 Volume 4 begins in a strange way with Strange Thing …keep those doors closed! Next, Bo & Cephus take a hilarious, horror-filled romp into the not-so-blissful side of marriage with 'Til Death. After that, we've got a deliciously horrific feast with Foodie , and round things out hanging the curves in The Hourglass Figure . Be sure to stick around to the end for a surprise bonus short, Collision I love this sort of thing, the creep show element of having several short stories with comedy links in between is nothing new, very little is these days, but it isn't what you have it's how you use it, and this format works just fine. The segment links all tie into the story which follows and are ably performed by the 'Hillbillies' who are as follows: Bo Keister is Bo, the mouthpiece, whose casual commentaries are genuinely funny with a completely natural feel to them. Rachel Faulkner is Lulu who is very funny and has the kind of sex appeal which could make a Monk sneak off with a box of Kleenex for some 'private time'. The camerawork obviously and unashamedly makes the most of Rachel's assets. Scott Geiter is Cephus, who is the 'Silent Bob' to Bo Keister's 'Jay'. Cephus picks out the movies which Bo then plays and we have the pleasure of watching. The links are crass, sexist and very funny. As for the films themselves they are of varying length, but all excellent quality. Strange Thing in which young couple Chrissy and Jake have a nice routine life, nothing unusual, until that is a mysterious door appears from nowhere behind the bookshelves. What is on the other side of the door is the story here. This one reminded me somewhat of the 1986 film 'House' when the door opens up onto blackness. Do you dare venture further? It is a very well done short movie and a great start in this anthology.  'Til death is the 2nd offering, and one which starts off with 4 guys whose relationships are not as good as they would wish them to be. They get together for drinks and hatch a plan to rid themselves of their respective problems. As you can no doubt imagine this does not quite go to plan. 'Til Death is darkly funny, in fact, I have not laughed this much at a comedy horror since I saw Tucker and Dale vs Evil. This has several gross out moments, excellent acting and great special effects above all else, it is the humour which nails it. Highly recommended. The 3rd presentation is Foodie, which centres around gourmet chefs and food critics. Unfortunately, this did nothing for me as everything about it was apparent from the beginning. Although the production values were high and the actors perform their jobs admirably it was the whole predictability which did not sit well with me, it is watchable but if this was a stand-alone film I would be saying, don't bother with it as it is probably nothing you've not seen before.  THE HOUR GLASS FIGURE The 4th film is The Hourglass Figure , which also has a very familiar plot, harking back as it does to the 1963 Twilight Zone episode 'A kind of stopwatch', used again in the 1985 Twilight Zone series episode 'A little peace and quiet'. In the one TZ episode it is a stopwatch giving the extra time, in 'A little peace and quiet' it is a necklace which allows a frustrated mother to get more done, with a similar horrific twist in the tale. In The Hourglass Figure It is a sand timer which provides an extra hour a day for this particular frustrated housewife, but only one hour per day, use it again and there is a price to pay. Although often used and parodied in Johnny Bravo and The Simpsons amongst others, this idea is all about the ending, and in this case, the ending is truly justified and suitably horrific. It is a clean production and is well acted with the main character Chelsea played by Michelle Davidson (who co-wrote this screenplay) turning in a flawless performance. Collision is the bonus short, it is only a couple of minutes long with virtually no dialogue and not a great deal of acting either, but is beautifully filmed with sumptuous special effects. The 'Collision' of the title takes place over a six-day period with the gas giant Jupiter heading straight for us. This short film does follow the very short end credits, so be careful that you do not miss it. You can watch the HILLBILLY HORROR SHOW VOLUME 4 right away using the following link, and be sure to catch up on the previous 3 volumes which are all cheap enough to provide you with hours of fun entertainment. https://vimeo.com/ondemand/9883/87394315 Joe YoungFollow the links below for more great horror film reviews HORROR FILM REVIEWS /film-reviews.htmlFILM GUTTER : EXTREME HORROR FILM REVIEWS |
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