Dark Chronicles

Dark Chronicles is a well-put-together anthology that is definitely worth a watch for those who love classics such as "After Midnight," "Tales from the Dark Side," and "From a Whisper to a Scream." Dark Chronicles features 4 gripping tales that run the gamut from perilous paranormal plots, to disturbing dystopian futures, and even to intense psychological thrillers. The frame story, featuring our incredibly earnest and emotive host, The Keeper, creates a somber atmosphere and does an excellent job of cleansing the palette before moving the tales along. A high production value remains consistent throughout the entirety of the film, creating a very enjoyable experience.

And here's why it works:

Dark Chronicles has two strong components that really amplify its effect and help it work the way it does.

The first component is the frame story.

But first, an aside. Feel free to skip past this if you'd like.

There has been a recent upsurge of horror anthologies, and that's not a bad thing in my book. The issue with many of these spurious entries is that they tend to create slipshod compilations of preexisting works - the kind that most likely ever only saw the light of day at a film festival - that share neither a common theme nor a consistent production value. And so the entire experience feels disjointed and ultimately dissatisfying.

Looking backwards, the frame story is what breathed life into Hammer's and Amicus' beloved anthologies. It was the sonorous pulse that meticulously crafted stories beat their drums to. It doesn't matter exactly what it is - Shevenge has a unique approach to the frame story that, for the most part, falls flat, but it serves its purpose - but the frame story must be both coherent and compelling. The frame story is the prologue, the epilogue, and, most importantly, the intermission - strike the set, we're moving into the next act. It serves as a palette cleanser so that we can fully appreciate all of the flavors of any particular work within the whole of the anthology, and can really make or break an anthology. A prime example of it making: Peter Cushing in "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors." A prime example of it breaking: Karl Landler in "A Night of Horror: Nightmare Radio."

Onward to the review!

Dark Chronicles has a very engaging frame story. Though the scripting is slightly weak at times - the word choices sometimes break the flow of the scene - the character of the Keeper is unique, a bit quirky, and entirely likable. With hIs subtle, yet vibrant shifts in expression he does a good job of setting the tone for the upcoming vignette whilst also cleansing our palettes of the flavors from the last one. This diminishes burnout and disinterest, while also helping each short feel both unique to itself and capable as part of a larger whole - a strong link in the chain, so to speak.

The second component working for Dark Chronicles is that the production value is not only well above amateur, it is also consistent across the board. The story-telling is high-tier, propped up by largely convincing performances, dynamic scripting, and felicitous practical effects. The lighting and camerawork combine for an overall pristine 90's straight-to-TV image. Finally, the sound design is top notch, generating soundscapes that properly instill an appropriate sense of mystery and foreboding. Even if you don't particularly enjoy a certain story, the production value is of a high enough caliber to where it doesn't feel like you're suffering through it - it can still remain entertaining on some level.

We are treated to 4 tales.

Below are brief Plot Summaries:

Possession: Tensions rise between a priest and his ward when she starts exhibiting some very demoniacal behavior. He believes that she's possessed. She believes she's merely ill.

Relic: To psych themselves up for an upcoming fear festival, three friends decide to pay a visit to an antique shop that hosts tours of the many mystical items in its possession. During the tour, they unwittingly invoke and provoke an ancient evil.

What Hides Within: In a post-apocalyptic dystopian future where humans are almost extinct while the undead dominate the landscape, one family struggles to survive.

The Conductor: Two strangers walk into a bar, each with their own mired past and hidden agenda.

A shopkeeper who is a collector of rare books, introduces four stories which delve into possession, rituals, zombies and harbingers. Story 1. A religious fanatic, convinced a woman is possessed by a demon keeps her captive while he tries to exorcise the entity. She believes she is just ill and decides to try and break free. Story two. A group of horror fans, on a road trip to attend a horror festival, decide to visit a creepy occult antiquity shop. The beautiful storekeeper shows them some items and tells them the backstories while the gang mostly cut jokes and treat her, mostly as a fraud out to make a buck. They are soon tricked into reading some passages from an ancient book which causes their trip to take an unexpected turn for the worse. Story three. A group holed up in a house trying to isolate themselves from a dystopian zombie infested world, find that zombies aren't the only thing to fear in a world of limited resources Finally story four. A brutal serial killer enters a bar to confront the owner who;s husband stole money from his family. After not hearing what he wanted to hear he decides to kill everybody beginning with a flirtatious redhead who is chatting him up at the bar. Things go bad for our slasher when it is revealed the redhead is not what she seems. Our guide see;s us out in conclusion and all in all this anthology fells satisfying and a recommend to lovers of the genre. The performances are solid to good.

