Customer Reviews

After Dark Horrorfest Films to Die For (Unrest / Reincarnation / The Gravedancers / The Hamiltons / Wicked Little Things / Dark Ride / Penny Dreadful)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

After reading several of the reviews posted for this product, I noticed that many people rate it simply because of the price, and fewer for the actual films contained in the set. Since my wife manages the local Blockbuster, we were fortunate enough to be able to watch all seven of these films for free before they were released to the public.

And I have to say, even though I have already seen them for free, I still forked over the 100+ dollars to own the set. Why?

Every fan of horror films knows the unfathomable despair one sinks into when they bring home the latest direct-to-video flick, slide it into their DVD player, curl up on the sofa with some popcorn and beer, only to be subjected to the worst piece of filth ever to call itself a film. And Lion's Gate is guilty of producing such garbage on many occasions.

Not this time, however. I thoroughly enjoyed each of the films in the set -- ranging from creepy ghost stories, to unique twists on the vampire and zombie genres, to a classic slasher/body-count flick. All of the films exhibted a quality of filmmaking that is definitely a cut above the average low-budget fair. Not one film, in my opinion, was plagued with unbelievable actors and horrible plot structures -- something that is all too common in the genre. In fact, the only criticism I could muster about any of these is that most of them are a little too slow-paced for my liking. They all have massive story build-ups that make you wonder how, exactly, there's going to be room for actual scares.

But eventually, each of the films delivers, in its own way.

"Unrest" is the story of a med student who learns that the body her student group is supposed to dissect may actually be cursed. The highlight of this one, according to the trailer, is that it is the first horror film ever to use real dead bodies. Maybe this is where the "too shocking for general audiences" comes in? I didn't know this when I first watched the film, and was in awe at how realistic the bodies actually were.

"Penny Dreadful" is the tale of a young girl who has a phobia of cars. Throw in a lunatic who learns this, and you have a film that takes place almost entirely in a car, where Penny is trapped by said loony and is subjected to his horrific games. This film is higher on tension than scares, and fans of Hitchcock should get into it (if they can handle the blood, that is).

"The Hamiltons" takes us into the home of a group of young adults who are trying to make it after the deaths of both parents. Think of the old TV show "Party of Five". Only, added to the five are the young girls these people have chained up under the house. I don't know what else to say without giving the story away -- but the internal conflict with the one Hamilton son as he grapples with the twisted nature of his siblings makes for some refreshing drama that horror rarely explores.

"The Gravedancers" follows along the same theme as "Unrest": that is, don't disrespect the dead. When a group of old friends get together at the funeral of one of their departed comrades, they engage in a little drunken grave dancing -- which, of course, upsets the souls beneath. Truly frightening ghosts and some neat special effects highlight this tale -- but, as I said before, it is a little slow-moving, and the main male character is oddly cast. He's like an ex-body builder/deadpan surfer -- and we're supposed to believe he's an attorney?

"Wicked Little Things" has us follow a family of three who, after the father passes away, inherits a house in the mountainous backwoods. Unfortunately, the area is haunted by a group of flesh-eating kids whose deaths in a mining accident in the early 1900's were never resolved. The setting is definitely creepy (old house in the woods near an older, abondoned haunted mansion? Who could ask for more?), and the kids, with their blood-stained lips and beady, black eyes are -- well -- if you think kids are kind of spooky anyway, these will really mess with your head.

The slasher fare comes in with "Dark Ride". It centers around an old horror ride, one where you get in the cart and ride along the tracks to see all the creepy attractions. Only, this particular ride delivers what everyone secretly fears when getting on one of these things: the ride stops, and you are hunted by some crazy killer. Throw in a group of brainless college students, a killer whose face is actually quite disturbing, and let the good times roll. There are some truly memorable scenes here, and the film is quite gory. But, slashers aren't really my thing. Even so, this is one of the better ones.

Finally, "Reincarnation" is another installment by Takashi Shimizu (creator of "The Grudge" series). This film was my least favorite of the bunch. I'm not really a fan of "The Grudge", basically because the plot jumps around so much and the story does little to help the viewer easily follow along. "Reincarnation" is more of the same here. Fans of J-Horror will find little that is new, and may actually be bored at how repetitive it is. But, it has a neat ending -- one that actually makes up for how boring the beginning is. I don't want to do a plot synopsis out of fear of giving something away (and revealing that I know very little about what actually happened in the movie!) Basically, if you like J-Horror, you'll probably like this one.

Okay, that's it! Hope this was helpful to some. The 4-stars have nothing to do with the price. I think you get a variety of decent films that are entertaining and unique enough to satisfy almost anyone.

Although it is not part of this set, with "The Abandoned" finally being released all of the "8 Films 2 Die 4" from last year's initial After Dark Horrorfest are now out on DVD. I watched all of them in the theater back in November and now I have watched them all again on DVD and figured it was time to reconsider the whole experience. Here are the eight films in the order I first saw them:

"Reincarnation" is a Japanese ghost story from the director of "Ju-On" having to do with a film being made about a sensation mass murder at a hotel that took place a couple of decades earlier. I really like the ending(s) of this film as past and present merge with film and reality. I am so often disappointed by the way most horror films end that the artistry of this one stands out for me (Ranked #1, 4.5 stars).

