By Ben Bussey
I rather doubt anyone needs to be reminded of this fact right now, but the anthology horror movie is well and truly back. From Amicus to Creepshow to Trick ‘R Treat, the portmanteau format has been utilised to craft some of the most enjoyable horror movies of decades gone by, and in recent years it has served as a great launchpad for a slew of indie filmmakers to collaborate on the high-profile (if variable quality) V/H/S and ABCs of Death movies. This new wave of anthology horror has left this writer for one with rather mixed feelings; pleased to see the format return, but not always that impressed with the results, wherein most filmmakers involved seem single-mindedly set on making their chapter that bit more fucked-up and nasty than the one before it. That approach doesn’t take long to get tedious, leaving one yearning nostalgically for the days when the primary aim of most anthology horror was simply to show the audience a good time. It’s with some relief, then, that I can report the latest indie anthology horror Volumes of Blood most definitely places shits and giggles over deep-set psychological trauma, presenting a simple and entertaining old-school horror which puts entertainment value first, and for the most part delivers on its humble ambition.
The opening does a pretty good job setting the tone right away, as two clearly-not-teenage actors playing stereotypical teen characters find their parked car love-in interrupted by the local knife-wielding maniac. This introduction proves to be that classic fake-out: we’re watching the film that a character is watching (nor is this the last metatextual, fourth-wall-breaking moment in Volumes of Blood). Not long thereafter, a long aerial shot – pretty impressive for a film clearly produced on a very small budget indeed – introduces us to the library that the film centres on, wherein four college students preparing for a paper on urban legends sit down for one of those classic Villa Diodati challenges to see who can dream up the best scary story, which they can proceed to insidiously spread around campus. The twist is, each story takes place within the walls of that very library, and in-keeping with the best anthology movies each tale tackles a slightly different breed of horror: we have a splattery take on a classic perils-of-unknown-substances tale, a dialogue-free monochrome ghost story, a monster in the house (or rather library), and a spot of demonic wish fulfillment – before the wrap-around story takes things in an unexpectedly different direction.
Few things seem more likely to underline how low-budget and grass roots a film is than an opening credit declaring the film to have been made in association with a public library. This was indeed the case on Volumes of Blood, which – the prologue scenes and a few brief exterior moments aside – was shot almost entirely in the Daviess County Public Library in Owensboro, Kentucky, mostly after hours from the look of things. It’s a nice idea which makes sense not only on a practical DIY filmmaking level (a shot of a book on Kevin Smith would seem to nod toward his debut Clerks, famously shot under similar conditions in a convenience store), but also from a horror perspective: libraries, even the comparatively clean and bright spaces they tend to be nowadays – a model this particular library very much fits – can be pretty spooky places, particularly when you find yourself among the last to leave after dark. The setting also allows for dialogue heavy on literary and cinematic reference, which we have plenty of from the script by PJ Starks (also producer and director of chapter ‘Ghastly’), Nathan Thomas Milliner (also director of ‘Encyclopedia Satanica’ and poster artist) and Todd Martin. The thought of a dialogue-heavy no-budget horror tends to fill me with dread, as very often a combination of poor acting, worse writing and direction and bad sound recording can render the films painful to behold, but happily that isn’t the case at all on Volumes of Blood. Aside from some minor sound issues it’s all very effective stuff; never quite whip-smart or laugh-out-loud funny, but agreeable nonetheless, with nice performances from a likeable cast.
One thing Volumes of Blood could perhaps have benefited from is a touch more variety. Whilst there are four different directors on board, there are no particularly notable stylistic differences between the chapters (‘Ghastly’s black and white photography notwithstanding), and the stories themselves do tend to get a bit samey: dialogue-heavy intros lead to central characters finding themselves alone in the library, until a mysterious, sinister stranger appears, and – of course – death ensues. It could also have done with being a little shorter and pacier, the final chapter in particular; based around a further fake-out, it feels like a twist too far, and drags on rather longer than it needs to. Still, the darkly humorous conclusion is satisfying enough, and I struggle to look too harshly on anything as light-hearted as this, which is so filled with affection for the genre.
Volumes of Blood is set to appear on the 2015 festival circuit – learn more by following the film on Facebook and Twitter.