Director: Samuel Dawe, Félix Dobaire, Stuart Graham, Paul Holbrook
Year: 2023
Country: France/USA/United Kingdom
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Anthology
Plot:
A collection of dark and disturbing genre shorts from various filmmakers.
Review:
Hungry Joe-Following the birth of their baby, a woman convinced that there's something wrong with her child and his increasingly growing appetite starts to believe it would be more worthwhile to end it all than show him a mother's love. On the whole, this was a decent enough if somewhat problematic entry. The central setup is certainly worthwhile enough, as his advancing age means a greater intake of food that comes at the expense of her sanity due to the way everyone around her starts to judge how that reflects on her as a mother. This psychological bent is exceptionally well-handled with the way it drains her over time with the disheveled look and uncaring demeanor representing the physical toll it takes on her as things escalate from simply consuming inhuman amounts of food to live animals and eventually people. This works nicely enough but has way too long of an ending as this could've been much better with a certain resolution offered here without carrying on past it, but beyond that, there's a lot to like here.
Myosotis-After an argument with his wife, a beekeeper inadvertently kills her and decides to dispose of the body in his vegetable garden nearby, and as the days go by believes she's come back for revenge. This was a massively disappointing effort that could've been a lot of fun. The central setup is nothing spectacular but serves this one well enough as the incident itself and how it gets settled by dumping her body in the garden to hide away is fine for what it is, especially with the resulting scenes making it seem like her revenge is taking shape in the form of the withering plant-life in the garden. This is all atmospheric enough and proposes enough to like, but it's so cliched and weighed down by the fact that you know what's going on a lot of what goes on here doesn't have the same impact as most others who try this setup since it's so commonly featured involving a wronged figure coming back from the grave. Since the original incident was a genuine accident and not malicious in the slightest, that makes for a somewhat more underwhelming factor as it wasn't intended and seems instead to be wrongly justified.
Red Water-After breaking up with her boyfriend, a woman left home alone starts to pine for her ex only to be so caught up in the situation she fails to realize a killer has targeted her. This was a rather fun segment with a lot to like about it. The simplistic story of a woman alone in her house and experiencing a series of creepy hallucinations and supposed encounters with people who may or may not be there is a cliched enough setup which is all that hurts it. Since this allows for the misunderstanding in bringing the repairman out only to realize someone else had already answered the call, the belief that her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend are in the house with her, and the inability to recognize that the new killer is now there with her because of all these excess distractions makes for a stellar showing here. As it goes from psychological to more conventional cat-and-mouse stalking once the killer reveals himself which is quite fun and has some decent twists and turns as it goes along, providing for a great overall segment.
The Good Word-Posing as a missionary for his crimes, a serial killer attempts to carry on his routine like normal with a couple on a remote farmhouse who may be hiding more dangerous intentions. This was a decent enough idea for a segment but does get somewhat undermined by a few minor sections. The general build-up of the killer's antics and how he's going through his prepared notions when he arrives on their doorstep that leads it through the big revelation at the end which in storyline terms is fine but in execution looks like a big flashing sign highlighting the turn so obvious the actual outcome is no surprise at all. That takes the sting out of the revelation quite significantly but it's also enough to leave this on a slight downgrade where the slow pacing becomes that much more obvious to be the few issues here.
Overview: ****/5
A really fine compilation-style anthology, this one comes off nicely with at least something to like in every segment and a generally fun air throughout to be a highly enjoyable time. Give this a shot if you’re a fan of this kind of anthology feature or just an anthology fan in general, while only those who aren’t into this type of fare should heed caution.
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