By Melissa Ann
I’m a longtime fan of horror anthologies and indie filmmaking. When I saw the trailer for Dreadtime Stories, I was beyond excited to check it out. Director Jacob Grim and Executive Producer Sal Hernandez from STX Media brought 10 stories to life in their first full length feature film. They had an extremely small budget, but Jacob and Sal didn’t let it show much. Their movie has something for every horror fan – cannibals, psychos, monsters, werewolves, witches, gore, and even a creepy ass clown.
Dreadtime Stories begins with a college student interning at a funeral home. He’s tasked with removing belongings out of a dead man’s pockets. The recently deceased was rumored to have been into the occult, so when the intern stumbles across an odd looking book, his curiosity gets the better of him and he takes it. He leaves work and heads to a house party, where the book is discovered by friends. It gets passed around, story after story being read. I won’t spoil what this means for the party-goers, but there’s a reason the movie’s tag line is “Some stories are better left untold”.
While the acting throughout the film is decent (especially given the almost nothing budget), you can tell that most aren’t professional actors. The weakest performances are given during the party scenes that show the overarching storyline between segments. Still, it didn’t stop me from having a fun viewing experience.
Dreadtime Stories was recently screened at Texas Frightmare Weekend, Southwest’s premiere horror convention in Dallas, Texas. I attend this convention every year, but was unable to make it to the screening on the first night. However, I heard positive comments about Dreadtime Stories throughout the whole weekend, so kudos STX Media. I think we’ll see some fantastic future projects from these guys.
Rating: 7/10
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