Director: Alexander Churchyard, Max Davenport, Thomas Lee Rutter, Mj Dixon, Sam Mason-Bell, Michael Fausti, Andrew Elias
Year: 2023
Country: United Kingdom
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Anthology
Plot:
Working in a video rental shop, the proprietor of the facility regals patrons with various horror films from the collection available for purchase.
Review:
Egghead-After being deliberately disfigured in a botched surgical procedure, a crazed doctor seeks revenge on the staff of a demented plastic surgeon who had initially wronged him. This was a spectacularly cheesy and enjoyable way to start things off. The short gives this enough of a setup involving the fateful doctor and the means through which he sets out to screw over the patient with a good enough backstory to set this in motion. The resultant rampage is fun once the duplicity is discovered and features a fine slew of cheesy effects that plays quite well with the puns being uttered involving the killer. Overall, this is a great way to get things going.
The Red Lipped Moon-Following a string of murders, a lonely man sets out to find the cause of everything which brings him into contact with a woman harboring a deadly secret. This was a generally fine adaptation that is a bit flawed. The initial idea involving the film-noir aesthetic and setup involving the femme fatale luring the victim into a deadly and destructive spiral makes for a fun time here and it produces some engaging visuals as a result. However, the shorter running time on this one keeps things fairly straightforward and lacking in the kind of shock necessary from the ending reveal that delivers a fantastic gore gag to close out on it, making it the weakest if still fun segment here.
Fleurs du Mal-Living in a 19th Century insane asylum, a doctor seeks to get to the bottom of a patient’s strange claims of being a time-traveler trying to return to her home period. This one really could’ve been stretched out more than what it is as this idea comes across quite well for what it is yet still could’ve used more time. The initial idea of the investigation into the strange claims is quite intriguing due to not knowing the various clues to what’s going on which are plainly obvious to those aware of their meaning. The shortest segment in the entire anthology which means that this one just happens to end without much of anything tying in which is a bit underwhelming but is otherwise a solid idea.
Mary Whitehouse, You're a C*nt-Staying at home watching movies, a group of friends enjoying a horror film marathon decides to resurrect the infamous video censor which has disastrous results. This was an absolute blast and had a ton of fun stuff involved. The goofy premise that ties together the real-world protagonist with the exploits offers slews of references and a genuine feel for how the mentality would fare in today’s world. That also includes a series of fast-paced encounters with a ton of great cheesy gore gags and tons of touches to the film's proper that makes this one of the finest entries in the anthology.
These Burnt Children-Desperate to pay back a producer who screwed him over, a film director finds that the creations from his unrealized projects are urging him to seek revenge with their help. This was a solid and enjoyable segment that has a lot to really like. The main setup here is an incredibly topical one involving the scorned director attempting to find a means of seeking revenge which has a lot to like here with the means through which the spirits contact him to carry it out including their directions during the actual torture. The cheesiness here takes some of the sting out of the serious motivations, but tons of brutal gore helps hold this one up.
Vergessen-In the closing days of WW II, a Nazi officer looks over the files from a clandestine operation that featured several recruits brought in to secure blackmail on various members of the community. This was an intriguing way to end things with a bizarre, arthouse take on the exploitative Naziploitation genre. Filled with clever references and a rather unorthodox approach to the whole affair, this is a lot more stylish than would be expected and comes with a lot more class than the subject matter usually warranted. This keeps it quite fun overall as it goes through the motions which is where it might run into some slight problems since it’s light on the actual exploitation usually featured here but that’s not to discredit the attempt made here that comes across nicely.
Overview: ****/5
An incredibly enjoyable throwback anthology effort, there’s quite a lot to enjoy in this one with some fantastic stories and not a whole lot to drag it down which makes for an overall fun indie genre effort. Those who enjoy this kind of independent style of filmmaking overall, appreciate anthologies overall, or are massive fans of the creative crew will have the most to like here while those who don’t appreciate those factors should heed caution.
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