Noticeable right out of the gate, the production value is far above any other lower-end anthologies that I've seen. Also of higher caliber is the acting. Special effects reach the upper echelon insofar as low-budget anthologies go. Sound design and mixing are top notch. I'm actually almost convinced that this isn't low-budget B-movie cheese.
I can see some inspiration from some of the old heavy hitters of the horror anthology genre such as Creepshow, Nightmares, After Midnight, and Tales from the Crypt. Yet the wraparound story is akin to Are You Afraid of the Dark?.
What we get is an extremely well-put-together series of vignettes designed and executed by people with a clear passion and understanding for the art form that is the horror anthology.
Plot Summaries if interested:
So, the premise is that 4 up-and-coming writers are gathered together by a local librarian to share these 4 tales:
Night Haul: Something grisly is waiting to be uncovered by a woman visiting a storage unit one fateful night.
Untethered: A boy's family undergoes a macabre metamorphosis upon his dad's decision to take a hiatus from work.
Dead Ringer: Eldritch horrors beset a vagabond who happens upon an abandoned motel while wandering alone at night.
The Resting: Distressed by her past, a young woman seeks solace in her recently deceased mother's estate. But the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
After everyone tells their stories, the Librarian decides to share an ominous story of his own.
After Hours: It is closing time for two teenagers working at a movie theater. But as the story unfolds, the 4 writers become more and more uneasy.
Wraparound: Between segments, we learn of a series of very recent murders by a serial killer known as Cutthroat.
