Killer Stories is a horror anthology where Jason Impey (director) re-edited his films Tormented, Sick Bastard, and Home Made into 30 minutes films and shot a wrap around storyline.
The first short is about a woman who is attacked and kidnapped while waiting for a train. Her attacker turns out to be an old school mate who is seeking revenge for the cruel abuse he suffered at the hands of the woman and her friends. Supposedly he has killed his tormentors, leaving the woman las because of his feeling he has/had for her.
I’m really not knowledgeable about train stations in England, but it seems the one used for this opening short is far too isolated and out of place since the only two people there are the woman and her attacker. It’s a little too unrealistic of a setting and way too predictable as to what will happen. Once again our director has turned to a different kind of horror for these shorts – torture horror, and this opening story seems to have the same vibe as the Hostel or Saw franchise. Overall, it’s not a bad little short for an Indie movie. The story builds upon fear and suspense from start to finish.
The second short is a story about a man who escapes a mental institution and goes on a murderous rampage.
I think this director really likes Halloween although I’m not sure if it’s John Carpenter’s version or Rob Zombies’ version he’s trying to emulate. I don’t really think it matters because this short is a train wreck and the caboose never left the station.
Tell me readers, is it possible to kill someone with an ordinary stapler? Don’t answer that. I guess I should ask…never mind…it doesn’t matter. The story or the plot is plain sloppy. The acting is about on par or just below that line and everything else is…have you ever listen to a small child tell you a story of something that happened to them? They are extremely excited and all the details get jumbled together and/or out of order. This story is worse than that.
And just when I thought this anthology had derailed, we get this last short which proves the train didn’t derail, it ran smack off the rails at left field.
The third and finally short centers around Jack who professes to be the last original horror filmmaker. He can profess this because he states that his films are snuff.
I don’t about snuff films, but this finally short is certainly something – plain bad. Once again we have story that’s just all over the place along with the acting. I understand what the director and screenwriter were trying to accomplish but the end product is just more of the same – a bunch of bits and pieces stuck together because that’s what the director wanted. It’s like watching someone try to stuff a round peg into a square hole.
There’s a point in the movie where a woman is begging for her life. “Please help me. Please make it stop. Please don’t let it hurt,” and I was right their with her, begging for it to stop. Granted we were pleading for two different things.
Bottom line, with two movies in and a third to go, I’m starting to see a pattern forming. It seems that when the director takes his time and let’s a story unfold, he accomplishes his goal of having a descent B movie, but often times the movies seemed rushed and the storytelling falls apart. I don’t want to be told a story, I want to see the story and watch it unfold as good horror movies often do.
