Director – Kevin R. Phipps (Friday the 13th Part 3: The Memoriam Documentary, Granny’s Treasure)
Starring – Allen Valor (Love is Blind, Student Film), Michael Hanelin (Dead in 5 Heartbeats, The Trigger), and Ashlieya Mariano (The Misadventures of Harley Quinn, The Locker Room Mascot Massacre)
Release Date – 2022
Rating – 3/5
Indie horror is my bread and butter. As much as I love reviewing the various forms of exploitation, horror will always be my true passion with indie horror being something I’m truly passionate about. I love sharing news about indie projects when I get the chance to review them I try to find the positives along with the negatives to discuss. It’s so easy to bash an indie production but only fans of indie horror and the underground can appreciate what the team behind the film is trying to achieve.
A few weeks back I was sent a press release for the indie horror anthology Dr. Saville’s Horror Show. I’m a sucker for horror anthologies and I really liked the title so I agreed to check it out. I decided this would be the perfect film to watch after checking out the new animated Batman flick and the large amount of non-horror titles send my way in April.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a business man that finds himself at a bar when his flight is cancelled. He is approached by an attractive blonde and invited back to her place. As he awakens he realizes he is bound while a masked man introduces him to three tales of horror. The first follows a bride-to-be looking to get into shape before her big day. She is introduced to an experimental procedure where she is given a manmade tapeworm that is designed to die once she reaches her desired weight. However, that does not happen and the tapeworm’s hunger grows until it craves human flesh. The second tale revolves around a man who is too picking when it comes to the opposite sex. An ex gives him a break up gift as a gag. He decides to open it and try to grow one of the Aqua Pets inside of the package. The next morning he finds the perfect woman on the floor. While he is living on cloud 9 with his new girlfriend he soon uncovers that she is extremely jealous with murderous tendencies. The third and final tale follows a loving father and his daughter as he protects her from the zombie apocalypse but something else is going on. **spoiler Alert**
Dr. Saville’s Horror Show was an interesting anthology but the predictability and lack of an original wraparound segment made it easily forgettable. A horror anthology is just as strong as it’s wraparound segment and when it fails to give you anything new or enjoyable you are left with an unimaginative indie production that consists of several shorts with nothing tying them together. It was an alright short collective but I can’t call it an effective anthology because it didn’t have that fun segment that held them all together while setting the theme for the film.
The acting in this one is very well done. I didn’t recognize a lot of the cast but I was impressed by their performances. Each segment had fun characters with likable personalities and a lot of energy. I loved how comfortable everyone was in front of the camera and I will keep an eye out for others films each and every one was in.
The stories for this one is predictable but that doesn’t stop them from being enjoyable. The sea monkey bride along with the dad during the apocalypse tales were my favorite two. The first tale is fun but felt more like a Monsters or mid-80s episode from The Twilight Zone. I liked it but it just didn’t have the same feel as the other segments. My biggest, and honestly, only real gripe with the film is the weak wraparound segment. A dude tied up and being forced to watch movies by a masked man is something that has been done before especially in indie horror. It’s not that original and in this case it’s not that clever or enjoyable. It doesn’t hold the stories together well and if you took it out the film would be just as entertaining as it with it left in. A different segment to bookend the film or something more fitting for the title would have made it better in my opinion.
Finally, the film has some practical effects but it’s not as bloody or gory as you would expect a film with Horror Show in the title would be. The make-up effects look solid enough but the death scenes are unimaginative and pretty straight forward. Overall, Dr. Saville’s Horror Show is a decent horror anthology that has some issues but is still enjoyable. Fans of indie horror should check it out but you should know exactly what you are getting into.
