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The Horror Vault
Denmark / USA / UK / Australia 2008
produced by Lyrica Glory (segment Alone), J.P. Wenner (segment Retina), Adrian Alfonso (executive), Dan Jagels (executive), Kelly Karnetsky (executive), James McDonald (executive), Theresa Meeker (executive), Jason Perlzweig (executive), Joseph Pozo (executive), Jason Ruggieri (executive), Ahley Scott (executive), Kim Sønderholm (executive), Jeff Stoll (executive), Rocky Whitehead (executive), Fabrizio Wiederkehr (executive), Paul Kelleher (executive, segment Dead to the World), Elaine Selko (executive, segment Alone) for Cetus Productions
directed by Kim Sønderholm (segments When John Met Julia, Mental Distortion), Mark Marchillo (segment Delusion), Kenny Selko (segment Alone), Russ Diapper (segment Dead of the World), David Boone & Josh Card (segment Disconnected), Thomas Steen Sørensen (segment The Demon), Drew English (segment Echoes), Nikolai Ketelsen, Zach Rasmussen & J.P.Wenner (segment Retina)
starring Claire Ross-Brown, Kim Sønderholm, Cally Wells Cook, Chad Mehle, Elisa Richardson, James Terry, Heather Tom, Jonathon Trent, Mandy Amano, Jerod Edington, Guy Nardulli, Russ Diaper, Kate Ewing, Joyia Fitch, Paul Kelleher, Maja Muhlack, Barbara Zatler, Adam Boone, Kelly Fagin, Atnhony Wentzel, Martzin Frisley Ammitsbøl, Mikail Lindeman, Tanashka Sofie Ramji Olsen, Poul Erik Sklander, Heather Amos, Rachel Grubb, Josh LeSuer, Clarence Wethern, Leslie Armstrong, Sean Seuthorp, Lars Bjarke, Alice Haaber, Jan Sønderholm Andersen, Toke Lars Bjarke
written by Kim Sønderholm (segments When John Met Julia & Mental Distortion), Mark Marchillo (segment Delusion), Kenny Selko (segment Alone), Russ Diaper (segment Dead to the World), David Boone & Josh Card (segment Disconnected), Thomas Steen Sørensen (segment The Demon), Gabriel Dowrick (segment Echoes), J.P.Wenner (segment Retina), music by Russ Diaper (segment Dead to the World), special effects by Thomas Steen Sørensen (segment The Demon)
Horror Vault
review by Mike Haberfelner
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An anthology movie featuring 9 horror stories from around the world:
- When John Met Julia: John (Kim Sønderholm) picks up
hitshhiker Julia (Claire Ross-Brown), who almost instantly accuses him
of wanting to rape her and kills and robs him. But that night, John
returns as a demon to have his revenge ... Horror tale with a moral
twist in the vein of old EC-Comics,
not really great but a nice opening short for an anthology movie.
- Delusion: Flynn's (Jonathon Trent) mother has just died, and
at her wake, he is a little bit off the hook, but still he seems to
appeal to lovely Vweronica (Heather Tom) - until he thinks she accuses
her of having killed his mother (which he has by the way), and
strangles her. Only then he realizes he has actually strangled his own
beloved sister (Elisa Richardson) in a state of delusion ... Nice
self-consciously old-fashioned psychological shocker, a bit in style
of the early 1960's Hammer
psychothrillers. Very nice.
- Alone: Ellen (Mandy Amano) is home alone when she learns that
a homicidal maniac is on the loose in her neighbourhood - and she
immediately suspects the cop (Guy Nardulli) bringing her the news to
be the perpetrator, while she invites schoolfriend Taylor (Jerod
Edington) to her home and bed to protect her - and eventually, when
she finds him fighting the (supposedly evil) cop, she helps him by
killing the cop - and only then it turns out she made the wrong
judgement ... another very nice, intentionally old-fashioned piece of
horror cinema, this time a bit reminiscent of Italian gialli from the
early 1970's, with a bit of slasher mentality at hand as well.
- Dead to the World: Rather uninspired take on serialkiller Ted
Bundy, with Russ Diaper playing the killer.
- Mental Distortion: Pete (Kim Sønderholm) finds his wife
(Barbara Zatler) dead in the bathtub - which understandably leaves him
depressed for quite some time, and for him, bathtubs will surely never
be the same again. Then he meets an old friend, Maria (Maja Muhlack),
and the two of them get quite friendly, even have sex - but then she
makes the fatal mistake of following him to the bathroom, and when he
sees the combination of a girl and a bathtub - ouch ... Depressing but
nevertheless fascinating horror tale, beautifully carried by Kim Sønderholm
- who seems to be nothing short of perfect in playing depressed guys -
which is meant as a compliment in case you wondered.
- Disconnected: Blakes (Adam Boone) is tortured by a guy
(Anthony Wentzel) and has no idea why - until the guy turns out to be
the cable guy, and he has obviously gotten the wrong address ... For
the most part, this episode is just torture porn, but with an ironic
twist at the end that redeems the preceding (non-)story.
- The Demon: A man (Martin
Frislev Ammitsbøl) tries to protect a young woman (Tanashka
Sofie Ramji Olsen) from a demon (Mikael Lindeman) in some
anonymous hotel that at random point seems to change into some exotic
locale - only to realize too late that he himself is the demon, and
when he thinks he kills the demon, he actually kills the girl ... Good
story, unfortunately somewhat let down by a rather bland direction.
- Echoes: A man (Sean Seuthorp) finds himself tied down to a
bed and attacked by monsters - but maybe he is just a patient in a
mental institution ... This story is given too little time to fully
unfold. Could have been interesting, actually.
- Retina: Shelly (Rachel Grubb) blames Katie (Heather Amos) of
killing David (Josh LeSuer) - but maybe he's still very much with them
as an eyeball-stealing demon ... It's only a few minutes long, yet the
script of this short is more confusing than that of many a feature
film - which is why this episode totally fails to convince.
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Uneven, nevertheless entertaining collection of horror shorts, with a
few films - Delusion, Alone, Mental Distortion and to
a lesser extent Disconnected - being absolutely worthwhile and
worth the price of the DVD alone. The problem with this anthology as a
whole is that it runs a tad too long and the best films are all in the
first half - but that's not a reason to not watch it anyways!!!
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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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