-Mask shot.

Story two, "Night of the Sitter," brings us a demonic monster in the form of a babysitting gig gone wrong.

Short three, "The Incubus," is the most abstract of the collection. A fantastic blend of art house-horror that mashes mythologies in a way that I'd never seen before.

Fourth, and last, is the alien invasion themed, "Cosmic Terror." It begins like E.T. with girl-meets-alien in a heartwarming fashion. Though that heart quickly goes from warmed to stabbed repeatedly as the "terror" in "Cosmic Terror" comes into play.

This is an indie film that deserves major recognition. Its cinematography, lighting, editing and scoring are more inspired than most of the recent horror films pumped out of Hollywood.

Several actors appear in multiple stories throughout the film. Their dialogue is well-written and delivered with flawless timing and inflections. With stand-out performances by Taylor Rhoades (who is in all four), Isabella Rodriguez (two stories) and Matt Male (two stories).

Be sure to check out Weird Fiction if you're a fan of retro-horror, indie films or are just looking for a neo classic horror movie.

You can tell when some one person, or a group, cares about what they're doing. Weird Fiction is one of those examples and it shows. Does it look like it could have been shot on an iPhone? You bet. Are the effects cheesy? Wouldn't have it any other way. A budget which equals that of a McDonald's workers weekly paycheck? I think so. But what was worked with and what resulted were exponentially different. What the filmmakers did with all these short comings is incredibly impressive.

Get these kids a budget.

The shot angles convey mood well. The soundtrack was great however it came together, and the overall vision wasn't lost on the viewer. Good cohesion.

On the not so great side the acting was abominable, but who watches horror for the acting? Most of the stories, while interesting concepts, ran tried and true concepts but didn't give them the ending that satisfies like one would hope. They felt almost philosophically Japanese in their culminations, maybe even nihilistic, but it works.

Bottom line is these people seemed like they had fun filming the movie, thusly the Mrs. and I had fun watching it. I hope to see more from them. It's a better and MORE HONEST attempt at horror than anything coming out of Hollywood. This is why I'm giving it 8 stars.

Its short and to the point. I was ready to turn it off but something kept my attention. The dialogue I think is what did it for me. The grainy filter and cheesy dialogue. The acting is good enough that it fits the style here. My only complaint is the ending of each segment. I feel like they coulda wrote better endings but they're good enough. At 86 minutes it's a fun little ride. I've seen worse with bigger budgets and less movie in them. "Cute little buggers" immediately comes to mind.

The guy telling the story is a bad crypt keeper ripoff. The stories were definitely old school but they messed up in some scenes. Like the first story the guy had an iphone but everyone was using rotary phones. Little things like that I ended up giving this film a 5. Otherwise, watching this movie reminded me of a lot of 80's movies. Given some of the same actors were in a couple of the stories which is fine since I doubt they had a huge budget. I wonder if they made a part two to this.