I’ve been promoting this anthology for what seems like forever, so I’m happy that I finally received a screener to view! My hope going into my viewing was that it lives up to the momentum I helped to build with the production team.
Dreadtime Stories is written and directed by Jacob Grim with executive producer Sal Hernandez. Cast members include Tania S. Monroy, Patty Spence, John Gonzalez, Howard Voight, Buddy Smith, Hank Vasquez, Jordan Bruster-Campo, Laura Schmitt, Aileen Corpos, Andrea De La Garza, James Darrell Malicoat, Terran Sanchez, Lisa McGrew, Brianna Elaine, Zandor Wamsley, Mason Rodrigue, Mike Mattison, Cary Cadena, Ronny Holiday, Michael Cristian, Lance Russell, Jason Lee Garcia, Amanda Grim, Kasie Fierova, Sal Hernandez, and many more.
I think the easiest way to review this anthology is to give a small break down of each short film, with notes and a score for each one. Then at the end I’ll give you my overall opinion. Here we go!
Interludes – This is what I’m calling the wrap around story and segments between shorts, the “interludes.” Follows a party with all the typical archetype horror film characters. Great thing about this was that all the characters were well written and were great performers, too! My favorite was Tania S. Monroy. She struck me instantly with her beauty and I thought, “Please be a good actress!” and she was. A fun little story that could hold its own independently. Score: 7.5/10
Home Cooking – It’s a very friendly segment that is an odd place to start the anthology. It has a really catchy tune, though, so I was jamming along and looking at the recipe, getting real hungry… Then it hit me, “When is the horror going to actually start?” Well, it comes out of no where and goes just a little bit too far. Score: 6/10
Forgotten – It features a typical, over-aggressive and angry boss that I think we can all relate to during some part of our working careers. The audio is a little fish bowl-y, a term I use to describe audio that has an echo for no reason, during the beginning and during a voice over. Eventually, the story takes a drastic turn, then turns back, then heads there again. It’s really a push and pull story that ends with an exceptionally gory scene. Score: 8/10
Harvest Hollow – Don’t we all love a good scarecrow flick? This one was different than most others because the majority of it took place during the day, establishing the suspense and flushing out the story. When it’s finally time to see the scarecrow, I have to say it was lackluster and not worth the wait. I could have rated this segment much higher had extra effort been put into the costume design. Score: 6.5/10
Useless – This segment was by far the slowest and the least interesting, so it absolutely has the perfect title. I even saw a glaring goof of the car inspection sticker reading 9/2013 despite the film being released in 2015. Still, it has good acting and good special effects, however that wasn’t enough to save it from being my least favorite. Score: 5/10
Wits End – As with one of the other segments, this is one we – as horror fans – can all relate to; the typical date night with your significant other who just doesn’t get the allure of horror films. There’s even Scream-like dialogue and references to real life horror conventions. It’s a really good quasi-parody of slasher flicks that ends with a phenomenal chase scene between the survivor girl and the killer. My favorite segment despite the predictable twist ending. Score: 8.5/10
Stained Affection – First one with slight nudity. Yeah, I noticed it! It’s another stalker/slasher like the previous short, but it’s not nearly as interesting. The concept of a killer lovingly obsessed with his victim has been done before and better. Creepy character concept, though, and an awesome bathroom death. Score: 6.5/10
Punishment – Just like the first segment, I don’t know why this was chosen as one of the shorts that make up the anthology. The plot centers around a good ol’ mob story. Brutal, timeless, and made me want a cigar. Again I was left waiting for the horror and ended up howling when it finally happened. Score: 7/10
Empty – A great story that mixes a classic urban legend – the ghost girl picked up on the side of the road – and elements reminiscent of The Grudge. Brought me back to my childhood for a moment. It was handled more smoothly than I thought it was going to be and ended up being my second short in the film. Score: 8/10
Distention – Sad, but unrealistic. A battered women’s shelter would not turn away a battered pregnant woman for any reason. Anyway, I think this one had the best acting out of all the pieces that make up the anthology. It dealt with witchcraft, which is such a smart route to take because, from what I understand, witchcraft is heavily routed in female empowerment, fertility, etc. Score: 7/10
Overall, Dreadtime Stories is a fairly decent anthology. While the segments weren’t always cohesive, the filmmaking process that brought this to life is. A lot of the time in horror anthologies, the segments look different from short to short and it’s obvious that it’s pieces of a puzzle. Although I pointed out a goof during one of the segments, I’m actually glad that Jacob Grim and Sal Hernandez took their time with filming. Had it been rushed, it may have looked like it was a cooperative effort from different directors. The duo, the founders of STX Media, have something and I’d love to see them tackle a slasher feature film in the future with Tania S. Monroy as the lead actress.
As you can see from my scores above, Dreadtime Stories has its lows, its average moments, and hits highs. When it’s bad, it’s just barely average; when it’s good it’s great but ends up blowing the ending. In the future, I’d love for the writers to think of more interesting ways to cap off their films. I felt like a few of the endings were cop outs and just a way to end the story in a quick way. I could have rated several shorts higher with a better ending, which would have greatly influenced my overall score. Still, this had great gore, great actors, great production quality, and is a fantastic debut for STX Media. Dreadtime Stories has something for every type of horror fan. It’s unique and terrifying.
Final Score: 7/10