"Unrest - After Dark Horror Fest" reminds me why I never wanted to go to medical school, and that is without the joys of stripping down to my underwear to jump into a tank of formaldehyde filled with dissected corpses. The back story gets a bit complicated and the plot requires a certain amount of stupidity on behalf of the characters, but a film that swears it has "real dead bodies" will have its moments (Ranked #6, 3.5 stars).

"Dark Ride - After Dark Horror Fest" is the median for the Horrorfest because it is a solid example of a 1970s splatter flick. There are a couple of familiar faces here and it sure looks a lot better than "Fun House," its obvious cinematic ancestor. It also has a memorable example of sex getting your killed in a horror film (Ranked #5, 3.8 stars).

"The Gravedancers" is the film that most relies on special effects for the ghosts raised by the titular crime. It has the most familiar faces with Dominic Purcell, Clare Kramer, and Tchéky Karyo and some of the best looking sequences. But things get a bit out of hand at the end because usually in the end it is not the unbelievers who get really stupid (Ranked #4, 3.9).

"The Abandoned" is a ghost story that takes place in Russia and has a 40-year-old woman as the lead, so there are a couple of interesting differences from most horror films right there. I suppose this film earned its release because it has the most disturbing images of any of these movies. (Ranked #3, 4.1).

"Penny Dreadful" is the film that I thought was the most ingenious simply because I did not think they could get as much out of trapping a terrified girl in a car wedged between two trees, so I was more impressed than most people. It also does not end the way you would think it has to, although the victims lose points for refusing to drive to safety on one rim (Ranked #2, 4.2).

"Wicked Little Things" takes place in an abandoned coal mine is the mountains of Pennsylvania where a widow and her two daughters contend with a pack of children zombies killed in a mine explosion long ago. That is right: this movie has minor miner zombies and Ben Cross wondering what happened to his film career. At least the people in this movie are willing to drive on the rims (Ranked #7, 3.2).

"The Hamiltons" is a low-budget film about a twisted little "Party of Five"-type family with more than their share of dark secrets. This film has the worst acting but the highest "sicko" factor of any of the films, even though we are talking a third-rate "Hostel"-type film (Ranked #8, 3.1).

That means what I have ended up thinking was the best film of the bunch was actually the first one we saw on Friday afternoon. But the big question is whether Horrorfest was a good deal and with six of the eight ending up with 4 star ratings (rounding up is a wonderful thing) and nothing below 3 stars, I would contend that qualifies as being pretty good. Yes, the trailer for Horrorfest was cooler than any of the actual movies. Yes, I could put together a better octet of horror films culled from that same period, and I am sure you could too, even without including the well-known flicks like "The Hills Have Eyes" and "The Descent." Heck, there are lots of horror films that might be even better choices, such as "Blood and Cuts, "Dark Nigh" and "Desert of Blood," that might be better candidates, but they are not even available on DVD, so who knows? But these films are out on DVD and are definitely above average rentals, ergo the 4-star rating.

These were all horror films that were going to go the direct-to-video route and were reprieved by Horrorfest. So I decided to compare these eight films to the last eight horror films I checked out on DVD that were either direct-to-video or at least never showed up on a movie screen in my neck of the woods (we only have 20 screens at two theaters in the Zenith City and you can subtract from that title because "big" films end up at both theaters and sometimes on multiple screens). Anyhow, the idea is that these are films that were out there at roughly the same time, although some might be a bit older. Of the eight, six of them I rated three stars: "Room 6," "Dead Silence," "In a Dark Place," "Chicago Massacre: The Richard Speck Story," "The Hunt," and "The Tooth Faerie." I rated "Wes Craven Presents The Breed" 2-stars and was so offended by "The Tomb" purporting to be a H.P. Lovecraft story that I gave it one star, which rounds out to 2.6. Consequently, I have no problem saying the Horrorfest films are at least a whole star better than those eight since they average 3.7.

When the After dark horrorfest came to my city, I was hyper, hyper excited, and really, I was not too much disappointed by the result.
The only ones I missed were Hood of Horrors and The Tripper (not in this package anyway).

I agree that these movies were originally over-hyped as "too graphic" or whatever.

While by and large these are indie horror movies, they were a departure from all the hollywood horror I see, and I personally thought there was a wide enough range to make the festival appealing.
Each one is totally different, which is a plus.
My favorites were Reincarnation (japanese horror), Penny Dreadful, Unrest.

About the price, it's a bit too high, even if the packaging is cool. If they are individually on sale at 14.99, the box set should probably be a little cheaper. it would be nice if was maybe around 90 bucks.

Amazon and other retailers/e-tailers sell the individual titles at $14.99.
$14.99 x 7 = $104.93.
$14.99 x 8 = $119.92.

Box sets should cost LESS THAN the same products bought individually. And there are no additional "extras" listed for this item, so why pay more?

