I think it’s time we showed a little love to the anthology horror.
If you’re a fan of the horror genre, you’ve probably already stumbled across a few of these in your travels – the success of ABCs of Death and V/H/S in the 2010s kicked off a brief trend in the horror world for collections of short films, usually connected via some loose premise – but there are plenty outside of the big hitters that deserve a chance, too. Anthology horror movies are a fantastic way to discover new directors – I would never have stumbled across Nacho Vigalondo if it hadn’t been for The ABCs of Death, and for that, I will be forever thankful for its existence – and a challenge for more established creators to pull off a story in a limited timeframe without losing any of its impact. So, without further ado, let’s get into this anthology (heh) of spooky segmented recommendations!
Three…Extremes
This 2004 movie is, in retrospect, almost a comical embarrassment of riches – Takashi Miike, Park Chan-Wook, and Fruit Chan get behind the camera to bring to life three entirely distinct nightmare visions rich with the style and substance that would help define their careers in years to come. Miike’s era ghost story Box is on the lighter end of his work in terms of gore but still packs a hefty punch with its dark themes and a horrific twist, while Chan-Wook’s Cut (starring Lee Byun-Hun, who recently worked with the director on the brilliant No Other Choice) is a piece of full-blown meta-madness. Chan’s Dumplings, however, is exactly the kind of twisted modern folk tale I love – and the only short that ended up turning into a full-length feature. But maybe one for the vegetarians to give a miss.
Dead of Night
It might be the better part of a century old now, but Dead of Night still holds the same unsetlling power it did when it first hit screens in 1945. A rare horror outing from the generally comedy-focused Ealing Studios, it’s steeped in Ealing’s distinct British sensibility, set in a country estate as guests gather to share their spookiest stories of the supernatural and beyond. It’s perhaps best known for the The Ventriloquist’s Dummy, a short which helped cement those damn creepy puppets in horror legend in no small part due to Michael Redgrave’s incredible performance, but The Hearse driver, with its weird bending of time and place, is my personal favourite. Come for a piece of horror history, stay for Mervyn Jones slowly losing his mind in the wraparound plot. What’s not to love?
Southbound
A wonderfully woozy wander through a series of strange stories of Americana, 2015’s Southbound really works best on a rewatch. While the individual shorts are very solid in their own right (and, with directors like Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Patrick Hovarth, and Roxanne Benjamin, who created the V/H/S anthology series, you’d expect nothing less), but the road-trip sensibility that ties them all together is what really makes them work. Each short feels like a glimpse at a broader story, epilogues of sorts dripping with guilt, grief, and gore, and the way they feed into each other makes for a uniquely rewarding anthology experience.
Got any more anthology horror movies you think more people should know about? Name and fame some of your favourite anthology horror movies – or segments – in the comments below!
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By Lou MacGregor
(header image via Cashiers D’Illusion)
No But Listen 