Hi-8 (Horror Independent 8)

The kings of Microbudget films join together in this rare Horror treat!! Hi-8 is an anthology type of film much like Creepshow, Tales From The Crypt and Deadtime Stories. Many times these types of films are short films thrown together with no real reason. Not the case here. Sure, it is still a bit uneven, but when you have 8 directors, technically 7 because Brad Sykes does double duty making a segment for the film AND the connecting story that goes between each story. I actually thought the connecting story was the weakest. It just didn't make sense or tie the other stories together in any way. I may have had some guys break into an old b=video store and find a bunch of old tapes, and the individual movies would have been the tapes they found, or something similar.

Quality of each film ranges from really good to passable. One is pretty terrible, but I think it was on purpose. Tim Ritter, Brad Sykes, Marcus Koch, Ron Bonk, Donald Farmer, Todd Sheets, Chris Seaver and Tony Masiello are the directors.

As for the stories, they were pretty much all over the place. I liked the diversity. I also liked the rules of Hi-8 shown at the end. Should have shown that at the start I think, it would have been fun to see how close each director followed the rules. It was great to see all the old school gore effects as well. No CGI at all. And I for one am very thankful.

Some standouts are "Gang Them Style" from director Ron Bonk. It's a funny story of a guy saving his Grandmother from the Undead. Tim Ritter keeps things gruesome with his "Switchblade Insane" segment. It follows Tim's formula of domestic darkness, this time though the husband and wife end up teaming up: The family that slays together stays together. Marcus Koch "A Very Bad Situation" seemed to have a blast with his segment featuring a pretty nifty monster and some good tension. Did I mention I am a sucker for rubber monsters? Todd Sheets "The Request" shocked me, creating what I think is probably the best looking segment technically, and showing restraint in his story of a late night DJ who gets some very strange phone calls. It got under my skin a bit and was probably the most professional looking story. Chris Seaver has a segment that is best described as over the top, more humor than Horror, but still ended up winning me over just for the tone and insanity of the whole thing. And Donald Farmer is here too! More domestic terror on tap, with a poor guy who is dating the worst excuse for a girlfriend in the world! There are some I am forgetting, but the whole thing really is a fun time. It's like a K-Tel Party Album from 1978 only better! I know they had a limited VHS release but it is out on DVD now and I found it at Amazon. Fans of creative, old school style Horror should check this out for sure!