HORRORTALES.666

HORRORTALES.666
If I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times, "never apologize for your work before you screen it."
Don't make excuses, just make movies.
If you aren't 100% proud of your work, then why send it in? When I find notes enclosed with screeners that say something to the effect of "please excuse the flaws" I'm more predisposed to pointing them out than I ever would have been before. I'd like to think I've built a reputation for being able to see past the visible flaws and pinpoint what the filmmakers are trying to say with their work, at least in most cases. I've never trashed a movie for being "rough around the edges", only for wasting my time.
Sorry guys, my ego hasn't been stoked today and I needed to vent. I'm sure the creators of HORRORTALES.666 didn't mean anything other than to point out their production's humble origins, but filmmakers often need to be reminded that "one man's trash is another man's treasure." When you point out the flaws, you don't allow the viewers the chance to seek out the treasure. P> For what it's worth, I'm partial to anthologies like HORRORTALES.666 where a variety of different moviemakers are allowed to showcase their talents. An anthology is like a buffet at a classy restaurant, not the best items on the menu but one gets a sense for what the different cooks can do.
Generally, not every short works, but some stand out and make the others worth suffering through. HORRORTALES.666 is no exception, with the good come the bad. The problem is that there's nothing truly "good" with HORRORTALES.666, at it's best the shorts are only about average.
The standout here is the wraparound segments with Joel Wynkoop portraying a burglar who stumbles across as number of short horror tales. He starts reading each one and the picture fades into the showcasing segment.
Unfortunately, none of the shorts comprising HORRORTALES.666 match the visual stylings of the wraparound. Picture a shelf full of generic vanilla ice cream surrounded by walls of Ben and Jerry's and Haggendaz. The vanilla just looks all the more bland.
The first short, titled "Woman in Shadows" comes from Falcon Video's Phil Herman. A one-man film team, Herman appears to do all the work both in front of and behind the camera. In the piece, Herman portrays a man plagued by the apparition of a naked woman and ends up questioning his sanity.
Of all the shorts, Herman's contribution is easily the most atmospheric. Not the most polished, mind you, but the most atmospheric. Unfortunately, the short falls apart in the final moments when the actually events are dictated to the audience. I was left feeling robbed of a more satisfying ending.
"Luck of the Irish," a cat & mouse serial killer piece, comes from Morbid Productions. It's a standard police thriller that could have benefitted from some tension. The cast is diverse and shows promise, but the final revelation regarding the identity of the killer comes as little surprise.
"The Dark Woods", from 4th Floor Pictures, has been reviewed previously under the title of "The Dead Forest" as part of the EVIL TALES 3 collection.
"Payback is Hell" is what WAVE Productions do best, the dark fetish release, or at least that's what I've heard. The only other WAVE title I've seen is THE VAMPIRE'S CURSE, which didn't cater to the strangulation crowd like this one does. Without any plot that I could discern, WAVE chief Gary Lawrence snuffs out Pam Sutch.
"Stop it, You're Killing Me" comes from Michael Hoffman, and is the best short of the bunch, even if it is one big cliche. Bill Cassinelli, as Jerry, gives his most relaxed performance to date, as a man who lives his life in the shadow of his whoring best friend Brad. The final twist comes with little surprise, but doesn't betray the logic of the piece.
As a whole, the shorts of HORRORTALES.666 work well to illustrate what each contributor can do. It's a sampling of the diversity that of what the micro-cinema scene has to offer, but ultimately fails due to a lack of substance. If each contributor wanted to showcase their talents, they should have contributed segments worth showcasing. Each director who has other work reviewed on this site has indeed done better work. Any segment of Hoffman's SCARY TALES is better than "Stop it, You're Killing Me," THE VAMPIRE'S CURSE is far superior to "Payback is Hell," "The Dark Woods" doesn't come anywhere near "Day of the Ax," and while I haven't seen it, Herman's JACKER 2 has built a nice reputation. My suggestion is you seek these movies out instead as each possesses something worth talking about, and nothing worth apologizing over.
4th Floor Pictures
W.A.V.E. Productions