Monday, March 7, 2016

NEW BLOOD: SOUTHBOUND

SOUTHBOUND
Orchard/ Dark Sky
2016 Color
89 Mins.
Horror Anthology
Chad Villella, Matt Bettenelli-Olpin, Kristina Pesic, Fabianne Therese, Nathaie Love and Hannah Love star.
Written by Roxanne Benjamin, Matt Bettenelli Olipin, David Bruckner, Susan burke, Dallas Hallam and Patrick Horvath
Directed by Roxanne Benjamin, David Bruckner, Patrick Horvath and Radio Silence
Rated R for language, violence and gore.



Well I'm still waiting for the next great horror anthology after Trick or Treat. That being said this is more a step in the right direction than the forced VHS franchise, In the Dark or the overly mediocre ABCS of Death. At least this film tries to maintain an air of consistency. Ultimately it fails but the everything leading up to each storys lackluster finale is dark, innovative and nightmarishly immersive. It starts off strong enough with a story about grim reaper like creatures and than we move onto a story about a satanic cult, an accident victim with loads of impressive gore, a missing sister and finally we loop around to the beginning of the first story which centers around a brutal home invasion. Every tale is narrated at the beginning by genre vet Larry Fessenden giving the audience a bit of a setup and centering around an infamous highway, one bad decision and the consequences that follow it.  None of the stories are explained satisfyingly but are intriguing and weird in a twilight zone way nonetheless. Featuring strong performances and accomplished starts from all the writers and directors. I only wish it would have culminated to more. Still Southbound is worth seeing if only for the promise of the film it could have been. ***.25/5








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