Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Is 2011 the return of the horror anthology film?

Is it me or did it seem the horror anthology seem to have died since the heyday of Creepshow and Tales from the Darkside? With Trick R Treat being somewhat successful utilizing the horror anthology theme, I've noticed a rise in the amount of horror anthologies of late. And I like it. Maybe it's because I never took notice before, but my "to watch list" now includes a few horror anthologies on my radar. These all have some big name directors you may have notice and some you don't.

But I think this may be a big year for the return of the horror anthology. As horror fans, this can only be good. Talented directors collaborating their talents to tell their story in one feature film. That's like a buffet of bloody awesomeness. Here are a few that I've taken an interest in.

1.) Slices of Life

Director: Anthony G. Sumner

Plot: Sexual Parasites, Disembowelment, Zombies, Serial Killers, Demon Children, Violent Vixens, Rabid Office Workers and Angry Embryos all spring to life from the flesh covered sketch books featured in Anthony G. Sumner's (Gallery of Fear) SLICES OF LIFE.

Mira (Kaylee Williams) awakens in front of a seedy roadside motel with amnesia. She searches for clues to her identity in the pages of three bound sketchbooks, in which each book represents a different aspect of everyday life, maybe her life.

WORK LIFE A lowly clerk at a nano technology firm unleashes a deadly virus at the office headquarters, giving new meaning to the term corporate zombie.

HOME LIFE As local girls begin to disappear, a young pregnant woman is haunted by visions of evil demonic children hell bent on stealing her unborn fetus.

SEX LIFE A young brother and sister on the run from a sexually abusive home life, take refuge in a countryside Victorian manor- only to discover the monsters hidden in this house have been looking for a new home. Convinced that the characters from these books are roaming around the motel, Mira's reality begins to crumble. Are these visions real or is she going insane? Desperate, Mira turns to the motel caretakers (Marv Blauvelt and Helene Alter-Dyche), only to discover the true evil bound in the flesh covered books and the destiny they hold for her.





2.) The Black Box


Directors: Scott Dawson & David Sherbrook, Buz Danger Wallick, Andrew Kasch , Jonathan Lewis & Jerry Franck

Plot: Eight year old Bobby is a strange boy. Between spying on his teenage sister's sexual exploits, and peeping at his prostitute mother in the nude. Bobby loves to watch the midnight horror shows. But when the host of Bobby's favorite horror show begins speaking to Him directly, and the people in his life dreadfully appear to him on television, the lines of reality and fiction start to blur!! More info here.




3.) Chillerama

Directors: Adam Green, Joe Lynch, Adam Rifkin, Tim Sullivan

Plot: The last drive-in theater in America is closing its doors. The owner is having one final night.

(via Bloody Disgusting)

Rifkin's segment is entitled "Wadzilla", which is in sprint of '50s monster movies. It's about a guy looking to raise his sperm count, and things going disastrously wrong. The special effects work are being done by Chiodo brothers (Killer Klowns from Out Space).

Sullivan is presenting "I Was a Teenage Werebear", which is like '50s surf movie (Beach Blanket Bingo).

Green presents "The Diary of Anne Frankenstein", which is a '40s war film starring Joel Moore (Avatar, Hatchet), Kane Hodder (Friday the 13th films, Hatchet), and Kristina Klebe (Halloween, BreadCrumbs). It's about Hitler (played by Moore) creating the perfect killing machine to win the war.

Lynch will bring us a new zombie movie that's in the vein of '70s/'80s undead flicks. Lynch says the best way to sum it up is "when there's no more room in hell, the dead will f*ck the earth."


4.) The Theater Bizarre

Directors: Richard Stanley, Tom Savini, Buddy Giovinazzo, Karim Hussain, Douglas Buck, David Gregory

Plot: THE THEATRE BIZARRE is an anthology horror film set in an old, disused theatre wherein six twisted tales play out over the course of one night. Each tale, inspired by the term "Grand Guignol", is the work of a different director: Buddy Giovinazzo (COMBAT SHOCK), Douglas Buck (SISTERS), David Gregory (PLAGUE TOWN), Karim Hussain (SUBCONSCIOUS CRUELTY), Jeremy Kasten (WIZARD OF GORE), Tom Savini (NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD) and Richard Stanley (HARDWARE). Daryl J. Tucker Presents A Severin Films Production In Association With Metaluna Productions.

5.) Little Deaths

Directors: Sean Hogan, Andrew Parkinson, Simon Rumley

Plot: Composed of three disturbingly sensual and terrifying short narratives, unified by the twin themes of sex and death.





6.) Psycho Street

Directors: Anthony G. Sumner, Pete Jacelone, Raine Brown
Plot: Four Twisted Tales that lead to a Dead End. Details of each segment can be found here.

Trailer for short "Lewis"




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Which horror anthology are you excited for? I'm kinda psyched for SOL, The Black Box and Chillerama. Have I missed an upcoming horror anthology? Let me know!

1 comment:

  1. Hey Jaded, thanks for the mention! Unfortunately, The Black Box premiered last October in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond anyone's control, that will go down in history as the only time that film was ever shown as a whole.

    The good news? We over at Infested Films decided there was still room to make a feature anthology film, so we're back with CLOSING COSTS, featuring THE MORNING AFTER, FREDDIE AND THE GOBLINS, and FATHER LAND.

    "When he suspects the house he's trying to sell is cursed, John relives the morbid tales of death that have occurred inside. Prepare yourself for the wildest anthology you'll see this year!"

    Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDa1o3Hxek8&feature=related
    Facebook (full site coming soon)
    http://www.facebook.com/closingcosts

    As we have it finished, you'll be one of the first people to watch it thanks to your unconditional love!

    ReplyDelete