Director(s) – James Eaves (Battlefield Deaths Tales, Bane), Pat Higgins (KillerKiller and Hellbride), and Alan Ronald (Jesus Versus the Messiah)
Starring – Eleanor James (Slasher House), Julian Lamoral-Roberts (Doctor Who Online Adventures), and Natalie Milner (Hellbride)
Release Date – 2009
Rating – 3.5/5
Tagline(s) – “Three torrid tales of terror” and “Just don’t ask for a happy ending”
Anthologies. When it comes to anthologies I have a real love/hate relationship with them. I really enjoy watching them. Hell, who doesn’t? Anthologies are perfect for any movie night. If you watch three or four anthology films in one setting then you actually got to watch like 9 or 10 mini-movies at once. Some of my favorite horror flicks just happen to be anthologies and when I get the opportunity to watch one then I always jump on it.
It is at this point that I really start to hate anthologies. Not because I hate them but because reviewing them are a pain in the ass. To truly do the film justice you have to pick apart each story separately. That is when it becomes a pain in the ass to find a format for your review that actually makes sense without taking up way too much of my time. Recently, I received the anthology film Bordello Death Tales from Chemical Burn Entertainment. The name intrigued me and I had to watch it so after I watched the horrible documentary America’s Alien Invasion I decided to watch what was sure to be a great flick.
**Spoiler Alert**Bordello Death Tales follows a mysterious bordello and the madame that runs it as three grisly tales unfold behind it’s doors. The first tale, The Ripper, follows a man obsessed with prostitutes and strippers. After picking out one that meets his expectations he takes her back to his place and kills her up real nice. One dark night he visits the bordello and picks up a beautiful young woman who just happens to be the watchful eye of all prostitutes. The bearded man then has to pay flesh for flesh for all the hookers he killed.
The second story, Stitchgirl, follows a man who is extremely picky about the women he fornicates with. He gives the madame of the bordello a list of what he looks for in a girl and she heads of to get that special girl…or make one. She kills multiple attractive ladies to take the specific body part that meets the grade and stitches them all together to make the perfect slut for the man.
The third and final tale, Vice Day, follows a politician who is looking to get his rocks off and turns to the world of cam girls. He finds a beautiful blonde and the two start having a casual conversation before things turn deadly.**Spoiler Alert**
I love when an anthology has stories that link together with one over-arching story line holding them together. That is one of the many reason I loved the Tales from the Crypt television show so much. Having the cryptkeeper introduce each tale made them all fit together. Bordello Death Tales knew that was crucial for a successful anthology and did just that…for the most part. They were able to keep a book-end story in two of the three stories and that was very effective.
The acting in this one is not the high point of the film. The cast really did try but so many scenes in this flick suffered from awkward dialogue making it difficult at times to watch. The cast shows great charisma and and a knack for being in front of the camera but fell short when the camera was rolling. The stories for this one is ones that has been told before but they were still entertaining. The Ripper was easily the best story in the film with Stitchgirl follow close behind. Both were fun and followed the bordello theme perfectly. Sadly, Vice Day does not entertain nor does it follow the bordello theme. It is obvious it was not filmed with the other segments and edited to fit with the film.
Finally, the film has some very bloody kills, decent special effects, and great gothic atmosphere. The Ripper is the bloodiest segment which showcased some decent gore while Stitchgirl is able to demonstrate some great atmosphere that rivals the classic Universal monster movies and Tim Burton’s early works. Sadly, Vice Day skips on this as well. Overall, Bordello Death Tales is a great anthology that deserves to be watched. The film has beautiful camera work, blood, beautiful women, and some great atmosphere that many modern films skip. This is one anthology that should not be skipped!
