The Horror Show
The Horror Network, Volume 1
by Brian Dorton, Joseph Graham,
Manuel Marin, Lee Matthews,
Douglas Conner, Ignacio Martin Lerma
By this point it is no secret that I am a big fan of the anthology film. In the last round of reviews I tackled two, although this one was more of a happy accident. All Hallows Eve 2 was simply a must since I love the first one so much and it just so happened that the second film, In the Dark I found interesting enough to take a look at as well. Both movies were a lot of fun and represented a lot of what I love about the sub-genre so I found myself hooked again. I had a taste of that sweet multiple-story sugar and needed to go on another binge. Because of this I did some digging and found more films of the style.
The first one on the list of options I decided to check out was The Horror Network. It was released by Wild Eye releasing, the company that released the last few Caesar and Otto films (favorites of mine) as well as many other titles. The description promised “Serial killers, ghostly phone calls, inner demons, otherworld monsters, and creepy stalkers.” All in all, it does technically deliver on all these things.
The opening at first looked like a trailer to me before I realized that it wouldn't make much sense for a digital rental to have something like that. There isn't really a frame story of which to speak. The majority of the opening is just a young woman walking around a house reacting to different spooky moments until coming across a Jack-in-the-box. There isn't much exposition but it makes a little sense in the end. The way the opening incorporates the Jack-in-the-box reminded me of the classic creepypasta in which the babysitter sees the creepy statue outside, but in a more watered down way that doesn't really have the same effect. It just kind of borrows the twist and keeps going from there. I will admit the close of the segment was pretty cool and I was relieved to see an actual opening sequence following this. I was getting concerned it was going to be a bunch of things thrown together without any form of segmentation. I had to go back and re-watch it to realize that it too had a title, 3:00 AM. At the time I must have just thought that was letting you know the time frame and I'm still not completely sure about this element. But I'll count it as the first story as I'm fairly certain at this point this is the case.
The next story then presents itself. Entitled “Arthur” the story deals with a young man speaking with a therapist. The man is clearly supposed to be troubled and moody, but comes across more annoying and cliché. It's as if the most stable-minded person in the world tried to write a mentally-ill character. He has issues with his mother and now is having trouble sleeping. What could have been an interesting segment instead comes across tedious and forced. It's not horrible and I give the actors credit at times, but overall it feels random and unfocused.
The Quiet concerns a young girl with a hearing problem who is expecting to be picked up on a lone road by her mother. Instead she finds herself in a chase with a mysterious van and the man inside. This story is on the minimalist side and so to explain much more would just boil down to flat out stating what happens. There's some imagery mixed in that feels equal parts interesting and unnecessary and leaves a few questions, but overall I liked this segment. The main girl does a great job with her role, especially considering she has no dialogue. In fact there is no real verbal back and forth of which to speak until the end. The ending itself left me just the smallest bit confused. Overall was great and closed up the story nicely.
Merry Little Christmas took me by surprise, but in a good way. As the title suggests, this story takes place around Christmas time and is a much more disturbing tale than the previous two. The story is about a woman dealing with a horrible trauma she experienced as a child around Christmas and the people around her who have to, in turn, deal with her unfortunate state. I won't go into the actual event that is haunting her as to do so would be doing a great disservice. This segment is more violent and extreme which was a nice change of pace, especially for me as that's typically my favorite type of horror. At first I was a little confused about how everything fit together, but as the narrative played out everything fell into place. This one gets a bit artsy, but it absolutely works for what the story is.
The final segment, The Deviant One, is a B&W, dialogue-free story that can feel a little heavy handed and pretentious at times, but it grew on me. The story is segmented with bible quotes and follows a man who does some... nasty things. To explain too much more would once again just be a case of telling you what happens, but in this case it's because this is an overall short and simple story. Where Merry Little Christmas was legitimately morbid, this one seemed more interested in being shock-based, but never really commits. I'm a diehard shock-horror fan but this one felt more like a first attempt at a short film that maybe would have become something better later on if remade with more guts and detail. The ending seems to think that it's the finale of all finales but it's a more familiar concept than the creators would probably want you to believe. It works effectively enough, however, and it makes for a fun story.
It is here that the movie simply ends, bringing up the credits. While the actual digital rental I watched was titled The Horror Network, the full title is actually The Horror Network Volume 1. This seems to imply that this is only one collection of short films in a whole series and in the end “collection” is a better term for the project than “anthology” in my humble opinion. The film mixes cultures, having segments featuring characters from different countries and accents, etc. This probably has to do with the array of different writers and directors. The styles differ quite a bit, most likely in part for the same reason. None of the stories have a trace of humor but some are darker and more graphic than others, especially the third segment which I would have to objectively call my favorite.
All in all, while The Horror Network wasn't as consistently great as the last few movies of the variety that I’ve seen, it really picked up momentum and the good parts of it were enough to leave me with an overall positive impression. I'm definitely going to keep my eyes open for Volume 2. I'm sure the next grab-bag will have some talented elements as well and I'd like to see that.
P.J. Griffin, HMS
The Horror Show Menu.