The Horror Show
Forgotten Tales
by Reyna Young
If a film has the word “Tales” in it, there's a good chance I'm going to be interested. I love those little sweet bits of slicing and dicing, of monsters and ghosts, all told in a one-after-the-other format. This is why Forgotten Tales is a title that grabbed me right away. What were these forgotten tales of which the film's title refers? In the end, “Forgotten” works more as a generic word thrown in for titular purposes. The tales weren't so much forgotten as they are simply stories, but there was some fun to be had too. So, let's take a look at what fun the film contains.
Forgotten Tales is free of any type of real frame story. It's simply one segment after another, which loses some of the fun associated with anthologies, but is certainly forgivable. The viewer is given a small opening segment, but it really doesn't introduce the segments in any way and feels more like the project simply needed some kind of opening. Through this start, however, I got a sense of what was to come; the filming quality, sound quality, overall feel, etc. The first full setup deals with a young woman who has recently divorced and moved into a new house alone. The house may be “new” to her, but it has a history… a history that may not be considered an ideal situation for a homeowner. Even if it's not overly original, I did follow the intended beats of the film. I was surprised when I was supposed to be and I genuinely wasn't sure how it would turn out.
The next tale features a young woman who is about to go babysitting. Everything seems normal enough; the parent is enthusiastic and friendly and the child is sleeping upstairs, recovering from surgery. All the girl has to do is order pizza for herself and watch cable. At least that would be the case, if there weren't a homicidal maniac carving up folks in the area. Admittedly, the concept of a slasher stalking a babysitter who must fight to survive is not the most original of concepts. However, it kept my attention and at least somewhat did its own thing with the setup. It never completely distances itself from Halloween or When a Stranger Calls, but there's at least some attempt to be surprising, and in that respect it paid off for me. There's plenty of fresh directions a film dealing with a babysitter can go (as evidenced by McG's 2017 film which I've spoken volumes about my love for) but this “forgotten tale” goes the expected direction. For what it is, I at least found it entertaining.
Finally, we move onto a story revolving around a woman who is on her way to an audition. When she gets there, however, she becomes uneasy with the man behind the camera. This is the segment that I found the most unique. I'm not saying it's anything super game-changing. It deals with stalking and obsession and some classic concepts, however, it doesn't feel like a rehashing of anything and I truly found myself perplexed as to where it was going and how it would turn out. This feeling of originality may have simply been because it was against the backdrop of the previous stories, but I'll still put it in the successful category. I certainly think this was the right segment to end with.
I'm not going to pretend that Forgotten Tales is a film that I expect to remember a year from now. I may remember a moment or a specific story, but odds are it will be a memory that gets confused with countless other anthologies that never quite rose to the point of standing out. I guess the title is unintentionally accurate in that sense as the film is fairly forgettable. It's a shorter running time, but given the lack of wraparound and the fact that there is only a trio of full stories, it feels long enough. There's only so much steam to go around and the film uses it all up by the end. Any bloodshed that makes it to the screen is done in the most minimal way possible; lots of quick editing, joined with stabbing sounds, fake blood and some minor cuts to clothing is about all you're going to get. However, this fact never takes away from the film as it's more about the series of events than reddening up the details.
One element of Forgotten Tales that I will call out in a positive way is the film's decision to connect the stories. There are characters that appear in more than one chapter of the film and this leads to some cleverness. There was at least one time I found myself going “Oh! That's what was going on earlier” and I think that's neat. It's certainly not the first anthology film to do this, especially considering the existence of Michael Dougherty's masterpiece Trick 'r Treat. This isn't done in high volume necessarily, however, and it's nice to see the effort Forgotten Tales added in to this aspect.
While I'll admit that Forgotten Tales is an unremarkable experience overall, I still see merit in the project. I was entertained throughout and while not all the acting was stellar, most performers seem to be having a good time with their roles and this always adds a touch of charm to a movie for me. Also, the film follows in Creepshow's footsteps slightly with illustrated accompaniment to the more important moments of each story. It's little touches like these that make the film feel just the tiniest bit above some of the duller flicks I've seen. While I will not confidently tell anyone to run out and see the film as soon as possible, I will say that some will enjoy it
P.J. Griffin, HMS
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