Five Tales of the Macabre
Released by: Wild Eye Releasing
Release Date: October 27, 2015
Production Year: 2013
Region Code: 0
Running Time: 1:24:35
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0
Video: NTSC Anamorphic Widescreen
Subtitles: None
THE FILMS - [ 3 / 5 ]:
Serial killers, ghostly phone calls, inner demons, otherworldly monsters and creepy stalkers collide in this frightening anthology. Five of horror's most promising new directing talents join forces to pay homage to classic horror like "Creepshow," "Tales From the Crypt," "V/H/S" and "The ABCs of Death," and weave an unforgettable, disturbing tapestry of terror.
I am a fan of anthologies. They offer the viewer a variety of stories which can be perfect if you have a short attention span or are limited in time but want to watch something. You can just pop in the film and at least watch one story. Also, if one particular part isn't to your liking, hopefully the next part is, which is much better than sitting through a feature length film you aren't enjoying. Today I have the pleasure of sitting down to watch "The Horror Network" which features five tales of the macabre, and being close to Halloween makes it even more fitting. Without spoiling any of the stories, here are the basics.
"3:00 AM" [ 2 / 5 ]
Our first story is about Georgia (Charlotte Armstrong) who has been receiving unusual, possibly prank phone calls at 3:00 AM. We learn a bit about this as she speaks with her friend Izzy (Rachael Groom) oh the phone. Georgia begins to hear odd noises outside and seeing as she lives alone out in the countryside, the solitude doesn't help her fears. Georgia soon learns that phone calls aren't the only thing she has to worry about. "3:00 AM" was directed by Lee Matthews.
"Edward" [ 2.5 / 5 ]
In "Edward," we meet Hal (Nick Frangione) who is having an evening session with his therapist, Dr. Aleksey (Artem Mishin). Hal is troubled, to say the least. He has trouble sleeping and actually, he seems to be afraid of going to sleep. Hal also has problems with his overbearing mother. Oh and he has questions regarding good and evil and questions his doctor about split personalities, which leads to a debate between the two. Both men will learn something and both will be changed forever by the end of the night. "Edward" was directed by Joseph Graham.
"The Quiet" [ 4 / 5 ]
"The Quiet" centers on Alice (Jenni-Lea Finch), a young girl who is mostly deaf but is able to somewhat hear thanks to her hearing aid. She is on the school bus being ridiculed by a couple of rude girls while she is trying to ask her mother via test message if she is going to pick her up at the bus stop. As luck would have it, Alice accidentally leaves her cell phone on the school bus and to make matters worse, a blue van driven by a strange man keeps appearing. Alice ends up running for her life and things go from bad to worse in this eerie little film. "The Quiet" was directed by Lee Matthews and was easily my favorite of the five films included.
"Merry Little Christmas" [ 3.5 / 5 ]
Here we find Miguel (Jan Cornet) visiting his cousin Christina (Macarena Gómez) and aunt Lola (Blanca Rivera). Miguel shows Christina a message on his cell phone which immediately upsets her as she denies whatever the message claims. From there, Christina recalls horrific events from her childhood and we see how those events have affected her family. This story was quite brutal and sad. "Merry Little Christmas" is far from merry and was directed by Manuel Marin.
"The Deviant One" [ 3 / 5 ]
In this tale we meet a man (Brian Dorton) who obviously has some sort of mental disorder. He also happens to be as the title suggests, a deviant. First the deviant commits a heinous act outside his house. Then he invites a stranger in for a drink and things really get freaky. Then to top it all off, the deviant goes about his business, including going to work, as though nothing has happened. The man who played the deviant, Brian Dorton, also directed this depraved segment.
"The Horror Network" comes with a Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track. I thought the sound quality was fine for all of the shorts. At times, the sound effects in the first story were a bit jarring but I believe that was intentional. Just beware, you may not want to have your volume up too loud for that story. Otherwise, there was a good balance in the audio on the DVD. I didn't encounter any problems with the audio.
"The Horror Network" arrives on DVD courtesy of Wild Eye Releasing. The film is presented in NTSC anamorphic widescreen. The video quality for the DVD is pretty good. When you have multiple films, you're going to have different techniques used in the filming process. In "The Quiet' for example, the colors look brilliant with excellent contrast. Overall, the films look above average and have a fair amount of detail in close up shots. Viewers should be pleased with the quality.
Extended Scene: The Deviant One (10:40) - Here there is dialogue present during the film. Also, there's an extended bath tub scene.
Image Gallery (0:37)
Original Trailer (1:09)
Trailers: Includes trailers for 8 films.
IN CONCLUSION:
A good, five story anthology with something for everyone. With the DVD coming out on October 27th, it is just in time for Halloween, although horror films are great any day of the year. The DVD has good audio and video quality. If you like anthologies, you should give this one a look.
OVERALL: [ 3 / 5 ]