I've watched two of the movies so far - Reincarnation (4 stars) and Wicked Little Things (3 stars).

I enjoyed all these movies but I am not sure what all the hub-bub was about. They do not seem to me to be any scarier than any of the horror out there now.

I purchased these because I thought they were done well with some serious BOO factor. I will admit that I rented them before actually buying them.

Having seen so many horror movies in my time I found these refreshing. I was a little disappointed that the newest one I've seen, "The Abandoned" was not part of the seven.

If you love horror you will enjoy these.

KD

Ive watched 3 out of the eight.they truly live up to the name of horror films.

My daughter loves this! Ordered at a great price & received by the estimated date. She wasn't expecting the whole season, but I couldn't resist considering the price was better than I had expected. Packaging kept the set in perfect condition.

After Dark's "Horrorfest" as they titled it was only a horror fest because almost every movie in this set was not at all what you were promised.

There really is no "Too Shocking for general audiences"!
The shock actually comes from the fact that most of these lackluster movies actually made it on to the silver screen.

After Dark is Lion's Gate's red headed stepchild, it took a hell of a blow releasing these, Lion's gate saw opportunity to make money, it marketed these films completely under false pretense and cashed in while audience members we're left unhappy and ripped off.

the only good ones with any decent content we're The Gravedancers, and Reincarnation, every other one with the exception of the Abandoned (which i saw twice) was a true borefest.

Penney Dreadful being number one as far as bad filmmaking goes.
i truly do i hope people listen, but for those that don't after you're done, write your own review.

Based on the title, I expected something that would at the very least make me jump occasionally. What a let-down!!! These movies are horrible and only one small step up from men-in-rubber-suits costumes and 1970s FX. If I hadn't opened them and continued to watch them hoping for a gem, I would return them. Don't waste your money or your time....

These films were recently available for viewing on FearNet and other cable outlets (with the exception of "Dark Ride," which I had to rent)...so it was easy--and free--to check them out prior to buying. I've seen all seven of the films featured in this set, and I'm actually somewhat impressed (with notable exceptions).

"Dark Ride" is a throwback to the wonderful slasher films of the 70's and 80's, and is virtually a remake of Tobe Hooper's 1981 film "Funhouse." I say these films were "wonderful" because, at the time, they were not only frightening but also fresh and, in some instances, groundbreaking. There is nothing fresh about this entry in the series, though "Dark Ride" does feature some really gnarly scenes of gore and a great opening sequence. There are no real surprises here, however, and I'd recommend this as more of an homage to the aforementioned slasher pics, and mainly for fans of those films only.

"Gravedancers" caught my attention immediately and never let go--even managing to actually creep me out a few times--I liked it a lot. The lead actor is completely miscast, but otherwise this is certainly one of the better efforts in this collection.

"The Hamiltons" is the obligatory tip-of-the-hat to the torture porn genre, generally awful films which are more sickening than actually frightening, managing to both revolt AND bore in equal measure. This flips that sub-genre and manages to come up with thematic material which seems both classic and fresh. Though not my favorite, it's still much better than so much of the junk actually getting released theatrically these days.

"Penny Dreadful" is simply one of the most nasty, gripping films I've seen in a very long time, on or off the big screen. Though there's plenty of blood in this one, it somehow rises above the genre to (as someone else mentioned here) achieve an almost Hitchcockian tone...much more suspense and tension than actual on-screen violence (though again, there's plenty of that here too). Easily the best film in this collection, it manages to be claustrophic, sweat-inducing and seriously scary too. This should have been released theatrically.

"Reincarnation" is the J-horror entry which bored me to screaming tears. There are only so many times I can be absolutely terrified by waiflike children with bad complexions and stringy, wet hair, and horrified by the ever so frightening and mysterious "bouncing ball." *yawn*

"Unrest" is a featherheaded but not entirely unwatchable tale having something to do with medical students, a possessed cadaver and Aztec human sacrifice. The mythology underpinning the story is somewhat muddled, though ultimately it just doesn't seem to matter as the film isn't frightening in the least. Set in and around a hospital anatomy lab, expect a very high queasiness quotient which will test your ability to hold onto your dinner. Buried in this strange brew is a rather sweet and sexy love story which is virtually lost in this diverting but vapid, and ultimately silly, effort.

Finally, "Wicked Little Things" starts out promisingly: a widowed woman and her daughters take up residence in an undeniably spooky house in the mountains left to her by her deceased husband. Everything else that happens seems a bit overly familiar, and no real surprises (or scares) result from the ensuing, somewhat flabby ghost story. This one involves the cannibalistic ghosts (though they're referred to as 'zombies') of children killed 100 years earlier in a mining disaster; their motivations seem a bit murky and the film just kind of trudges toward a predictable ending. This one scores somewhere in the lower middle as far as this group of films is concerned, and is hampered mostly by a sense of deja vu ("Village of the Damned" with cannibalism) and the issue of using children for the primary scare factor--which rarely, if ever, works for me.

So there are definitely a bad apple or two in this bunch, but several other films mentioned above definitely help make up for the duds.