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Hi-8: Horror Independent Eight
USA 2013
produced by Brad Sykes, Josephina Sykes, Claude Miles, Tony Masiello, Ron Bonk, Chris Seaver, Donald Farmer, Alaine Huntington, Tim Ritter (executive), Jonathan Straiton (executive) for Nightfall Pictures, Twisted Illusions
directed by wraparound segment, segment The Scout: Brad Sykes, segment Switchblade Insane: Tim Ritter, segment A Very Bad Situation: Marcus Koch, segment The Tape: Tony Masiello, segment Gang Them Style: Ron Bonk, segment Genre Bending: Chris Seaver, segment The Request: Todd Sheets, segment Thicker than Water: Donald Farmer
starring wraparound segment: Danielle Nicole Rosario, Paul K, Baker Chase, Andre Martin; segment Switchblade Insane: Ford Windstar, Kristine Renee Farley, Ava Cronin, Kirstin Vanhooser, Roni Jonah, Corin P. Hale, Kayla Barbour; segment A Very Bad Situation: Melanie Dean, Olivia Blake, Kevin La Frazia, Thom Farell, Joel D. Wynkoop, Kristin Avery; segment The Tape: Travis Hoecker, David S. Hart, Bobbi Beach, Mike Burnell, Andrea Adams; segment Gang Them Style: Wes Reid, Anne Fitzgerald, L. Thomas Minion, Kathy Burke Egloff, Brett Janeski, Jay Burris, Betsy Yor, Monica Minion, Michael Merchant, David Royal, Jennie Russo, Jody Pucello, Steve Smith, Mary Snell, Trey Harrison; segment Genre Bending: Jason McCall, Noel Williams, Billy Garberina; segment The Request: Brad Westmar, Nicole Santorella; segment Thicker Than Water: Alaine Huntington, Mike Malloy, Vanessa Nocera, Steffie Grote, Marlena Swilley, Ashley Andel, B.J. Lawrence, Aiden Crain, Hunter Meyer; segment The Scout: Alexis Codding, Mark Sadr
written by: wraparound segment, segment The Scout: Brad Sykes, segment Switchblade Insane: Tim Ritter, segment A Very Bad Situation: Marcus Koch, segment The Tape: Matt Hill, segment Gang Them Style: Ron Bonk, segment Genre Bending: Chris Seaver, segment The Request: Todd Sheets, segment Thicker than Water: Donald Farmer, Alaine Huntington
Hi-8
review by Mike Haberfelner
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- Switchblade Insane: A wife (Kristine Renee Farley) finds out
her husband (Ford Windstar) is the "Switchblade Butcher", a
guy who rapes and puts holes into pretty girls - but when she tries to
catch him red-handed and kill him, she notices she enjoys helping her
husband out a bit too much ...
- A Very Bad Situation: Aliens have apparently overrun the
earth, and infected all humans having come in contact with them with a
virus that turns them into flesh-eating monsters. A trio of humans
(Thom Farrel, Melanie Dean, Olivia Blake) have holed themselves up in
a garage, and it seems they're ok ... until they let a fourth guy
(Kevin La Fracia) in who has escaped the aliens and human monsters -
but totally freaks out when he notices one of the girls (Olivia Blake)
is injured, and her wounds look very much like those inflicted by the
aliens ...
- The Tape: A VHS afficionado (Travis Hoecker) finds the copy
of a never-finished SOV horror movie and becomes so obsessed by it
that he tracks down its producer/director (David S. Hart) to make him
finish it - he succeeds, but it might not always be a good thing to
get what you wish for ...
- Gang Them Style: Zombies of the flesh-eating variety have
taken over earth - and thus Mongoose (Wes Reid) wants to fetch his
grandma (Anne Fitzgerald) from the retirement home she's at and drive
her to safety, action hero style. But granny is unwilling to leave
without her friends. There are two problems connected to that, all of
granny's friends are very old and thus very slow, and Mongoose might
have all the right action hero moves and everything - but he totally
lacks in efficiency ...
- Genre Bending: A woman (Noel Williams) is stalked by a weirdo
who has the intention to kill her ... but just not the balls to do so
- but just when he wants to give up on his intentions, he's killed by
a big black guy, who then wants to rape the woman. Thing is, he's into
big black guys and wants to thank her saviour - which wouldn't qualify
as rape anymore, so the would-be rapist tries to chicken out ...
- The Request: A radio DJ (Brad Westmar) gets a request on his
call-in show to play a song that was the song of him and his deceased
girlfriend (Nicole Santorella) - but one might want to add here that
he has killed her out of jealousy a year ago, and now it's her who
requests the song ...
- Thicker Than Water: Emily (Elaine Huntington) is pregnant,
and her boyfriend (Mike Malloy) couldn't be happier ... until he
learns she, out of jealousy, keeps his ex (Vanessa Nocera) tied up in
their garage - and now expects him to murder her as a proof for their
love ...
- The Scout: A former S.O.V. filmmaker (Mark Sadr) and his hot
actress girlfriend (Alexis Codding) visit some of the locations in the
desert where he used to shoot back in the day (because he didn't need
a permit there), but what was supposed to be a romantic afternoon
turns out to be a nightmare, first because the car breaks town and our
actress has to return to town for a really important callback, then
because her boyfriend has special plans with her ...
The wraparound segment features three wannabe filmmakers (Danielle
Nicole Rosario, Baker Chase, Paul K) filming some scenes for an S.O.V.
horror movie at a really spooky location - where they meet a weirdo (Andre
Martin) scaring the shit out of them. But when they later find him dead,
they come to the conclusion that actually one of them has to be the killer
...
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Paying homage to the S.O.V. filmmakers of the "original"
S.O.V. era (the late 1980s/early '90s), when these films were shot on
hi-8, 8n filmmakers - some from that era, others heavily influenced by it
- came together go make shorts using the techniques available yesteryear:
So no HD cameras, no CGI, only practical effects. And while I have to
admit it eludes me as to why pay homage to an era where the technology did
not fit the filmmaker's needs (and visibly so), the result is a fun film
nevertheless, made up of 8 stories and a wraparound that all have their
likeable twists and turns, that are very eclectic in their approach to the
genre, are suitably macabre, and don't take themselves too seriously,
without even one of them being overly moronic (though Gang Them Style
is at least funny as hell). At the end of the day then, it doesn't matter
if S.O.V. horror was your thing or not, you'll probably find at least half
of these shorts very entertaining!
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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Thanks for watching !!!
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Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
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