Rating: C+
Dir: Derek Braasch, Will Devokees, Marcelo Fabani, Phil Herman, James Panetta,
Star: Christopher Kahler, Joseph Martin Jauch, Will Devokees, Melisa Reyes, Mike E. Pringle
I feel like I’ve reached about half my word requirement for this review, simply in listing the makers. For this is the new Herman anthology, with four tales and an interlinking segment where the stories are told to us by a graverobber (Kahler). The linking theme, according to Herman is, each element concerns “individuals who unravel hidden, lost, or long-guarded secrets.” That loose concept gives plenty of scope for the individual film-makers to operate, and this likely strays further from pure horror than some previous anthologies. You’re likely well into the second half before you reach something firmly in the horror genre.
We begin with The Ties That Bind, which is more Nordic noir than splatter. Detective Herman (Jauch) comes across a murder scene which is uncomfortably familiar. For it matches one six years earlier, in which his sister-in-law had been the victim. Herman had solved the crime – it was his father-in-law who went to prison – yet the similarities here leave him questioning the resolution of that case. Now, I’m not certain a police force would let a detective investigate the murder of a close relative. But that aside, the plotting here was fairly decent, and Jauch was a good fit for the part. The main downside was one seen throughout: poor audio mixing, resulting in the frequent use of the remote control.
Next was Look Towards the Sky, and this is firmly in SF territory. Frank (Devokees) vanishes for several days, to the concern of his family. When he returns, he has no idea how much time has passed, and recounts his experience of alien abduction. These comes with a chilling side-order of the ET’s intentions, and Devokees quiet-spoken delivery make these more chilling than you’d expect. The third entry, Clean House, comes from Uruguay, and mixes in some different visual approaches, in its tale of the possession of Andrea (Reyes), and subsequent exorcism by a Catholic priest. While the look here is interesting – it begins in a faux silent movie style – it can’t conceal that we’ve seen much of the story before, and usually to greater effect.
These all seemed rather restrained, in comparison to previous Herman anthologies: so far, so PG-13 rated, in fact. Does this reflect his growing maturity? I hope not, since the gleefully exploitative nature in these has been part of the fun. The final section, Highway Rivalry, goes some way to making up the deficit, with Debbie D masturbating in the shower, while her husband suffers a fatal heart attack. This eventually leads to her accepting a lift from a man, who might or might not be the prolific serial killer hunted by Detective Athan (Pringle). Some nicely gory crime scenes (top) show up during the subsequent pursuit, and it’s a solid way to wrap things up.
There’s no doubt Herman and his team are experts at making each penny count, considering the budget on this feature would struggle to cover a mid-sized used car. The resources certainly need to be allowed for: knowing some performances were sold on IndieGoGo, explains a bit. However, this also goes to show that good ideas are what matter most, and this anthology isn’t short there. Considering this might have financed two seconds of Red One, there’s no doubt which I’d say represents better value for money.
The film will be out soon on DVD, Blu-ray and even VHS! Message Phil on Facebook for details.