Anthology of Terror: Prelude, with its 40 minute runtime, is directed by Ryan Thompson, and Written by Matthew O'Day. Ryan has a lot of short films and smaller projects under his belt, and it shows in the quality of this anthology.
By all accounts, it is not in the production value, the scripting, or the acting that this movie is lacking. In fact, even on a shoe-string budget, it is obvious that Ryan Thompson has some considerable skill as an amateur filmmaker, and that the production team is also familiar with their roles - just look at the effective and minimalistic costume design, soft make up, the telling set designs, the suasive practical effects, and the clever use of dynamic camera angles and diegetic sound design!
The plots, or should I say plot, for each tale are the glaring weakness of this anthology. All three of its stories are centered around the same basic idea: they die; they come back; they make others die.
I thought it was both interesting and a smart play to use a separate vocal track for the Archivist's different scenes. It gave it a crisper, more well-rounded sound. They definitely could have utilized him more though. His dialogue became repetitive and redundant after a while, while also not really coming across as entirely relevant to the individual vignettes.
To be honest, I gave this a 4/10 only because the plots were too repetitive. Matthew and Ryan must have been fans of the game Broken Telephone. I'll admit that they really do a good job of spinning the same tale in 3 very different ways - a case for great screenplay writing - but If they had created a wider variety of stories with the same production value that they were able to achieve, it could have easily been a respectable 6/10.
Is it worth watching? If you have nothing better to be doing or watching, or if you're a fan - better yet, part of a group of fans - of chicken-feed budget indie horror, then I would say yes. But it isn't gonna blow your socks off. That said, it is very short, so it's not like it's gonna hurt.
Below are brief Plot Summaries and further impressions that may include some spoilers:
The Archivist:
This our frame story, so to speak. Sitting around a campfire, the Archivist regales us with tales from his book of ill-fated deaths.
He Won't Stay Dead:
Two hitmen take out the charges of their most recent contract. .. again. . . .and again. . . .and again. The boy just won't stay dead!
This one sports most of the gore, and probably is where most of the budget for the practical effects went to. It's actually pretty solid stuff. I was even surprised by how decent the choreography was for the epic final fight scene. . . But it may still be laughable.
I Killed You Once!:
The kettle's steaming, and so is his wife, Rose. Fed up with her husband's abusive, misogynistic ways, she decides to turn the tables on him. . .unfortunately for her, the table turns both ways.
This short really emphasizes the team's skill with using lighting and camera work to cover blindspots and weaknesses.
*Spoiler Alert*
I loved that they had the camera facing up at the top of the stairs for the scene where Rose pushes her husband down into the basement. You can hear the action, but you don't have to watch as he mostly likely carefully rolls down with his hands outstretched.
Then, later, they cut the lights out on the now elderly Rose, and use diegetic sounds to convey that she's under duress. Well done.
*Spoiler End*
Survive the Night:
In the future, the resources are few, the air has become toxic, and resounding cries from strange beasts can be heard in the distance. Stranded from home by a storm, Lang, with the help of his partner Koontz, must survive the night.
I was really impressed with the immersion created with this one. They did a really good job setting the tone early, and I liked the banter between Lang and Koontz. The sound came through very clearly for the comms - it may have even been prerecorded. The story is scant, but it's enough to get the job done.
I think this story was a missed opportunity for a really cool creature feature.
*Spoiler Alert*
When he starts hearing noises and then discovers that one of the bodies has disappeared, it's the perfect setup for introducing a creature that the body either transformed into, or was eaten by. Or even that the creature had burst out from inside of the body. Anyway, missed chance to really mix up the already exhausted formula for this film.
By all accounts, it is not in the production value, the scripting, or the acting that this movie is lacking. In fact, even on a shoe-string budget, it is obvious that Ryan Thompson has some considerable skill as an amateur filmmaker, and that the production team is also familiar with their roles - just look at the effective and minimalistic costume design, soft make up, the telling set designs, the suasive practical effects, and the clever use of dynamic camera angles and diegetic sound design!
The plots, or should I say plot, for each tale are the glaring weakness of this anthology. All three of its stories are centered around the same basic idea: they die; they come back; they make others die.
I thought it was both interesting and a smart play to use a separate vocal track for the Archivist's different scenes. It gave it a crisper, more well-rounded sound. They definitely could have utilized him more though. His dialogue became repetitive and redundant after a while, while also not really coming across as entirely relevant to the individual vignettes.
To be honest, I gave this a 4/10 only because the plots were too repetitive. Matthew and Ryan must have been fans of the game Broken Telephone. I'll admit that they really do a good job of spinning the same tale in 3 very different ways - a case for great screenplay writing - but If they had created a wider variety of stories with the same production value that they were able to achieve, it could have easily been a respectable 6/10.
Is it worth watching? If you have nothing better to be doing or watching, or if you're a fan - better yet, part of a group of fans - of chicken-feed budget indie horror, then I would say yes. But it isn't gonna blow your socks off. That said, it is very short, so it's not like it's gonna hurt.
Below are brief Plot Summaries and further impressions that may include some spoilers:
The Archivist:
This our frame story, so to speak. Sitting around a campfire, the Archivist regales us with tales from his book of ill-fated deaths.
He Won't Stay Dead:
Two hitmen take out the charges of their most recent contract. .. again. . . .and again. . . .and again. The boy just won't stay dead!
This one sports most of the gore, and probably is where most of the budget for the practical effects went to. It's actually pretty solid stuff. I was even surprised by how decent the choreography was for the epic final fight scene. . . But it may still be laughable.
I Killed You Once!:
The kettle's steaming, and so is his wife, Rose. Fed up with her husband's abusive, misogynistic ways, she decides to turn the tables on him. . .unfortunately for her, the table turns both ways.
This short really emphasizes the team's skill with using lighting and camera work to cover blindspots and weaknesses.
*Spoiler Alert*
I loved that they had the camera facing up at the top of the stairs for the scene where Rose pushes her husband down into the basement. You can hear the action, but you don't have to watch as he mostly likely carefully rolls down with his hands outstretched.
Then, later, they cut the lights out on the now elderly Rose, and use diegetic sounds to convey that she's under duress. Well done.
*Spoiler End*
Survive the Night:
In the future, the resources are few, the air has become toxic, and resounding cries from strange beasts can be heard in the distance. Stranded from home by a storm, Lang, with the help of his partner Koontz, must survive the night.
I was really impressed with the immersion created with this one. They did a really good job setting the tone early, and I liked the banter between Lang and Koontz. The sound came through very clearly for the comms - it may have even been prerecorded. The story is scant, but it's enough to get the job done.
I think this story was a missed opportunity for a really cool creature feature.
*Spoiler Alert*
When he starts hearing noises and then discovers that one of the bodies has disappeared, it's the perfect setup for introducing a creature that the body either transformed into, or was eaten by. Or even that the creature had burst out from inside of the body. Anyway, missed chance to really mix up the already exhausted formula for this film.
