Scary or Die

"Scary Or Die" anthology tells five very different dark and twisted stories with L.A as a backdrop save the first. The first story happens in the borderlands outside the city close to Mexico. The film manages to quietly hint at the interwoven depth of the five tales with carefully hidden elements to the tale which require careful attention from the viewer to catch the connection. "Scary Or Die" has directors Bob Badway, Michael Emanuel, and Igor Meglic coming together to create some clever and fresh urban tales of horror which star Bill Oberst Jr., Alexandra Choi, and Corbin Bleu just to name a few playing out these ill fated lives.

scary or die"Scary Or Die" is a classic horror trilogy that celebrates the classic dark, witty and twisted styles most common in 80's anthologies and television series (Tales From The Darkside is the one I kept coming back to as I watched this film). The stories are "The Crossing" - a very dark and poignant story of prejudice and karma which has a couple of 'good ole boys' seeking to deport immigrants in their own sick manner only to have fate exact a gruesome justice of it's own; "Tae Jung's Lament" - a Korean vampire tale that is both elusive and clever in it's re-imagining of a 'damsel in distress' story; "Re- Membered" – a story that brings a scene of almost demonic or devilish cat and mouse dance between a shady character with someone in the trunk; "Clowned"- is an emotional horror story that has a family torn apart over some demonic case of twisted circumstance which conjures nightmares on so many levels; and "Lover Come Back"- a sinister and justified voodoo love story that proves some emotional bonds go beyond the grave or in this case the gross dumping ground.

For me this is one of the better produced anthologies that flows cleanly between tales as given through us by an unknown person via a website entitled "Scary Or Die". The person becomes known at the end, tying up the thread of continuation in this nice little flick. The stories varied from dark humor to melodramatic despair. Each of the stories held out to the very last scene before unveiling the full scope of the twisted tales which brought a freshness to each of them and made this film very entertaining. It is not a balls out scary anthology but it is clever and modern. "Scary Or Die" is a new urbanized 21st century anthology that holds it's own against the classics. I will watch this one many more times before I tire of it. Mainly because there are some deep messages in these stories that you don't see in a lot of the new anthologies and I am still trying to figure out what those messages actually represent.

Lured by the cover art to think I was in for a killer clown movie, the Creepshow-esque hand that clicked on the scaryordie website in search of a good horror clip made me realize that this was an anthology.

I haven't bothered to check if all segments were directed by different directors, but what they lack in a unifying theme, they make up with style. The general vibe is old-school, with enough blood to keep the viewer happy but no outright gore or torture. The set-ups are also classic : zombies, vampires, devil cults and the aforementioned killer clown. Segments range from 10 to 30 minutes, with no twists. The story lines are straightforward to a point and do not try to add to any mythos. But they all deliver with elegance and a lot of promise.

Because none of the sketches tries hard to surprise you, they're better left at their short running time, which is enough to be impressed by the directorial styles displayed. This explains why the Clown segment, the longest in the anthology, is also the weakest. It outstayed its weak set-up. The first and last segments, both tales from the undead, are also the slickest and nicely round up this hodgepodge of atmospheric, but almost too respectful quickies.

SCARY OR DIE is a low budget horror anthology with a few nods here and there to the likes of CREEPSHOW and its ilk. This one ploughs the same territory but is hardly on the same level as the older films, appearing very cheap and amateurish in places, but at least it's watchable and the old standby still works: if there's one story you particularly hate, you can rest assured that another one will replace it soon enough.

The first tale is about Mexican zombies, and I think it's the strongest here: certainly it's the only one that manages a few genuine scares in the Romero mould. The second effort is about a Korean vampire, and it's weaker all round, with a very light story barely sustaining the scant running time and a too obvious twist in the tale. The third story is about a serial killer who dismembers his victims, and is probably the weakest here; there's so little story that a key scene ends up being repeated. The fourth story is about an evil clown who bites a man who finds himself also turning into a clown. It has a neat premise but goes on too long. The wraparound segment isn't worth mentioning.

SCARY OR DIE knows that it isn't up to much in the scare department, so it throws in plenty of gore to make up to it. The acting ranges from poor to adequate, while the technical values are acceptable for what is a low budget genre production. Hardly the worst I've seen then but far from the best; this sits somewhere in the middle of the road.

Horror movie made in 2012, consisting of 5 short stories. The movies are zombie, vampire and clown themed.

In the first movie, a woman and two strange men are driving down the road in a pickup truck. These are American nationalists. I think this is the weakest part.

In the second movie, a man is looking for a love for himself. During this search, he sees a kidnapped woman. This episode isn't bad.

In the third story, a man carries a body in the trunk of his car. Another weak episode.

The fourth story is about the man who was attacked by a clown at his brother's birthday party. Not bad.

The fifth and final story is about a woman who loves to death. This isn't bad either.

I was very hopeless. I was going to close it in the first episode. But it wasn't bad.

There is no nudity in the movie, but there is sexuality in the first episode.

Harks back to the days of the Horror anthologies such as Tales from the Crypt and Tales from the dark side.

The stories twists are rather predictable, in keeping with the anthologies of old, pretty shallow, lacking in substance and explanation.

There are one or two moments that make you wince slightly, but that's it, without them this would be the stuff TV Horror is made of.

Initially I thought it was a collection of short films strung together, until the cast started crossing over from one story to the next.

Watchable, but not worth dedicating your movie night to.

To be fair, if you are looking for a scare, I'd look elsewhere.