Sitting in his shop with a collection of books, a shopkeeper recounts several stories of people encountering malevolent entires and bad fates.

The Good Stor(ies): Possession-Preparing for a visit from a priest friend of hers, a woman begins the excruciating and troubling process of exorcism to clear her of a deadly demon. As they go through the process of trying to get the demon out of her, they realize how powerful it is and that they may not be able to stop it. There's a lot to like with this one as it's a rather fun starting segment. With the strange methods of preparation she goes through and the examination that takes place here including the way she dresses, the various types of prayer they go through, and the early signs that somethings' wrong with her, it all builds to a series of chilling encounters with her both in a possessed state and when she's normal that brings everything together rather nicely. The back-and-forth nature of the confrontations makes it somewhat unclear if she's truly possessed or he's incensed on proving something that's not real, adding immensely to the fun and suspense of the segment which is all rather enjoyable and adds to the fun here.

Relic-Getting together with an old friend, a couple joins him in visiting a collector of unique antiques to inquire more about the occult items in their possession. As they learn more about what each of the items represents, Generally, this was a pretty solid and chilling effort. The quick-build intro that lets us know the characters before entering the store which is filled with all matter of supernatural paraphernalia and relics that is all played off with a mysterious and chilling atmosphere gives this a great start as well as the somewhat sinister images and effects. While in the shop, the stories told about the various objects in the collection before they leave have a great setup to the later stalking scenes featuring the group encountering strange encounters one-by-one. Most of these are fun enough but feel tacked on to the main story as the atmosphere of these scenes is somewhat inconsistent with the first half in the store. It's not a big deal but is noticeable here.

The Bad Stor(ies): What Hides Within-Living in a post-apocalyptic future, a small family is determined to keep themselves safe from a horde of ravenous creatures out to kill them. When they realize that their safe house isn't as protected as they thought, they head off into the wild to find shelter and safety. This one had a lot of potential but falls just a bit short. The atmosphere here is a lot of fun and gives a great setup with the mysterious creatures lurking around them in the supposedly-secluded house that's shown to be breached and causes them to be attacked which is all well-handled throughout here. With the attacks providing some decent action and the aftermath of it all having some great gore and make-up effects, this one has a lot to like here but it falls short with the family dynamic that's on display. Since they're just introduced with no time to get to know them, the only drama achieved here is artificial superficiality about the people being wantonly killed and devoured by these strange things making it unclear who they are and what relationship they have to each other much less what's causing people to violently snap and attack each other. The scenes with the survivor out in the wilderness encountering the couple is a nice dark ending but it comes with no build-up or point, making this somewhat lackluster overall.

The Conductor-Staying late at a bar after hours, a woman on the run tries to make the acquaintance of a stranger who comes in just before closing. When it becomes apparent that he's not who he says he is and the evening descends into chaos, they try to make the best of the situation before it's too late. Overall, this is a pretty underwhelming and lackluster ending to everything. The central premise takes way too long to develop as the series of conversations at the bar between her and the bartender and then the stranger who comes in that really holds the main idea in this one down. None of these scenes are scary or interesting, which is much the same as what happens when the twist is revealed and this one plays its hand as to what's really going on since the majority of this is reliant on caring about the backstory being revealed about who the stranger is and his purpose for being there. That becomes the central downfall of the segment since nothing that's revealed about who he was and what happened to him before everything transpired is all that interesting or makes us sympathetic to what's going on, and while it relies on the brutality of the gore being inflicted to work none of this is fun or exciting to watch with people that you don't care about at all.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.