Dir - Sean Ellis
Overall: MEH
Writer/director Sean Ellis' The Cursed, (Eight for Silver), takes an interesting spin on the werewolf mythos, but the unengaging plotting leaves much to be desired. A period piece that takes place in late 19th century France, Ellis goes for a gritty, Gothic aesthetic with purposely dark, naturally-lit cinematography and a bland color pallet of browns and greys. While the look is admirable to some extent for authenticity's sake, it is also ugly, plus the pale, fleshy CGI creature design is regrettably cartoony and poor, even if it is simultaneously unique as far as cinematic lycanthropes go. This particular form of werewolf consumes those that become infected with the gypsy curse, to the point where they maintain their human form inside of the bestial one. The transformation scenes involve viney limbs that engulf whoever is "turning", which makes for a startling, strange tweak to the formula. None of the performances have any charisma to them though and the dull structure becomes monotonous and miserable, more in a lackadaisical sense than an insulting one. There is also an overuse of quick, screechy nightmare flashes that do not serve much of a narrative purpose besides providing some mild, cliched atmosphere.
Dir - Jennifer Reeder/Chloe Okuno/Simon Barrett/Timo Tjahjanto/Ryan Prows
Overall: GOOD
After a seven year break from the dismal V/H/S: Viral, the series returns with V/H/S/94; a comparatively better and easily more consistent entry. While both Radio Silence and David Brucker were originally slated to contribute again, each had franchise reboots to work on which ended up being for the best as the five up and coming filmmakers here are new to the series and for the most part offer up some interesting segments. Chloe Okuno's opening "Storm Drain" has a memorable monster reveal, Simon Barrett's "The Empty Wake" is a creepy, deliberate reworking of the Soviet classic Viy, the mad scientist/cyberpunk body horror of Timo Tjahjanto's "The Subject" fulfills the foreign quota, and Ryan Prows' "Terror" has a unique vampire premise. Along with the convincingly degraded footage, there is more commonality with the individual stories here, each of which offers up a fanatical cult element sans "The Subject" which is also the only one to be digitally pristine. While some of the plotting and performances are uneven and a handful of minutes could afforded to be trimmed, at least none of the main sequences are anywhere near weak. On that note and for whatever reason, the series still cannot nail the wrap-around narrative as Jennifer Reeder's "Holy Hell" aimlessly grinds the proceedings down to a halt.
Dir - Vincent Grashaw
Overall: MEH
Bloated and inconsistent, What Josiah Saw pulls off some nifty tricks yet ultimately becomes an exhausting and dour experience. Told in three chapters, (each one running at least fifteen to twenty minutes too long), it soaks in the lives of a dysfunctional family who have gone their separate ways after an unpleasant ordeal that is finally revealed via a rug-pulling finale. Screenwriter Robert Alan Dilts, (in his first full-length), constructs his small group of characters as nothing besides hopelessly broken, but they are fleshed-out and the performances give the necessary weight to sympathize with their day to day penance, (even if Robert Patrick and Scott Haze obnoxiously deliver all of their dialog with a garbled southern drawl). The longest and by far best act focuses on Nick Stahl's downtrodden criminal Eli and his run-in with gypsies, murderers, and the law, which is where director Vincent Grashaw maintains the most uncomfortable level of tension until the final few minutes. Said ending is more shockingly taboo than satisfying though and leaves an unapologetically morose taste, which is too much of an ugly thing after such a dread-fueled experience.
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