One good microbudget indie horror anthology movie deserves another. 2015’s Volumes of Blood (my review here) was an enjoyable addition to the pantheon of portmanteau horror made with a cut-price charm and unmistakable affection for the genre, so it should come as little surprise that the sequel Volumes of Blood: Horror Stories continues in a similar vein; although speaking of veins (heheh… sorry), this installment sees a far greater emphasis on bloodshed than its comparatively sedate predecessor. While this alone doesn’t necessarily make it a stronger film, it does demonstrate that Horror Stories is a sequel which is not content to retrace its steps, but rather seeks to improve on what went before – and I’m happy to report that, all things considered, it is largely superior to the original Volumes of Blood, even if it comes close to being undone by its own ambition.
In common with its predecessor, the sequel centres on a single location and tells several creepy tales which take place in that setting; but where in the first film this was a library where a group of college students devised their own urban legends, this one sees the prospective buyers of a house shown around the now empty property, before regaling us with morbid tales from the house’s history, whose most horrific moments occurred in specific rooms. And there’s another unifying theme, as each tale takes place on a family holiday: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Father’s Day, Christmas, and then just to mix things up a bit, a birthday. Yes, this approach is more than a little reminiscent of another anthology movie which came out this year, Holidays, though given the timing I think it’s fair to write this off as an unfortunate coincidence; but in any case, Holidays left quite a lot to be desired in my book, and in fact VOB:HS beats it at its own game, as for the most part the stories are far more closely related to the holidays in question.
But what about this excessive ambition thing, I hear you ask? Well – again, in common with its predecessor – we don’t get to that central thread straight away, as almost the first twenty five minutes are taken up by a movie-within-a-movie, which then segue-ways into a heavily metatextual bookend scene of a pair of disgruntled horror nerds venting their rage at the current state of horror movies; before sitting down to watch – you guessed it – Volumes of Blood: Horror Stories. This fourth-wall breaking effect was utilised in the final act of the original Volumes of Blood as well, so it’s hardly inappropriate that the sequel takes a similar approach, but it feels a little overindulgent given we’re practically a half hour in before the main thrust of the movie even kicks off. That having been said, while the initial film-within-a-film outstays its welcome a tad, the angry fanboys sequence is genuinely laugh-out-loud funny, with whip-smart dialogue and great performances from Kevin Roach and writer-director Nathan Thomas Milliner, presenting a very accurate depiction of the butt-hurt horror fan rage we see so much of in these times (my personal favourite line: “It Follows? More like It Swallows!“)
As co-writer and one of six directors (along with Sean Blevins, John William Holt, Jon Maynard, Justin M Seaman and James Treakle), Milliner also gives us easily the strongest story in the film in a tale set at Christmas – and yet, in a sad way, this sequence also underlines how VOB:HS stretches beyond its reach at times. The first few minutes are entirely without dialogue, and build a fascinating portrait of a woman (Jessica Schroeder, giving surely the best performance in the film) who, for reasons which are initially unclear, is not in the holiday spirit on Christmas Eve. These are intriguing, atmospheric scenes which build to a surprising level of genuine poignancy; I’m not ashamed to admit I shed a tear at one point. Unfortunately, this is somewhat undermined once the more traditionally horrific content comes in, and the silence is broken by a verbose antagonist (nothing against Julie Streble’s performance) who angrily recites an extensive monologue where a few lines would have sufficed.
This, almost certainly, is the main weakness of Volumes of Blood: Horror Stories: it just doesn’t know when to quit. The final running time is a whisper shy of two hours, which to my mind is simply too long for a film of this nature, and I can’t help feeling it would benefit from some judicious trimming to keep the pace up. Even so, one can hardly blame the filmmakers for wanting to keep the party going when they’re clearly having such a good time. And when it’s on form, VOB:HS is a hell of a lot of fun. The dialogue and performances are sharper than the average low-to-no budget horror, and while the gore FX are naturally of a cut-price variety there are some great gags in there, some of them surprisingly extreme (look out for a wince-inducing American History X homage early on), and if I’m not mistaken there’s absolutely none of that detested CGI splatter on display, which is always a plus point.
While I can’t agree that the Volumes of Blood movies have ‘redefined’ the horror anthology as the trailer below declares (though I rather suspect they’re deliberately overstating the case in a classic exploitation style), I can happily say that they’re shaping up to be a hugely enjoyable series for indie horror fans, and I certainly hope there will be more to follow. I just hope they’re just a little bit less self-indulgent and a little more conscious of pace next time around.
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