I learned of heaven, hell and purgatory as a child at St. Ann School in Ossining, NY in the 1960s. The theme of an afterlife has been done before. The problem here is the disconnected nature of the segments. A man has lost his wife in a car accident and is visited by a spirit guide. A follow up story involving a child molester made no sense. The final segment is the best one with a little girl seeking immortality. The young actress is the best part of the film. If that portion had been expanded to full length, this could have been a good movie.
13 Reviews
Bottom-tier anthology.
Victor_Fallon9 September 2022
A slow, meandering trio of art-house style horror dramas, none of which are interesting, all of them lacking horror and drama.
Thematically weak, visually overstylized and a bit boring. It goes for a more 'serious' tone than most anthologies, so if your looking for creative stories or risky cinema, look elsewhere. It's too try-hard in its attempts to be 'emotional' and 'dramatic', so ends up being bland with no engaging characters to care about. Anthologies are meant to be a bag of fun, but this is just a bag. I'll give each story one star because I feel sorry for the actors.
Notice, the 9 and 10 star reviewers have only ever rated one film. Yeah. Speaking of dreams...
Thematically weak, visually overstylized and a bit boring. It goes for a more 'serious' tone than most anthologies, so if your looking for creative stories or risky cinema, look elsewhere. It's too try-hard in its attempts to be 'emotional' and 'dramatic', so ends up being bland with no engaging characters to care about. Anthologies are meant to be a bag of fun, but this is just a bag. I'll give each story one star because I feel sorry for the actors.
Notice, the 9 and 10 star reviewers have only ever rated one film. Yeah. Speaking of dreams...
Anthology of death and loss
BandSAboutMovies22 August 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Kerry (Elohim Peña) can't get over the death of his wife Evelyn (Kulani Kai) -- a death he caused in an accident - and funeral home owner Charles (Steven Alonte) struggles to help him. As he goes to bed that evening, he's visited by the Psychopomp (Alonte), a spiritual guide who hopes that the three stories he has to tell can guide him to peace and Evelyn's soul to the next world.
"Spellbound High Monster Hop" is about the young love between Caroline and Lonnie and the devil mask-wearing man who come between them; "Answers" is about a psychic (N. Meridian) being called in to catch a serial killer (Peter Konx) and "Until Forever" is the tale of a vampire (Ben Shaul) tired of being alive and a young girl (Jillian Ebling) who has a fatal disease.
I liked the idea that director Danny Villanueva Jr. And writer J. Anthony Ramos have put together a film that uses the anthology format to deal with issues of death and loss. It's an interesting take.
"Spellbound High Monster Hop" is about the young love between Caroline and Lonnie and the devil mask-wearing man who come between them; "Answers" is about a psychic (N. Meridian) being called in to catch a serial killer (Peter Konx) and "Until Forever" is the tale of a vampire (Ben Shaul) tired of being alive and a young girl (Jillian Ebling) who has a fatal disease.
I liked the idea that director Danny Villanueva Jr. And writer J. Anthony Ramos have put together a film that uses the anthology format to deal with issues of death and loss. It's an interesting take.
A very wonderful movie
lilturtlegirl4 September 2021
I really enjoyed attending the world showing of this film. I enjoyed greatly seeing it's debut. I was confused a bit by the storyline and how everything fit together. I was hoping for a bit of a more fleshed out story and more explanation for each charecters story. I do appreciate the artistic nature of the film and the actors were amazing and all gave wonderful performances! If you enjoy dark, somber stories you will enjoy.
I confess horror is not a genre I gravitate to
m.mk5 September 2021
I confess horror is not a genre I gravitate to, but putting my "prejudice" aside, it looked very good and the acting seemed well done.
I liked the lighting a lot and the sound.
It might have benefited from running a title before each segment to minimize confusion.
I liked the lighting a lot and the sound.
It might have benefited from running a title before each segment to minimize confusion.
super rad film
efairsc6 September 2021
You have to go into this movie knowing how anthologies work, when you do everything comes together quite wonderfully, even more with multiple viewings. Spellbound high was by far my favorite segment. You could tell the characters really connected with each other, their chemistry was a beautiful thing.
Awesome film
sgmichelson13 September 2021
I had the privilege to see this movie during one of its premiers. I had no idea what to expect going in. I came out thoroughly fascinated the style of this moving. Spellbound High was my favorite. I was able to stay with the idea of the movie until the third story. It was obvious it was written by someone else. It was good, but didn't seem to fit with the rest. Overall, it's a film worth seeing and I wish Danny Villanueva Jr. And group the best on future projects.
Different Horror Perspective
ckantowski13 September 2021
Some of the scenes had u assume what occurred without you seeing what actually happened. Your assumption would follow the story line. Really enjoyed hearing from cast members post viewing on the stage. Audience was able to ask Qs. Only criticism, perhaps I just didn't pick up on it, the last scene wasn't as intuitive as the 1st three. It seems like alot of work for Danny w minimal financial reward. Loved seeing some of the scenes shot in Racine. Best of luck to Danny Villanueva Jr & his entourage!!!
