The Book of Nightmares

My wife and I saw an ad for this low budget horror movie that some folks made in my home town. We were visiting some family for the weekend, had some free time and figured we'd give it a shot.

When we got to the theatre, we were surprised to see that it was a completely sold out house. The directors introduced the film and were on hand for some questions and answers afterward.

As for the movie--it's sort of a throwback in the style of Stephen King. A few summer camp counsellors read three different scary stories around a campfire while the kids are in bed. The first story is about a crazy killer clown who attacks a house when a babysitter is watching two kids, the middle story is about a young woman who goes to a carnival and gets a bad fortune from a cheap gypsy and the final story was about a group of friends travelling in Europe when they find themselves in a creepy forest with man eating sirens.

Overall, we enjoyed the flick! The story moved along well and whenever it felt like it was about to drag, it picked up and moved in a different direction. The acting was pretty mediocre. Some folks did better than others. The make-up effects were cool. You could tell this was a no budget effort, but they were pretty smart in what they choose to show and what they held back on. We didn't feel that all of the nudity was necessary to the plot, but I guess maybe that will be a selling point for some people.

We're looking forward to seeing what else these guys can do next. If you keep in mind what they had to work with, I think you'll find yourself enjoying the flick too!