The Horror Vault [Unrated Uncut Special Edition]

I'm an old school horror fan. I saw Evil Dead on bootleg VHS back when you could only get a copy if you knew someone at University of Michigan who was involved with Sam Raimi. Some of my obscure low budget faves include "Liquid Sky," "Rawhead Rex," and "The Changeling" with George C. Scott.

The Horror Vault is a collection of uninspired and amateur short films marketed under the guise of being "nine tales of true horror - unrated, uncut and uncensored." Each episode is predictable, poorly acted, poorly directed, and unimaginative. Throw in a bad eighties synth soundtrack and poor use of visual effects with some brief nudity and you've got "The Horror Vault."

I like to give obscure horror films a chance. Throughout the years I have amassed a large stack of unwatchable horror DVD's, and a short stack of classics. Thanks to Amazon Unbox I can now simply delete the bad ones from my hard drive and not have them clutter up my media room. Don't waste your time with The Horror Vault -

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

Starting off with an effort to replicate the grindhouse use of "coming attractions," complete with grainy, scratched film, we expect the cheesiness to continue as the feature is not one, but nine separate horror shorts.

I am sure everyone will find their favorites in the collection, but I was particularly impressed by "Alone" with Mandy Amano as a sorority girl alone in the house with a killer on the loose. The sets and costuming were excellent and really gave a 50s feel to the story. It had a nice twist at the end.

"Mental Distortion" with Kim Sønderholm, who also wrote and directed this short, as well as the first one shown (When John Met Julia) stars with Maja Muhlack and the voluptuous Danish model Barbara Zatler. The story is really open to multiple interpretations, and I am sure each viewer will have their own.

"Disconnected" is the story of bloody brutality, but it is the twist that will have your mouth dropping open - totally unexpected.

Those are my three favorites, but the other six shorts are just as interesting and others are left to find theirs.