Tell Me a Creepy Story

This film is a compilation of 4 horror shorts (as opposed to an anthology).

The first film- by Paul Holbrook and Sam Dawe- tells the story of a young single mother who finds herself struggling to raise a boy with an inexplicably insatiable appetite.

As he grows, his need to satiate this hunger takes on more and more extremes.

Ultimately leading to the conclusion of the film.

The second installation of the program is a French film titled Myosotis, by Felix Dobaire.

Which, in my opinion, is the best one of the bunch.

It tells the tale of a beekeeper who finds his wife dead (having been killed by the bees).

Knowing he'd be held responsible, he buries her body under the vegetable garden, instead of reporting the crime.

Only for it to manifest a bizarre Svankmajerian mutation.

That ultimately leads to his downfall.

The third film- by Luke Konopasky- is about a young woman who lives alone.

One day, her water stops working.

So she calls for help.

Only to become the target of multiple mysterious men.

Which forces her to take matters into her own hands.

The young protaganess- played by writer Rita Konopasky- does a particularly excellent job on the acting front here.

With the final film revolving around a rural farm couple, who find themselves being targeted by a religious conman, that is out to get money from them.

Until they bring new meaning to the term "divine justice".

All in all...it's a solid little compilation, of simple shorts, from a number of up and coming directors.

With Felix Dobaire's contribution particularly standing out.

So keep an eye out for what he- and young actress Rita Konopasky-, have to offer on the horizon.

There might not be anything super groundbreaking here.

But it's definitely worth a watch.

3 out of 10 (on average, with Myosotis standing clearly above the rest).

Disappointing attempt at horror that falls flat on multiple levels. Rather than delivering on its promise of frights, the film relies on gratuitous and repulsive imagery, such as unnecessary close-ups of people eating food, which serves to disgust rather than scare the audience. The directing and acting are subpar, failing to engage viewers or create a genuinely eerie atmosphere. Instead of leaving viewers with a sense of fear, the movie may leave them feeling unclean, akin to the experience of watching a show like "Hoarders." Overall, "Tell Me a Creepy Story" fails to deliver on its genre and is not recommended for those seeking a genuinely chilling cinematic experience.

A collection of dark and disturbing genre shorts from various filmmakers.

The Good Stor(ies): Hungry Joe-Following the birth of their baby, a woman convinced that there's something wrong with her child and his increasingly growing appetite starts to believe it would be more worthwhile to end it all than show him a mother's love. On the whole, this was a decent enough if somewhat problematic entry. The central setup is certainly worthwhile enough, as his advancing age means a greater intake of food that comes at the expense of her sanity due to the way everyone around her starts to judge how that reflects on her as a mother. This psychological bent is exceptionally well-handled with the way it drains her over time with the disheveled look and uncaring demeanor representing the physical toll it takes on her as things escalate from simply consuming inhuman amounts of food to live animals and eventually people. This works nicely enough but has way too long of an ending as this could've been much better with a certain resolution offered here without carrying on past it, but beyond that, there's a lot to like here.

Red Water-After breaking up with her boyfriend, a woman left home alone starts to pine for her ex only to be so caught up in the situation she fails to realize a killer has targeted her. This was a rather fun segment with a lot to like about it. The simplistic story of a woman alone in her house and experiencing a series of creepy hallucinations and supposed encounters with people who may or may not be there is a cliched enough setup which is all that hurts it. Since this allows for the misunderstanding in bringing the repairman out only to realize someone else had already answered the call, the belief that her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend are in the house with her, and the inability to recognize that the new killer is now there with her because of all these excess distractions makes for a stellar showing here. As it goes from psychological to more conventional cat-and-mouse stalking once the killer reveals himself which is quite fun and has some decent twists and turns as it goes along, providing for a great overall segment.

