Chop Shop

I attend several midwest horror conventions each year, and one thing I like to do is buy random films from the companies and actors who are in attendance. I know going in that these films may not have the best acting or editing, but I really appreciate seeing the passion that these folks put into their work and I like to support that.

I met some of the folks involved with Skeletons in the Closet at Horrorhound Weekend in Cincinnati in March 2019, and they were clearly very excited about this film so I bought a copy. This is one of the best films of this type I have bought at a horror con and I am very happy I was able to grab the second to last copy they had at their table! It is very well shot and has a slick look to it, and the acting and timing of everything was perfect for this type of throwback film.

I am not going to review the plot because if you read the summary here on IMDB then you will either watch it or you won't, but this is definitely a hidden gem. This is not a standard anthology film because unlike others (Creepshow, VHS, etc.) there are two "wrap around" segments (a babysitter watching a kid who is watching the movies, and two horror host type monsters watching everything unfold on their own t.v.) that are tying things together, each of which is almost a movie in itself. The segments themselves are stories that put a twist on your standard horror trope and there is a very energetic feel to everything throughout the film.

If you want something different from most of the low budget, indie stuff that is out there I would highly recommend Skeletons in the Closet. This is a great one to just sit back and watch if you want to relax and be entertained!

I am a huge horror anthology fan and was excited to find this. It was a fantastic homage to the ole school 80's horror style. Babysitter comes over to watch the kid, who is watching horror movies hosted by a wife who killed her dead husband and they together are watching horror movies. Lotta watching goin on here and it works beautifully. The effects are very well done, soundtrack perfect and general production value exceptionally high. The acting is quite good, the sets are excellent. I'd have to put this anthology high on my favorites list now!

This movie is one colossal mess. There are simply too many things going on at once. Not completely without its merits, though.

What I did like about this anthology film were its two (yes, TWO) wraparound stories. First, a little girl, Jamie (Alaina Karner), is watched by her babysitter (Elizabeth Stenholt). Jamie is obsessed with a local horror show, hosted by The Widow (Ellie Church) and her dead husband Charlie (Adam Michaels). I liked the dynamic between the babysitter (she IS my gf, picking apart all the crap I watch) and Jamie. The show they watch throughout this film, also called Skeletons in the Closet (not to be confused with Chop Shop, the VHS video they watch on Skeletons... also the former name of this movie...), shows abysmal short films. But the host segments are awesome. The couple (modeled after Elvira and The Cryptkeeper) bickers over their murderous relationship, and questions each other regarding the movies they're showing. Fun fact: Watch the Q&A, hidden under Interviews, and you'll learn a writer, outside the penning of the rest of the movie, wrote all the cracking dialogue between the two hosts.

Fortunately or unfortunately, I haven't decided yet, in the bulk of Ellie Church's movies I've seen, SHE is the highlight. Yes, it happened again here. I love the fact that she has her special place in low budget genre cinema, and seems to relish the role, but frankly, she has proven to me repeatedly that she can do better (not to say she's in exclusively bad movies, there are good ones here and there). Just the notion that she steals the show more often than not, perplexes me as to why she's not more in-demand.

That leaves us with the anthology films, and... Ouch! Anthology films as a genre, more-or-less without exception, contain at least a clunker or two. Skeletons in the Closet is all-out disastrous. First of all, the suspension of disbelief you need to believe Jamie is not only paying attention to the movies, but is eating them up, is simply too much to ask of me. She implies she likes to be scared, but you'll find exactly ZERO scares. And, the way these are cut and edited, there's also zero tension. Just the fact that she sticks with these and doesn't get bored, is too tall an order. The incessant reliance on rapid-fire music video-esque editing and serial flashbacks is enough for you to want to jam knitting needles into your eyes. If there's a nugget of intrigue, or a morsel of an interesting story, all that got botched. I thought the acting overall in this movie was good to fair, but sure as hell not enough to salvage any of the stories - outside the two embedded framework segments.

Was this created as an example of how not to make an anthology film? Cause you nailed it. Absolutely one of the worst anthology films ever. A movie about watching a kid who's watching an Elvira ripoff who in turn is watching an anthology of BS. You'll be fast forwarding before the characters start to, but you're better off not watching at all.

