Chillers

My review was written in November 1988 after watching the feature on Raedon video cassette.

"Chillers" is a so-so example of regional horror filmmaking, heading to the home video market in time for Halloween plus theatrical exposure on its home turf at the West Virginia film fest.

Five-part anthology resembles a road company version of classic "Dead of Night" with folks waiting at a bus station, soon to be en route to Hell where there's definitely room for one more.

The passengers' tales, punctuated by plenty of blood but unimaginative makeup effects, include a young girl romancing a diver who actually died five years ago. Another woman falls for a tv newsman, imagines him talking back to her through the tv set and ends up involved with vampires. Most elaborate fantasy deals with the Ixpe demon of the ancient Aztecs, but suffers from cheap, unconvincing sets.

Lack of interesting twists and absence of name actors sink this one.

People waiting at a bus terminal tell each other horror stories from their lives. Film has some good moments, but is hurt considerably by a low budget, poor effects, slack direction, mediocre performances, and a surprise ending you will see coming from miles away. Not nowhere near as bad as some of Troma's previous efforts though. Rated R; Violence, Sexual Situations, and Profanity.

Quite enjoyable and never dull. I like the fact that this movie has a bunch of little movies in it so that it never gets boring. All the little movies are good, none of them suck.

My favorite, however, is the first one with the diving ghost guy. I love how all the people who ever died in the pool are there. I never thought I'd see a horror movie about a guy who died in a diving accident. It was so odd that it made me smile the entire time.

This film is made exciting by creative and original stories. I love the story about the newsman who ends up being a vampire. It makes sense that a newsman would be a vampire because he only works at night! And the rebelious little kids in the woods are great, they have the best lines.

Truly creative stories with a campy/humorous side. This movie is a keeper.

Is certainly the best looking from this set, rare for such an obscure gem. Very clear picture and sound. Chillers is an episode film, and usually these don't work too well because not enough time is given in the short segments to build up tension, get to know the characters a.s.o. Here, however, in the 87 minutes the film lasts we are treated to no less than 5 stories that build up very well and involve many unexpected plot-twists. We get zombies, vampires, psychopaths, ghosts and possession plus an unexpected surprise ending (which is given away in the trailer that is included on the DVD, so watch this after the film). A group of travellers are stuck in a bus-depot that has all the hospitality of the one in Rock Bottom, where Spongebob Squarepants and Patrick Star get stranded, and in order to kill time they somehow wind up telling each other their worst nightmares. I won't give away any of the stories here, except that they range from very entertaining to truly frightening. Winner of the prestigious Silver Scream Award by the Acedemy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, and rightfully so, Chillers is a very good horror movie that is one of those examples where a limited budget enhances the creativity of the filmmakers. A truly original visual paperback of great stories.

I don't know what it is but Chillers by Daniel Boyd is my favourite movie. Not because of any cinematic genius of directorial kufuffle but it is a very entertaining movie to just to watch or fall asleep to. Me and this movie go way back. I remember back in ot '97 I would rent it everyday from my local video store. After not returning to the store once school started again I found that my dear Baldie's Video had gone out of business. This enraged me to the point average annoyence and vowed that I would meet that movie again someday. Months passed and my birthday rolled around. And it was on that day my friends that my friend Ryan purchased me my very own copy of the film in question ordering it from a shoppe in D-Troit. Now I am complete, Chillers and I later married (as legally as we could) in a chapel in Singipore where rice was thrown as well as minature chocolate doves which melted in a rather ironic tribute to me and my multi-media lifemate.

See it!