The Bad Stor(ies): Myosotis-After an argument with his wife, a beekeeper inadvertently kills her and decides to dispose of the body in his vegetable garden nearby, and as the days go by believes she's come back for revenge. This was a massively disappointing effort that could've been a lot of fun. The central setup is nothing spectacular but serves this one well enough as the incident itself and how it gets settled by dumping her body in the garden to hide away is fine for what it is, especially with the resulting scenes making it seem like her revenge is taking shape in the form of the withering plant-life in the garden. This is all atmospheric enough and proposes enough to like, but it's so cliched and weighed down by the fact that you know what's going on a lot of what goes on here doesn't have the same impact as most others who try this setup since it's so commonly featured involving a wronged figure coming back from the grave. Since the original incident was a genuine accident and not malicious in the slightest, that makes for a somewhat more underwhelming factor as it wasn't intended and seems instead to be wrongly justified.

The Good Word-Posing as a missionary for his crimes, a serial killer attempts to carry on his routine like normal with a couple on a remote farmhouse who may be hiding more dangerous intentions. This was a decent enough idea for a segment but does get somewhat undermined by a few minor sections. The general build-up of the killer's antics and how he's going through his prepared notions when he arrives on their doorstep that leads it through the big revelation at the end which in storyline terms is fine but in execution looks like a big flashing sign highlighting the turn so obvious the actual outcome is no surprise at all. That takes the sting out of the revelation quite significantly but it's also enough to leave this on a slight downgrade where the slow pacing becomes that much more obvious to be the few issues here.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, and Nudity.

This is a four part horror anthology that does not have the familiar general over-arcing framework connecting the stories. The lack of this really makes it more of a compilation of four individual, unrelated short films opposed to what we have come to be familiar with as far as horror anthologies go. Some of them being more successful than others, without a connecting aspect It's hard to write a true overall movie review because as stated it's not really a movie...

The first two were shot beautifully. Aesthetically, they were a joy to watch. Intriguing, innovative shots that created two specific, stylized atmospheres. Both of the stories were interesting and entertaining, but they didn't really bring you anywhere. The essence of a good short story is often times hard to capture... finding that balance between keeping it concise yet still engaging and also not so wildly open ended that it feels like a waste of time. The first one was probably my favorite I think, mostly because conceptually I found it very interesting and it had some gnarly body horror. I also quite liked the second one, particularly for some cool monster creating effects and an interesting concept.

I don't like to dwell or harp on the negative but the third one was jarringly unsuccessful after experiencing the first two. The concept was tired and unoriginal and the acting was poor. Not to be too harsh, but I didn't find anything particularly redeemable about it. The fourth one was generally entertaining while also being quite simple. Solid dialogue and acting from the three actors, probably the best of the bunch as far as that goes.

As a whole the only thing connecting these stories, even as a cultivated collection, is the fact that they're horror-based. I thought there was a theme of little to no dialogue as the first three didn't have much, but then the fourth one ruins that notion primarily being centered around constant dialogue.

At the end of the day it was a positive experience but not a special one. I would still recommend, especially for the first two, but I'm not going to be pressuring anyone to put it at the top of their list.

Short tales from UK, France, US and Ireland that do exactly what they promise - creepiness and genuinely unsettling stories. No jump scares or outright gore, but the scenarios will get under your skin and leave you feeling uneasy.

A parent has to live with a nightmare child while all around claim it is normal development; a spouse who wants to be remembered ('myosotis' = the 'forget-me-not' flower); a teenager with some dodgy plumbing; and a preacher with ungodly intentions.

Some stories feel familiar - We Need to Talk About Kevin; When a Stranger Calls - but these are classics of their kind and the tributes are deserved.

The four segments are uniformly strong, so there is no sense of anticlimax, and none outstays their welcome. They treat the audience as knowing adults - we are left to draw our own conclusions about the absentee parent, and to notice the missing phone for ourselves.

It is rare for four completely independent films to come together so effectively. Whoever curated the collection did an outstanding job. Excellent short-story filmmaking.