The Horror Network Vol. 1

This is one of my favorite horror anthologies, it's quite unique in that several different filmmakers were able to maintain the same tone throughout the entire film. One thing that I like about it is that it's never comical, it's never campy. It always brings the horror to the forefront. Not saying I don't like horror comedies but it's nice to find something strictly horror or at least in the thriller category.

My favorite is the 3rd one called The Quiet which I would classify as a horror thriller, it's not gory, it's all about the intensity of the situation in which our lead finds herself. It's also one that I believe can be interpreted in two different ways. The simple way, which is the cat and mouse scenario, and that the man that was supposed to pick her up from school is bad and had a sinister plan for the young deaf girl. Or scenario two, she thought it all up in her head using her dolls as disturbing imaginary to make sense in her own head and the man wasn't a threat at all he was just trying to collect her to take her home as "mum" requested but being deaf she simply got frightened and ran off into the woods and her own head. Thus her name being Alice could be a play on "Alice In Wonderland".

I enjoyed the 4th and 5th segments immensely with the 1st and 2nd being the weaker additions. Nevertheless all of these shorts are good to excellent. I am looking forward to volume 2.

I'd read unfavourable reviews of this anthology but despite that I spent my £3 in the cheap section of Asda. Worth a punt. First story, very short, almost pointless. Second story, very boring. Third, filmed in England, probably the best in terms of tension & believability, nicely filmed in the countryside too. Fourth, filmed in Spain, concerns some serious domestic abuse: very gruesome & disturbing, but another story that makes little or no sense. Finally the fifth, with no dialogue & filmed in b&w, is simply an older man killing & sexually abusing a young guy. I like the idea of taking independent shorts from 3 different countries but the reality is that most of these are rubbish & there is no wraparound story. Currently averaging 6.1/10, probably received a lot of high scores from people associated with it. Don't be fooled! It's crap!

Here's how I would rate the 5 stories : 3Am: ffwd 50% of it. Who can endure this? It's atrocious. 1/10

Edward: ffwd 75% of the conversation. The end was alright. 3/10

Quiet: More boring 2/10

Merry little Christmas (AKA "The one with the monster from the poster".): Made my body shiver, my heart race, my eye tear up as I clench my teeth through most of it. I want to be shocked. I was. No clue what this masterpiece does hiding inside this pile of pure garbage. 9/10

The deviant one: Garbage that was funny for a second. 2/10

So final verdict is, if you need a good fix of hardcore horror, watch Merry little Christmas but dismiss the rest.

I am a huge horror movie buff with a definite weakness when it comes to Horror Anthologies! They are my absolute favorite!! I don't know if it's the "2 for the price of 1" mentality; that feeling that I've gotten just a little bit more then was advertised. Creepshow, Tales from the Crypt, Dead of Night, these are some of my favorite movies. With anthologies, you just get that quick, little, sneak peek. Just a short little, burst of shock and horror to get your adrenaline going. Horror anthologies are just so much fun! Usually... So, imagine my delight at seeing something described as a "frightening anthology" that pays homage to the greats, like Creepshow and Tales from the Crypt! Well, unfortunately, this proved to be a less than accurate description. What I found as I watched the five shorts play out was what felt more like some film student's final project. My God! I waisted an hour and 24 minutes of my life watching someone's senior thesis and I didn't even know anybody involved in the project! I mean, I wasn't expecting a masterpiece, but this just felt like a betrayal. No, a trap! I had been lured by the promise of excellence and was handed a cardboard box. Now, I could have easily overlooked a shoddy production value and low budget work, if only the storytelling had been engaging. But they just didn't work. In the best case scenarios, the acting was abysmal and I had no idea what the hell was going on half the time. The stories dragged, meandered, fell asleep. When we finally did get a little action in some of the shorts, it was tasteless, crass, and absurd. The scenes were bloody, violent, and wholly unoriginal. Ultimately, it's down to me for wasting my eyes on this incomprehensible mess of someone's final project in film school.

Each story worst than the last. The only one with any real horror elements was the Christmas one. But the rest were awful. Terrible acting in most and most had stories that went nowhere. The "Quiet" one wasn't all bad, but it was more like an episode of a kids horror show or something. Pass on this if you like horror anthologies. This one could possibly bore you to death. But maybe that's what they were going for.