It took three hours by car to see this at the True False Film Fest in Columbia, Missouri, but I couldn't have been happier I went. As far as anthology films go, this is the best I've seen (sorry Tales from the Darkside), and as far as a horror film, it has everything you want and more... boobs, blood (practical too), and monsters. One of the best parts is how they were able to tell five completely different stories, all of them with good acting, excellent FX, like-able characters, etc.
My favorite was the webcam piece since it had a really funny moment involving a knife in a girl's arm. Plus, there were a lot of well-done scares in it. You don't even want to look at the screen since you're afraid of what's coming next. Then the reveal at the end turned it upside down and left me thinking about it long after but in a good way. I really liked the performance of the lead girl in that one. She was endearing, and it was actually kind of sad what happens. I think I liked her character the most of anyone in the film.
All the segments are good though. The first one took a little bit of time to get going, but once it kicks in, you're hooked, and the payoff is that much better since you had to wait for it. It also had some dark humor, wicked gore, nudity, etc. It's true blood and boobs don't make a good film, but in the case of a horror film, they sure can help, not that this movie needed it since the storytelling and the writing was fantastic too. They didn't have to worry about too much exposition as well since it's an anthology, and they don't have to explain everything, but that's part of the fun. You get to see some really crazy stuff like a pretty insane, inventive slasher, but you also get ghosts, a demon, etc.
The only downside is rather inherent in anthology stories, which is you basically start from scratch with each section so you have to build character and story again, but there isn't much of a way around that. Maybe Trick r' Treat handled that better, but I still prefer VHS. It's a little more evident when you have five stories without much connective tissue, but again, you get more variety this way, and the film was well paced so it wasn't a big deal.
I'm kinda sick of the whole found footage thing, but I didn't mind it with this movie. They didn't call attention to it a lot or try to explain why they're filming (Diary of the Dead shame on you) so it works, and you just get engrossed in the stories. The audience gasped a lot, but they laughed too (intentional humor only). Besides seeing Freddy vs Jason with a crowd, this was one of the best times I've had watching a movie in a theater.
My favorite was the webcam piece since it had a really funny moment involving a knife in a girl's arm. Plus, there were a lot of well-done scares in it. You don't even want to look at the screen since you're afraid of what's coming next. Then the reveal at the end turned it upside down and left me thinking about it long after but in a good way. I really liked the performance of the lead girl in that one. She was endearing, and it was actually kind of sad what happens. I think I liked her character the most of anyone in the film.
All the segments are good though. The first one took a little bit of time to get going, but once it kicks in, you're hooked, and the payoff is that much better since you had to wait for it. It also had some dark humor, wicked gore, nudity, etc. It's true blood and boobs don't make a good film, but in the case of a horror film, they sure can help, not that this movie needed it since the storytelling and the writing was fantastic too. They didn't have to worry about too much exposition as well since it's an anthology, and they don't have to explain everything, but that's part of the fun. You get to see some really crazy stuff like a pretty insane, inventive slasher, but you also get ghosts, a demon, etc.
The only downside is rather inherent in anthology stories, which is you basically start from scratch with each section so you have to build character and story again, but there isn't much of a way around that. Maybe Trick r' Treat handled that better, but I still prefer VHS. It's a little more evident when you have five stories without much connective tissue, but again, you get more variety this way, and the film was well paced so it wasn't a big deal.
I'm kinda sick of the whole found footage thing, but I didn't mind it with this movie. They didn't call attention to it a lot or try to explain why they're filming (Diary of the Dead shame on you) so it works, and you just get engrossed in the stories. The audience gasped a lot, but they laughed too (intentional humor only). Besides seeing Freddy vs Jason with a crowd, this was one of the best times I've had watching a movie in a theater.