By Geno McGahee
Horror anthologies are becoming more common nowadays and it’s thanks in large part to the horror filmmakers connecting via social media. Most filmmakers lean towards making short films and an anthology is a collection of short films. So, it makes sense for filmmakers to team up and make a feature rather than trying to publicize their short film. This is what we get with THE HORROR NETWORK, created by Brian Dorton and Douglas Conner and distributed by Wild Eye Releasing.
When I first saw the cover for THE HORROR NETWORK, I assumed that the creature on the cover was created strictly to sell the movie. With the indie horror scene, it’s very common to buy an image or create one to sell the movie and then the viewer sits there and wonders where the hell it is. That is not the case here. The cool monster thing on the cover is actually in the film and actually looked better in reality. Not that it was really real. You know what I mean.
There is no wraparound tale here. This is strictly short films jammed together with no rhyme or reason, but it’s a nice selection. It’s like one of those candy grab bags you used to get as a child. There was no rhyme or reason there either, but dammit, it was still good candy.
3:00 AM
Georgia (Charlotte Armstrong) has a strange feeling that somebody is watching her. She drives home and cannot relax. She finds a jack in the box and those are always creepy. The room get consumed by darkness with just enough light to see Georgia’s face and then the really creepy stuff happens.
This is a very short tale with some great cinematography. I was impressed with the look, location and payoff at the end. Remarkably, for as short as this tale was, I really liked it. Lee Matthews, the writer and editor of 3:00 AM did a lot with a little. Rating: 7/10
EDWARD
The prize of this collection goes to EDWARD. Hal (Nick Frangione) is having serious issues. He is meeting with his psychotherapist, Dr. Aleksey (Artem Mishin) to discuss his night terrors. Hal thinks that he might have a split personality and that other side of him is aggressive and deadly. Aleksey is a skeptic and tries to talk some sense into his patient. He puts him under hypnosis and that’s when things really get interesting and when this tale comes together in a very dramatic and intense way.
Frangione deserves great credit for his acting in this tale. Actually, Mishin was quite good too, but Frangione stole the show. Credit to Joseph Graham for writing such an interesting story with great dialogue. Rating: 7.5/10
THE QUIET
Alice (Jenni-Lea Finch) is a young girl that is the subject of bullying due to her disability. She awaits her mom to pick her up off the school bus but sees a blue van instead and a man that apparently has some ulterior motives. The chase is on and that is basically what this tale is. The acting is remarkably good, it’s shot well, but it’s rather simple. Lee Matthews once again brings some expertise in the execution of the production but there is just something missing here. It’s very forgettable. Rating: 5/10
MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS
OK, you ever watch something and then just sit there and wonder what the hell you just watched? That is how I feel about MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS, a film with English subtitles and perhaps that is where the confusion lies. I just don’t get it, but I know there is some rape here, a monster that looks really cool and some women with a dark past. There are also a lot of cringe-worthy moments. This tale, directed by Alejandro Rius, doesn’t pull any punches and wants the audience to squirm. I don’t know if I liked it or not. Rating: 5.5/10
THE DEVIANT ONE
If you didn’t get enough rape from MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS, then get ready for some more. We have the deviant one (Brian Dorton) having a dude over the house. He then attacks him and rapes him and we find out that he has a career that is totally opposite of rape. This tale is very very simple and was shot in black and white. I see so many indie efforts go black and white and maybe I’m not artistic enough to understand why ass rape needed to be shown in black and white, but apparently it did. This tale wasn’t good. It wasn’t bad. It was basically just a little message that you can’t trust a position. Dorton wrote this one, but I don’t remember any lines. In the end, this tale is going to be one of the ones that you forget after watching this one. Rating: 4/10
THE HORROR NETWORK is actually a very decent watch with a nice blend of different horror approaches. There is some technical stuff that was bothersome, but it didn’t take away from the enjoyment of the film. I consider this as sort of a first impression or hello from some aspiring filmmakers that hope to scare you in the future and they may not have all put their best foot forward, but they stepped up enough to produce something that is worth a watch. I recommend this.
Overall rating: 6/10
The October 27th DVD release (SRP $19.95) of The Horror Network will exclusively include an extended cut of Brian Dorton’s The Deviant One and trailers.
