Tales Of Terror: Dark Tales Review

https://terror.ca/movie/tt11364118

This horror anthology film does what half its competitors have been neglecting for over a decade. It gives us twists and a wraparound story. There are only three writers, there’s uniformity and continuity, and the various segments feel part of a whole. The acting and the cinematography are evenly good. The special effects come in all shapes and sizes, and they are frequent.

There are monsters in this I can’t even name. Their design is minimalist but uncanny. The creators aren’t serving us repurposed ideas though some shorts have been featured elsewhere. We get extreme tales nested in a supernatural framing story. The segments range from perfectly paced to unnaturally short. The quality comes and goes, but the budget went in all the right places.

In all stories, mundane characters are disturbed by something paranormal or disproportionate. They’re mostly one-two-punch short films. Segment one is about insomnia, two is about parenthood, three is about an invisible prankster, four is intense body horror, five is about sexual ego and its consequences, six has creepy phone calls, and seven is about a Halloween conjuration séance.

2 1/2 out of 4