A Journey into the Mind and Soul
csweat132429 September 2021
This movie spoke to me on many levels. I loved the deep thought that went into each story and the symbolism. The lighting was great. The sound was awesome! I would consider this to be a journey into some deeper parts of our minds, hearts, and souls. Great job!
Indie Anthology for the win
mgwfqmq16 September 2021
I have been fortunate to see this movie more than once (the Chicago premiere at the Music Box and once in Kenosha).
I didn't know what to expect, the trailer was great but it also didn't give me much of a storyline. So I went in with no expectations and boy does it deliver. You would not guess that it's a low budget, independent film.
The cinematography is beautiful. The sound and music is spot on. Each element working perfectly together to create a unified style, even through all the different stories and aspects. You can tell this had a strong director with a very specific eye and knew what they wanted and was able to communicate that to the rest.
I love the wrap around that ties the other stories together. You follow along with the lead who introduces a snippet of the other stories and then it jumps right into them. Each one dealing with a type of fear and loss. I think all the stories tie into the overall message of the film really well. The acting was very strong and I wouldn't even say there was a weak link. Each one pulled their weight.
I know this classifies as "horror" but it's not the gory, shocking and typical type of horror. It's truly more spiritual and relates more to how each person deals with grieving and death.
The other reason I adore this film is because it makes you think. It makes you question and talk about it afterwards. They only give you enough of the story to understand what happened without having to see the play by play. You can infer what happened and somethings we will never know! Like did she drink from the cup or not? The world will never know.
I hope this will eventually be available to streaming so more people can enjoy this beautifully made film. This is only the beginning for this director- I can't wait to see the rest of his career.
I didn't know what to expect, the trailer was great but it also didn't give me much of a storyline. So I went in with no expectations and boy does it deliver. You would not guess that it's a low budget, independent film.
The cinematography is beautiful. The sound and music is spot on. Each element working perfectly together to create a unified style, even through all the different stories and aspects. You can tell this had a strong director with a very specific eye and knew what they wanted and was able to communicate that to the rest.
I love the wrap around that ties the other stories together. You follow along with the lead who introduces a snippet of the other stories and then it jumps right into them. Each one dealing with a type of fear and loss. I think all the stories tie into the overall message of the film really well. The acting was very strong and I wouldn't even say there was a weak link. Each one pulled their weight.
I know this classifies as "horror" but it's not the gory, shocking and typical type of horror. It's truly more spiritual and relates more to how each person deals with grieving and death.
The other reason I adore this film is because it makes you think. It makes you question and talk about it afterwards. They only give you enough of the story to understand what happened without having to see the play by play. You can infer what happened and somethings we will never know! Like did she drink from the cup or not? The world will never know.
I hope this will eventually be available to streaming so more people can enjoy this beautifully made film. This is only the beginning for this director- I can't wait to see the rest of his career.
Smart, scary, beautiful
mutilato16 September 2021
I had the chance to see this premiere in Chicago on the big screen and I went in with zero expectations. I think a lot of horror type films with low budgets can fail as horror or as coherent films. But, from the start, this pulled me in with its dreamy tension and haunting progression through 4 storylines that captured what felt like 4 corners of a big idea. The music was otherworldly and perfectly constructed to knit it all together and there was some truly beautiful cinematography, especially in one vignette at a school, but it was the earnest and real acting and smart, non expository storytelling that made this film so enjoyable to me. If you're looking for a movie you can talk about with your friends at a diner after viewing for hours, this is my suggestion.
Beautifully shot and written for a budget
ironshell19 March 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Watched this film in Milwaukee for its premiere and was moved by the cinematography and direction. Moved me to tears during the prom scene. Loved how the main character was so moved by his grief and tragedy of accidentally killing his fiancé in a car accident and his atonement for her spirit and memory. Danny has a bright future!
Interesting!
taliahellenbrand19 May 2023
This movie has a very interesting concept and I really dug it. The only issue I had with the film was how some of the acting seemed a little too gentle for the movies feel and vibe.
Danny Villanuava Jr is a very good director who has a good future ahead of him and I can't wait to see more movies he makes. He shows us what grief is like and he makes us feel it deeply and so melancholy that the movie feels almost like a drama more than a horror, which I love a lot. The characters were interesting but what I loved the most was the color tones in the movie and the directing style. The movie gave The Vampires Assistant meets Insidious kind of vibes and we could use more of that in horror.
Danny Villanuava Jr is a very good director who has a good future ahead of him and I can't wait to see more movies he makes. He shows us what grief is like and he makes us feel it deeply and so melancholy that the movie feels almost like a drama more than a horror, which I love a lot. The characters were interesting but what I loved the most was the color tones in the movie and the directing style. The movie gave The Vampires Assistant meets Insidious kind of vibes and we could use more of that in horror.
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