The Horror Vault
Nine tales of human cruelty, nine tales of human depravity, nine tales of true horror.
Anthologies can be strange beasts. By bringing together a variety of short films, this format can often provide an opportunity for audiences, without much risk, to see films from writers and directors they may otherwise be unaware of. Anthologies also provide an opportunity for filmmakers to experiment with styles and themes and to show off what they’re capable of.
Inevitably a film such as this one, which brings together nine films around a common theme of madness and cruelty, is going to be a mixed bag. But it’s a mixed bag that’s well worth looking into and one which manages to maintain a consistently high standard throughout.
After a nicely retro nod to the grindhouse/midnight movie concept with a couple of fake trailers (the first of which I’d quite like to see as a full film) we’re into the feature presentation with When John Met Julia, a short and strikingly effective story of murder and revenge starring Kim Sønderholm and Claire Ross-Brown.
Delusion is a much larger film and one that successfully evokes the gothic dramas of the 1950s and early 60s. Set in a society ball, the film centres on Flynn Bentwood (Jonathon Trent), a young man with a secret to protect. Paranoia descends into madness in this superbly realised piece of double period fiction – it really does feel like you’re watching a 1950s film set in the 1920s – and the ending is both shocking and inevitable.
Alone has a much more 1980s feel and centres on Ellen (Mandy Amano) a young woman alone in her sorority house when she discovers there’s a killer on campus. The film is certainly well made – if a little heavy on the voice-over – and writer/director Kenny Selko has a real feel for atmosphere. Unfortunately the film also has an air of predictability to it and really needed more of a twist ending to keep it from becoming too clichéd.
Dead to the World brings us back to the present day with an experimental take on the Ted Bundy story. This was possibly the most frustrating films in the collection because, although some potentially interesting themes are hinted at, the length of the film didn’t really allow them to be developed. Consequently the short felt like the opening scenes of a longer – and better – feature.
Mental Distortion, on the other hand, is exactly the right length and tells the story of Pete (Kim Sønderholm) who wakes up to discover his wife, dead in the bath. This is a genuinely creepy film and one that really did give me the shivers.
Disconnected is painful, very painful. Not only is the film is very violent, it’s also both graphic and explicit to the point that it becomes difficult – if not impossible – to watch at times. However all of this is more than redeemed by a brilliantly absurdist punchline that is impossible not to appreciate.
Things take a turn for the surreal with the Demon, a dialogue-free tale that centres on a man haunted by his own ghosts. This is a stylish, striking and unnerving film that manages to keep you completely off-balance as to what is real and what isn’t, right up to the genuinely powerful conclusion.
Things stay surreal with Echoes in which a man wakes up, handcuffed to a bed, in what appears to be a dilapidated nursing home. This film is drenched in atmosphere and really does draw you into the events on screen. The film is sweaty, scary and genuinely unnerving.
And finally there is Retina which is both surreal and nihilistic but shot through with a dark streak of absurdist humour. The film is unique, gripping and impossible to do justice to.
Overall, The Horror Vault manages to be funny, frightening, scary and surreal. If this film is indicative of the state of independent horror then the genre is in very good shape indeed.
Tuesday 22 Apr 2008 | Paul Pritchard | Horror
