Dir - Douglas Buck/Buddy Giovinazzo/David Gregory/Karim Hussain/Tom Savini/Richard Stanley/Jeremy Kasten
Overall: MEH
A cheap anthology extravaganza that is as inconsistent as the lot of em, The Theatre Bizarre brings together seven filmmakers, Richard Stanley and Tom Savini being the biggest names. This was Stanley's first foray into horror in a decade and a half, (if one is to count his mangled The Island of Dr. Moreau which he was fired from only two weeks into filming), and he opens everything here with the Lovecraft-adjacent Clark Ashton Smith adaptation "The Mother of Toads". A schlocky Euro-throwback of sorts, it is far from memorable, but considering that it may be the best segment here, that does not bare well for what follows. Buddy Giovinazzo's "I Love You" is half-baked, Savini's "Wet Dreams" is merely squeamish, Douglas Buck's "The Accident" does not belong here at all, (it has nothing to do with horror), Karim Hussain's "Vision Stains" has an equally awkward presentation and premise, David Gregory's "Sweets" is nauseating and pointless, and Jeremy Kasten's wrap-round segment with Udo Kier playing a sentient marionette brings nothing of interest to the table. Though tones vary, the entire production has a soft digital sheen to it that is poorly conducive to sinister atmosphere, but fans of gross-out gore, boobs, and squishy sound effects might not find it to be a complete waste.
Dir - Emily Lou Wilbur
Overall: MEH
The only film thus far from director Emily Lou Wilbur, The Selling it typical of many contemporary comedies, namely in the fact that it refuses to allow a single character to air on the side of normal. While it is less obnoxious than many other prime examples of this faux pas, (looking in your direction Josh Ruben), it is still a mediocre melding of haunted house tropes with wacky hijinks for the mere sake of them. The movie's screenwriter Gabriel Danni plays a sheepish real estate agent named Richard Scarry, (that is not a typo), who tries to sell an aggressively haunted abode that is inhabited by the same demon/ghost/whatever that possessed a serial killer years back, as well as said serial killer's many victims who whisper "get out" in a Sizzler voice and arbitrarily cause mischief while other times laying dormant. Taking liberties with supernatural behavior is nothing new to the genre, so it would be unfair to pick on Danni's screenplay for that, and he does make it a point to take the piss out of many genre motifs that have long become hackneyed. The tone never stops being ridiculous even when Danni is dealing with his cancer-ridden mother, and some of the gags are silly enough without being grating, but it still tries harder than it succeeds, regularly teetering on announce.
Dir - Scott Leberecht
Overall: GOOD
This full-length indie debut Midnight Son from writer/director Scott Leberecht is one of many vampire films that leans into the addiction angle of such a fictional ailment, something that fits well within such a low budget and intimate framework. Zak Kilberg portrays a young man that has a "skin condition" and works the night shift, eventually running into drug dealers who score him some crimson plasma to suck down by nefarious means, as well as Maya Parish's waitress with a nose powder problem who would otherwise be an ideal person to start a romance with. Digitally shot, most of the film is presented in handheld sobering closeups, enhancing a type of claustrophobic atmosphere that plays into the character's trapped sense of isolation, both Kilberg and Parish finding it difficult to connect with each other as much as they would like to due to their substance dependency issues. As things inevitably escalate, some of the dramatic plot points seem forced, springing up suddenly and coming off as less convincing than the more lingering moments of Kilberg and Parish merely dealing with their day to day struggles and inability to open up to each other. For the most part though, the film plays to its strengths and suffices as a low-key tragedy that makes it a point to take the romanticism out of blood-sucking tropes.
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