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HI-FEAR (2022)

Directed by Todd Sheets (“Losing It At the Devil’s Whorehouse”), Tim Ritter (“When Shadows Come Alive”), Anthony Catanese (“The Streets Are Watching”), Brad Sykes (“Day Out of Days” and “What Are You Afraid Of?” wraparound).
Written by Todd Sheets (“Losing It At the Devil’s Whorehouse”), Tim Ritter (“When Shadows Come Alive”), Anthony Catanese (“The Streets Are Watching”), Brad Sykes & Josephina Sykes (“Day Out of Days” and “What Are You Afraid Of?” wraparound).

HI-FEAR is what looks to be the third in a series of anthology films with HI-DEATH and HI-8 preceding it. This one has four tales from some low budget directors you might know and some you might want to get to know.

In the first segment, “Losing It At the Devil’s Whorehouse,” a trio of kids show up to a high end brothel, looking to get their virgin friend laid. I thought it was going to be another vampire brothel story, and prepared for cliches, but the twist and do it yourself practical effects actually made this one a lot of fun. This one has boobs and blood a plenty, and while it might not really be top tier, it delivers schlock capably and the death scenes are pretty inventive. This one is from Todd Sheets, who also participated in HI-DEATH and HI-8 as well as directing and writing DREAMING IN PURPLE NEON, CLOWNADO, and THE KANSAS CITY BLENDER MASSACRE, among many, many other low budget horror films.

Meth heads, a cheating wife, a murderous pastor, rattlesnakes, and an inbred hillbilly family having fun whipping each other with a rope of intestines pretty much sums up the depraved, yet narratively complex “When Shadows Come Alive” from iconic indie horror director Tim Ritter, who worked on HI-DEATH and HI-8, as well as SHARKS OF THE CORN, CATNADO, and the classic TRUTH OR DARE? series. Filmed in a grindhouse format, Ritter delivers a story that feels like some of the stuff dealt with in the Truth of Dare series, but with a modern hillbilly meth-head family twist. This pretty standard stalk n’ slasher has some very grody effects and of course, lots of boobs.

Coming in third is “The Streets Are Watching,” a solid segment about a homeless girl and her homeless cronies who share the streets with a crazy person named Krazy Killer Karl or KKK. Karl is fighting his own demons and they may be more real than they all think. This was the shortest of the group, but definitely the most resonant. It depicts the homeless population pretty fairly, as well as how they look at themselves and how society views them. But the hallucination sequences with Karl’s demon are truly impressive, as they are used smartly in quick cuts. Director/writer Anthony Catanese also did low fi schlocker SODOMANIAC and the upcoming CADDY HACK which is a horror spoof of CADDYSHACK with mutant killer groundhogs attacking a golfcourse. After seeing what he did with this segment, I’m actually looking forward to CADDY HACK now.

“Day Out of Days” is the fourth and final installment from HI-DEATH/HI-8 director Brad Sykes and writer Josephine Sykes. Sykes also did PLAGUERS and the early installments of the CAMP BLOOD series. Here, the story focuses on a pair of young lovers show up for a photo shoot at a cabin in the woods and only one other member of the crew shows up. Meanwhile, the temperature is abnormally hot, the days are getting longer, and they’re seeing bright lights in the woods. What’s going on? The Sykes keep the answers under wraps for a long time, but it makes for some nice suspenseful moments as tensions between the three rise and the weird stuff intensifies. This one could have been a full-length feature. The acting is better than average and the odd stuff happening feels unique. Good segment.

The wraparound is weak. It’s about an artist who is hired to make a comic book about your greatest fears and she only has one afternoon to do it. Anyone who has even cracked open a comic knows that’s not how comics work. Still, it just serves as a means to set up the stories, so I guess it does it’s job. HI-FEAR delivered a pair of decent low tier tales and another pair that really impressed me. If you’re a fan of anthologies, you might want to seek this one out as it highlights some very cool talent in the low budget horror biz.

Check out the trailer here!!