Rating: C+
Dir: Derek Braasch, Will Devokees, Marcelo Fabani and James Panetta
Star: Joe DeBartolo, Robert Gutierrez-Spagnoli, Alberto Herrera, Brooke Ashley
As low-budget horror anthologies go, this is more meta than most, since the various sections largely unfold in the world of low-budget movie making. Which, based on the stories here, is not a nice place at all. Just about everyone in it appears to be arrogant, egotistical and only interested in their own selfish ends, with barely the basest connection to humanity. Then there’s the ones who are literally, rather than metaphorically, not human at all. I certainly respect the cynical eye this casts on the industry, but as you would expect, the results are something of a mixed bag. It’s fundamentally hard for any anthology to move the needle much from “It’s okay”, in either direction.
The wraparound segment has an actor (DeBartolo) writing a quartet of cathartic stories, taking vengeance on those he blames for his career’s failure, which we then see unfold. The first of these concerns sleazy director Dario Douglas (Gutierrez-Spagnoli), who discovers his latest starlet might be more than she seems. Then, there’s a particularly cutthroat tale, featuring a producer (genre veteran Debbie D), somebody whose word is not exactly her bond. Third, is writer Carlos (Herrera), whose research for a documentary about vampires leads in a dangerous direction. Finally, make-up artist Lucy (Ashley) finds herself trapped by a previous client, who won’t exactly be leaving a glowing review of her services on Yelp.
If I had to rank them, my order would be: writer, director, producer, make-up. The vampiric segment feels like a glimpse into a much bigger world, with which Carlos is not equipped to deal. The idea of the church and Hollywood being in league with vampires is intriguing (it would explain a lot about Harvey Weinstein…). Someone needs to throw money at this concept. I also very much enjoyed the thoroughly detestable Dario, who is genuinely awful enough to give creeps a bad name. The jabs at B-horror, such as an actor who has never heard of Psycho (top), were also amusing. In comparison, the other two section didn’t make too much impression, though The Producer’s Plight did cement my decision to remain outside the world of professional cinema.
There are a couple of points where technical aspects get in the way. For example, there are Facetime conversations where it’s clearly a still picture of someone’s hand holding a phone, with footage overlaid. The gore is fairly restrained, though is present when needed, and does the job, while there is a pleasant amount of more-or-less gratuitous nudity. Oddly, though, the scene I will remember most might be a long, single take of Carlos discussing his vampiric situation, and the associated antique tome, with a visiting expert on the topic. No prizes for guessing – from the moment the guest has to be invited in – that things aren’t quite what they seem. The subsequent discussion was a low-key pleasure, to be sure, yet an undeniable one.