This was a film that I got the chance to check out the worldwide festival premiere at the Nightmare Film Festival. I was intrigued when it was stated to be similar to Tales from the Crypt and having 80's nostalgia. The official synopsis for this Skeletons in the Closet is the titular late-night, horror anthology television series featuring The Widow (Ellie Church) and her dead husband, Charlie (Adam Michaels).

The first thing that struck me for this film is that is pretty meta actually. We have a young girl, Kacey (Lia Sullivan), as she is getting ready for that night's episode of Skeletons in the Closet to air. She has a new babysitter, Tina (Elizabeth Stenholt), who mocks her for the show.

When it airs, the opening credits are for the film itself, but it shows The Widow showering and getting dressed. It strategically doesn't any nudity, but being that it is later at night there is some swearing. She goes down into her basement where Charlie is waiting to watch a movie. I won't harp on the look of him as this is a cheesy late night show. He actually does look pretty good though to be honest. They settle in to watch Chop Shop, which is an anthology film that features three stories that are connected.

Being that this film takes place in the 1980's, they are watching it on a VHS tape. We get the old familiar things like tracking and static. The tape isn't in the best shape, which The Widow and Tina both point out. This has an Inception feel in that we are watching two people watch a television show where two people are watching a movie. The film has to do a lot of jumping from each level to ensure we don't lose the characters as well. To do this we get the footage messing up with static and other abnormalities you might get with a VHS. I will admit though, it did get annoying after awhile. They just went to that well one time too many.

This film is also part comedy, which I'm not always the biggest fan of. I didn't mind it for this one though actually. For the best ones, when they blend horror with comedy, the comedy starts to die away past the halfway point where it gets a little bit more serious. I think that actually works to the advantage of this film.

As for the stories in Chop Shop, the first one is a mother, Rebecca (Renee Domenz) is estranged from her mother, Grandma O'Malley (Leigh Rose). She needs her to watch her daughter so she can go on a business trip. We see that Grandma is harboring a pretty horrible secret. The second story is of an actress who takes her role a little too far. The third is a robbery goes bad. It is all brought together with a wraparound story that takes place in what looks to be a warehouse with someone being tortured.

All the while, Tina becomes meaner and meaner to Kacey who just wants to enjoy her show. She does come up with a way to get back at her. There is also an escaped mental patient that is on the loose and could be watching the house.

I know what you are thinking, I jumped around a lot in recapping this, but I had to. That is kind of how the film plays out. There is a lot going on and maybe a little bit too much for a film of this length. I do think that they balance going through each level. I really only found Kacey interesting because she a young horror fan. I was more interested in The Widow and Charlie though. Their banter is great and she is quite attractive. The ending is a little bit clinched, but it fit the film.

Acting in this film is quite interesting. I thought Stenholt and Sullivan did an excellent job at making this film feel like it is from the 80's. I don't really buy what Sullivan did in the end though. Church and Michaels were also good in that they are a bit cheesy being horror film hosts. Michaels though makes some really insightful comments and their banter is great like I said above. The rest of the acting is also cheesy, because they are in a low budget horror film. I can't fault them for bringing to life what they are going for. I will give that to the film.

As for effects, I actually thought they were good for the most part. A lot of it looked to be practical, which I happen to love. There was some CGI blood, but we only get a glimpse of it and it didn't really bother me. The rest of it looked practical and quite real. I did hate the effects they tried to use to make this look like a rough VHS tape. A little bit of it was fine, but it became tiresome as they quite doing it over and over again. It does tone down as the film goes on. I did think the film looked really good though.

Now with that said, this film was pretty fun. I thought the concept sounded good on paper, but it became a little bit too much on the screen. I think that the film needed to have a little longer run time to really execute it properly. It didn't ruin the film, but I just wanted more of The Widow and Charlie. The acting for the film was pretty good for what they were going for. I thought the effects for the most part were good, but the bad VHS things were used a little too much. The score of the film didn't really stand out to me, but it also didn't hurt the film either. I still think that this is an above average film and worth a viewing. It is definitely a fun film with a lower running time.