By Melissa Antoinette Garza
Years ago, I saw Kolobos. It was long before the reign of mockumentary, found-footage, and reality show based horror flicks. It was years prior to the Paranormal Activity Franchise, the Grave Encounter films and it even was released a few years before Halloween: Resurrection. Kolobos not only did it first, but did it better than those movies.
It is honestly better than the mother of modern found-footage flicks, The Blair Witch Project which only came out two months prior to this little known gem. It follows a group of 90s popular archetypes as they are chosen for a reality show similar to the first few seasons of The Real World. They have full access to a house with all amenities but they are to be filmed 24 hours a day 7 days a week. It’s quite hilarious because in one scene, a character is thrilled at the prospect of a big screen television which is about a 24 inch small box TV. My brother Geno pointed that out while I watched it with him, and the only assumption we can come to is the script was never revised when they were unable to secure a large screen set for the film.
Even with something as silly as that oversight and despite the unrealistic nature of the characters used, the movie delivers. First, the avenue of using pure stereotypes which is usually a tell-tale sign of a bad movie, works here. These are individuals who had to fit into a certain category to get picked to be on the show, so it makes sense that those chosen would be the ones who stand-out and represent the style of the late 90s.
As the group gets to know one another, they realize that one girl Kyra (Amy Weber) was just released from a mental hospital and is on medication she claims is just for anxiety. More than that, she’s an artist who creates disturbing violent drawings that though she attempts to hide from everyone, they’re revealed.
Soon, Kyra’s mental well-being deteriorates as she sees people without faces coming after her. Sometimes, they are straight-up
hallucinations and no one is there; but other times it is her roommates that appear to have their eyes and lips distorted into a blur.
When the director and much of the stars end up getting killed, the survivors instantly suspect Kyra. Locked in the house, everyone searches for an escape and attempt to stay away from the nutjob by locking her in the bathroom.
The conclusion and reveal though for some horror aficionados may be easy to guess, it’s nonetheless a cool concept and the audience is left with opening for a sequel that never materialized.
Overall, I highly suggest this movie. Some of the hallucinations are quite effective in providing scares. The plot though simple is interesting, and the acting was surprisingly well done adding depth to characters that otherwise easily could have been empty.
This film is very similar to another underrated horror production called Headspace (2005). The theme of both movies and the parallels
between our protagonist are equally compelling. The only reason I’d give Headspace and edge would be that the brilliant horror icon Olivia Hussey brought her presence and talent as she portrayed Dr. Karen Murphy.
Both movies are definitely worth checking out. If you’re in the mood for some psychological horror, suspense, and a fun premise – seek these out!
Scared Stiff Rating: 7/10
THE NEWEST HORROR COLLECTION IS UNLEASHED – ORDER NOW!
<
