The Horror Show
Fun Size Horror: Volume One
by Bryan Chojnowski, Lisa J. Dooley,
Ned Ehrbar, Mali Elfman, Dick Grunert,
Max Isaacson, Anthony Lund,
Michael May, Glen Murakami, Grant Olin,
Ali Presley Paras, Eric Pereira, Zeke Pinheiro,
Jerry Pyle, Anisa Qureshi, Ben Rekhi,
Erin Stegeman, Josh C. Walter
My love of the anthology continues to be expressed with my viewing of Fun Size Horror: Volume 1. By the title and description it was clear that this was more of a short film collection than a classic style anthology film. I usually prefer the latter but what could have been a handful of tedious short projects looking for a home instead turned out to be a polished movie with everyone on board, including 17 credited directors, dedicating their time and effort to fun and mayhem.
The opening to Bite Size Horror is a fun little animated moment followed by a simple cut to the title of the first short, which happens to be When They Say You're Alone. Knowing that this was more of a collection I was pleased with the bold, simple way the movie got started, designating the individual stories with a simple acknowledgment of a title and getting to point.
When They Say You're Alone gets things started with a visually creepy short about a young woman having nightmares. Or are they genuine night visitations? The short and sweet film sets down the tone for the following material. As the title suggests, these aren't 10-25 minute segments, but bite, or “fun sized” little flicks that occasionally last no longer than a minute. Strictly length-wise the closest comparison would be the style of the ABC's of Death series. This first little flick is a competent little slice and opens the film nicely.
From there we move onto Knock Knock, another bedroom based story, this time about a young boy and the monster in his room. It's also a neat story, if only a little too closely related to the plot of the first. The next story has no title, which is jarring and occasionally happens throughout the length of the overall project. The vast majority of the stories have titles but the few that don't stand out, as leaving this element off feels needlessly inconsistent. It isn't a big problem, though, and is easily forgotten once the third story gets going. This segment deals with an annoying girl's birthday party and what happens when she gets a puppy. It adds a more colorful daytime setting and begins to show the contrast between the different stories.
Once the film gets rolling I couldn't help but have a great time. The stories are all so unique and different from one another while still having the same fun style. It reminded me of All Hallows Eve 2 which I absolutely mean as a compliment. There are a lot of stories here and they are well made with a fun quality to them, leaving the film with a roller coaster type of feel to it.
The various stories throughout the film incorporate a vast array of subjects including self-mutilation, strange sounds in the attic, reality shows taken to the extreme, bone piles, and movies-within-movies. There's masked intruders, dismembering, ghosts, screaming, and serious bug problems. Some will make you squirm, others will make you jump, but the majority of them leave their mark. There's a large variety of interesting stylistic choices that never feel pretentious or overly unneeded. The diverse ways the films showcase what they've got is a large part of the fun. If a story decides to go with muted colors or split off into four perspectives, it feels right to the individual project and never feels like it's just trying to be artsy for art’s sake.
One story even involves two characters made out of hand puppets And by that I don't mean puppets slipped over a person's hands, I mean the film utilizes human hands with googly eyes stuck to them and the movement of the fingers to simulate talking. And you know what? It's awesome! I only wish I could have seen more from the concept but it fits the theme of the film adding to the humor.
One of the stories entitled The Creepy Fucking Kid in Apartment B was very similar to a story or “horror riddle” I had read prior. I'm not saying that to call it out as stealing anything, simply to point out that I hadn't known that this concept was known lore outside what I had read and it was fun to see it play out, although it jumbles the concept more than the way that I had first experienced it. It does have a great title, though.
Another story, entitled Trust showed how humorous the project could be and I found it to be genuinely funny. It represented what I liked about Fun Size Horror in general. Featuring two kids testing each other with various dangerous elements, it throws a dash of levity among the danger and violence and keeps the movie moving along nicely.
Not every story is going to be committed to memory and there are a few weak bits, even to a couple of the good ones here and there. A few lines every once in a while will be a bit awkward or handled with underwhelming care. Sometimes a story will try to mix tones and not quite nail it, but with each tale being handled by different writers/directors that is to be expected to an extent. And the good strongly outweighs the bad overall.
The only familiar face in Fun Size Horror for me was Lance Reddick, who I recognized from Oz and The Wire. The vast majority of the cast does well with what they are given, though, and the fact that it's mostly unknowns worked out just fine and allowed me to get lost in the stories presented. Although Lance Reddick was awesome in his story playing a mysterious photographer, because he's awesome in everything.
There's no such thing as a movie that everyone on earth will love but there seems to be plenty in this flick for all different kinds of horror fans. It's never a drag and moves at such a pace that even if you aren't feeling a particular story you can rest assured that another is coming up soon. I would definitely recommend this one and I am looking forward to the next installment.
P.J. Griffin, HMS
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