Vampus Horror Tales (2020)

Director: Isaac Berrocal, Erika Elizalde, Manuel Martinez Velasco, Victor Matellano, Piter Moreira

Year: 2020

Country: Spain

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Anthology

Plot:

Working in a local cemetery, a gravedigger recounts the stories of several individuals that were driven to madness and obsession as a result of bizarre and unnatural occurrences.

Review:

La Boda-Checking out a wedding venue, a soon-to-be-married couple manage to find themselves trapped in an underground cellar beneath the hall and find themselves succumbing to madness and obsession as they try to get out. Overall, this is a pretty solid and enjoyable enough opening that has a lot to like. The whole thing starts off slowly with the majority of this one centered around the idea of them arguing and trying to find a means of getting out. It’s only once they start to add context to what’s happening that the whole thing starts to take an ominous turn as we realize there might be more going on than at first thought giving this a generally enjoyable air of menace that makes for a highly generally more effective atmosphere here. The slow build might make it an odd choice to open things but on its own, this one is still quite fun.

Cumpleaños-While out for a friend’s birthday, a pair of friends on a carnival scare ride are forced to wander back to the front when the power goes out only to realize they’re not the only ones inside the building. This was a highly effective and enjoyable segment that carries on the fun of the first segment. Working with a fantastic atmosphere within the building as the whole thing already being designed to induce scares allows for a great time overall while the stalking and slashing that goes on throughout here is just as much fun and provides a couple of decent sequences as the psychotic killers generate some fine gore aftermath effects.  This whole segment is let down if only it made more sense what was going on as everything tends to be quite underwhelming as to what’s going on. That’s really the main drawback to be had with this one though.

Segunda Cita-Heading out to his country home, a blind woman finds that her host isn’t nearly as nice as she thought when his intentions suddenly turn homicidal which puts her in grave danger. This is just a bit of a letdown following the previous segments but still has a lot to like about it. The mansion estate where it all takes place is a great touch and manages to generate some effective scenarios as we follow her plight against him that allows for a sympathetic take on everything due to her condition being exploited by the one person who she trusted not to. None of this is original, clever, or creative and is so underwhelming though that it’s all just a complete wash as the finale is quite underwhelming which leaves this one just an overall drag to finish which leaves this a somewhat disappointing tale.

Linaje-Taking his girlfriend to a remote building in the countryside, a man tries desperately to keep her monstrous affliction from interfering in their relationship regardless of how difficult or life-threatening it becomes. This was a big disappointment that ends on a sour note. The whole thing is just undone by the fact that there's very little of anything interesting happening throughout here as just about the whole thing is undone by the general familiarity of everything that happens here with the general setup present. With the only real difference here being based around her being a vampire rather than a zombie that the more traditional storylines are built around, it's not enough of a change to overcome the underwhelmingly lethargic pacing or just generally cliched actions that paint a heartbreaking picture but not enough of those to make it overcome the rest of the issues here.

Overview: ***.5/5

A really fun anthology that does get a little weaker over time, this one manages to stay enjoyable throughout even with a few minor issues bringing it down. Those that appreciate this kind of genre effort, are a fan of anthologies, or are fans of the creative crew will have a lot to like here while most others might be turned off by the style and approach should heed caution here.