Morbid Stories (2019)

Director: Asif Akbar, Mitch Thomas, Ashley Mei, Will Devokees, Clint Kelly
Year: 2019
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Anthology

Plot:
Following a break-up with her boyfriend, a woman begins to get unnerved being alone in her house and decides to leave where she learns about strange events happening across the country.

Review:

Invasive Species-Awoken in the middle of the night, a man and his wife find a stranger and his friends were involved in an accident struggling to come to terms with what just happened to them. When they realize their true intentions, they try to survive the night against the intruders. This one wasn’t all too bad. The main setup here works to give this a great twist later on which is then turned around by the reveal about being vampires. This leads into decent brawls and confrontations throughout the house that generate some hard-hitting action and fun over-the-top gore which is always a plus since it adds to the cheesy nature of it all. It’s too short to spell out a few mild questions but it’s nothing too detrimental.

3 Months-Living with her siblings, a woman tries to escape the stress by playing with an Ouija Board with her friends but their antics anger her friend when they start to mock the game. When their night starts to get darker and deadlier, they realize they’ve brought something into their world. This one was a solid enough effort. It’s wholly predictable and doesn’t do anything surprising with its setup and storyline involving a group of teens and an Ouija board, but that doesn’t make the hauntings any less intense or chilling when the possessed friends start acting viciously towards her siblings. Again, this one needed more time to answer some questions and not end on a cliffhanger but the strong atmosphere and gore work enough for this one.

Writers Beware-Stuck in a remote house, a writer on a break starting in on his next novel ends up meeting a fan who barges into the house while in the middle of the storm. As he tries to spend more time in the house, the more he realizes the noises coming from inside aren’t his imagination. This one was a bit of a misstep. The central premise and atmosphere of the situation, out in the middle of the countryside during a raging thunderstorm creates a nice setup here with the trickling rain coming down, but nothing remotely horrific happens for long stretches of time between the phone calls to his agent or generally complaining about the lack of luxury. The finale in the attic works but it’s a case of too little, too late due to the boredom overall.

More Than You Can Chew-Stuck in a precarious position, a desperate woman heads out looking for a snack before her boyfriend arrives for a date, only to accidentally try to drain a zombie. As it begins to override her vampire side, the horror of what she will become threatens the relationships' future. This here was a fun if generally confusing effort. Although it does spell out what’s happening with her condition and how that’s affecting the opening interactions, that this takes a while to make it clear means the strange meltdown over the steak and the stalking scene are somewhat confusing. Once that passes, the relationship with her boyfriend is a fun game of innuendoes and suspense as the inevitable transformation occurs bolstered by some stellar gore for a great effort.

Overview: ***.5/5
Overall a highly enjoyable and engaging indie-anthology that keeps itself solidly enjoyable throughout here with solid to good segments and not too many flaws overall. This is certainly worthwhile for all indie genre fans or fans of the anthology format, while those who aren’t into either style should heed caution.