A Night of Horror: Volume 1 is an anthology horror film created by Deadhouse Films and Sydney’s A Night of Horror International Film Festival.Ten directors came together to construct eight short films and one in-between story which connects them all thoughout its running time. Each short film goes for about five to thirteen minutes with the very obvious theme of “blood”.
The film starts off with an unconscious woman gradually waking up and making her way around the house she finds herself in. In each room she finds an item and theme which serve as segues to the individual stories. I’ll skip going into too much detail for each as this review would be extremely long and it would ruin the surprises for the viewers.
The first story, called “Hum”, is more of psychological horror about a young woman who hears a constant annoying hum in her appartment. This is followed by “Point of View” – a clever jump scare horror where a coroner, who is working the night shift, begins to see a dead body move around. The next story is “I am Undone”, a gross out (comedic) horror about cosmetic injections and ideas of beauty.
“Dark Origins” explores the relationship between psychiatrist and patient, as well as mental illness and the supernatural. “The Priest” sees a woman getting on the wrong train after having a tryst at work. This train takes her down some unexpected turns with a few disturbing fellow passangers. “Ravenous” is about a young girl who goes to stay with her grandmother. When she arrives, she finds there is no food or money, then she notices that there is something wrong with grandma. This short relies mostly on the tone and skills of the actors as there is no dialouge.
In “Scissions” we find a woman leaving her kids and husband after one of their child dies. She returns to live with her own father leaving her husband to try to deal with the grief. Last short is called “Flash” where couple of friends visit a cabin in the woods. Now I know what horror fans would be thinking here but rest assured it’s not quite what you suspect.
Anthology films are difficult to create because blending the unique styles of each film maker without them seeming disjointed is not an easy task. Every viewer have different tastes which often means these types of movies get a reputation for being so-so at best. A Night of Horror: Volume 1 is the first time I’ve been pleasantly surprised with an anthology film. Additionally to the blood, all the shorts maintain a very dark tone which help with the smooth transition and continuation of the film. While some of the stories are more captivating than others, there is not one weak link in the entire series.
After observing the talent involved and the high quality production of each film, I hope we get to see what else they can do in the future.
If you’ve seen The ABC’s of Death and V/H/S but were disappointed by them then I highly recommend you watch A Night of Horror: Volume 1.
I rate it 3.5 out of 5 stars.
A Night of Horror: Volume 1 is currently playing at the Revelation Film Festival in Perth. Screening for this movie will be on tomorrow (11th of July) night.