SCARY OR DIE (2011)

Streaming on Tubi!
Directed/Written by Michael Emanuel, Igor Meglic, Bob Badway
Check out the trailer here!!

I was really surprised with this often spooky, often twisted, often wickedly funny little anthology. I didn’t expect much, but each installment surprised me more than the last with some nice little stories and performances coupled with some great practical effects work. For the most part, SCARY OR DIE is a highly successful horror anthology and worth checking out.

Wrapped around the premise of the FUNNY OR DIE website, which highlights short comedy films and rates them, SCARY OR DIE opens with a decayed hand clicking through videos. So, as far as creativity is concerned, this hook isn’t really burning any barns.

“The Crossing” stars Bill Oberst Jr. as a white trash hick who self-appoints himself to protect the American border from Mexican immigrants. Though some of his racism might tough to digest, this first short is a nice cautionary tale with some fun twists and a fucking fantastic zombie rising sequence.

“Re-Membered” is a very cool short about hitmen and demons. It’s got a TELLTALE HEART flavor to it as a cop pulls over a hitman with a body in the trunk. No one told either of them that the body had sold his soul to the devil. This is a tautly shot film by Igor Meglic which relies on some uncomfortably close shots to crank up the tension.

Bob Badway’s “Taejung’s Lament” is a gorgeously shot story highlighting the gaudier side of LA as a wandering man happens upon a prostitute in danger but finds that things are not what they seem. I found this story to be pretty clever despite the sudden twist at the end, which kind of threw things off for me.

“Clowned” seems to be the short film that this entire anthology was built around, and it is a great one, though it is basically the same premise as Jon Watts’ CLOWN, which would be released three years after this film, so “Clowned” did it first. A drug dealer is bitten by a clown when he tries to kick it out of his niece’s party and we find out that like werewolves, the bite carries a curse. Part superhero origin, part horror story, part parody, “Clowned” is by far the most realized of the stories in SCARY OR DIE and utilizes some fantastic practical effects. Director Michael Emanuel has both a wicked sense of humor and a nice eye for all things scary as he makes the clowns in this story, despite the ridiculous premise, scary as hell.

Finally, a dark poem dripping with voodoo vengeance offers up a nice spooky epilogue for our anthology and ties the whole darn thing together. I admired the voice in this itty bitty short which reflects the dire tone filled with vengeance, yet accurately speaking Cajun voodooisms and melancholy loss.

SCARY OR DIE is definitely an anthology worth checking out. Reminiscent of old school films like CREEPSHOW with its practical effects and unflinchingly wicked tales, this is one indie film worth seeing by as many folks as possible. If you’re a fan of TALES FROM THE CRYPT and CREEPSHOW, you’re going to want to click on SCARY OR DIE. It surprised and scared the hell out of me.