Hey gang, Valkor here. Roger Sampson’s first four short films
– Revelations, The Jones, Rawhead, and The Origin of Species proves
that you don’t need a large budget or huge runtime to provide
the right amount of frightful spice in a dish best served horrific.
And now those short films are being brought together, under one
roof, in an anthology set titled “The Forces of Horror Vol. I”.
Is it worth checking out? You already know it is!
“The Forces of Horror” kicks things off with a wrap-around story called “Libby”, where a young girl named Libby (Gracie Whitton) is visiting a psychiatrist (Lance Eakright) concerning her nightmares. I’ll admit, I never got to see the wrap-around, but it’s the main stories that are important. And each of Libby’s nightmares corresponds with one of the shorts, which are briefly described below.
Revelations (Valkor favorite) – a mother must contend with her daughter who possesses demonic abilities.
The Jones – a zombie family deals with the fact that their daughter is becoming “human”.
Rawhead – a young girl is terrorized by a creature from her closet.
The Origin of Species – When father and daughter home invaders break into the wrong house, they’re about to get way more than what they bargained for.
For this piece, I’m going to forgo “The Good, Bad, and Ugly” breakdown, simply because I’ve already reviewed the first four shorts, which were amazing. And you can read about each one by clicking on their names above. In short, each piece embodies what a true horror experience should be, which is not only about jump scares and monsters, but it also includes great storytelling, fine acting, excellent pacing, tense buildup, setting, and even editing, all coming together to create one of the finest horror anthologies that rank amongst the bests there is (Creepshow still ranks as my favorite). Finally, I gotta give credit to the performances and Gracie Whitton gets high honors in this area; she freaked me out in Revelations but continued giving her best in the other films. Lance Eakright, you’re my dude in “The Origin of Species” as well as April Hartman, which when combined with Gracie, you guys made for an excellent trio, showing off some great on-screen chemistry. Roger Sampson and co, you guys deserve all the accolades given as you’ve produced an amazing anthology with “The Forces of Horror Vol. I”. And I hope that the same care and effort is given to volume two, should it come about.
You can find “The Forces of Horror Vol. I” available on Amazon Instant, which if you click that logo to the right, it’ll take you there directly. And if you’re looking for a true horror experience, then you’ll definitely want to give this anthology a go. So, out of TOV 5 stars, I’m giving “The Forces of Horror a 4.5.
