FILM REVIEW: Josh's Thoughts on TERROR TALES

Directed by Jimmy Lee Combs.

Starring: Jennifer Runyon, Helene Udy, Laurene Landon, Lynn Lowry

What happens when you have a thriller-inspired story arch playing second fiddle to a set of anthology horror short stories? Well, you get the horror film titled Terror Tales. So, the next question becomes: Is it worth your time? Don't worry we'll get to that. First, let me get into some more detail about the premise.

The horror film sets up the initial story of a man and his family being abducted by a serial killer. As the killer, in question, tows the said man's wife and daughter -locked in a trailer - in a pick up truck pick, he treats or "torments" the man with a series of gory horror stories. In other words, think Planes, Trains, and Automobiles meets Tales from the Crypt.

Alright, so now that we have that out the way, let me be clear that I really hate to beat up on a movie, especially knowing that many great people put their hearts and souls into making a film. Still, with all of that in mind, I sometimes run into a film that makes me think that NO ONE even tried when making a movie. Terror Tales, unfortunately, qualifies as such movie.

While each tale has an interesting story idea, they are all poorly executed. Combs fails to achieve mood, the cinematography seems to only follow a point and shoot aethestic, and his editing and lighting are terrible. Additionally, each story looks to have been filmed in the same house, but in different rooms. Now, this issue may be due to budgetary constraints, but its still up the those working on the film to convince that there are many location even if they are only limited to one. Of the three stories presented in this horror anthology is Radical Video, the story of a serial killer stalking his victims in an eighties video store. It is here, at least, that I feel that Combs achieves the look of an eighties video store. Beyond that, the movie is plagued with bad writing, terrible acting, and is just poorly done.

Grade: D-

Terror Tales releases On Deamnd on January 8, 2019.