Chilling Visions: 5 States of Fear (2014)
Steve Barton
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Starring Kersten Haile, Jeff Kaplan, Peter B. Rogan, Bridget Dolan, Clay Mcleod Chapman, Charis Chu, Kristen Hung, Dave Coleman, Darby Hannon
Directors Andrew Gernhard, Brett Simmons, Glenn McQuaid, John Poliquin, Zao Want, Graham Reznick
The short story format has always been kind to horror. Shows like the “Twilight Zone” and “Tales from the Crypt” have been excellent homes for bizarre and concise ideas. Without the necessity to pad out an hour more screen time than the story requires, we are saved many a dull “character developing” conversation and fizzling little jump scares whose only purpose is to break up the tedium of aforementioned “character development.” Unfortunately, the days of “Twilight Zone” have come and gone, and it can be difficult for a young filmmaker to find success in the saturated online market or the eclectic festival scene. This is why I’m always happy to see a new short film anthology that is actually pretty good.
However, I must admit I wasn’t too excited to see the screener for Chilling Visions: 5 States of Fear pop up on my to-do list. A made-for-TV anthology produced by “at least it’s not the Syfy channel” Chiller TV, 5 States of Fear is actually the second in a “Chilling Visions” series. Preceded by 5 Senses of Fear, an anthology I in no way fault you for never having heard of, 5 States of Fear bore all the markings of a film I’d fall asleep during. The title is a double entendre that borders on pun (get it? States as in the US states but also as in states of being? HA!), and the art on the paper sleeves the screener came in depicts a few screaming pictures overlayed on a map of the U.S. with a little pushpin and string trail. It gave off an FBI map feel, and with the inside cover showing just a few black and white screenshots of people either talking, screaming, or digging a hole, I was fairly certain I was in store for a series of serial killer films. I feel like I need to amend my previous statement about thinking the short film format is good for horror, since much of that “character development” I derided is really necessary to get a serial killer film to feel right. The Silence of the Lambs would have been droll without the conversations with Lecter or the terrifying dancing crotch scene. Take out all the good charactery bits, and I feared I was in store for little more than watching people die in various “shocking” fashions. Oh, and the movie was glued into the case.
After a few minutes of washing, I was relatively certain the disk wouldn’t turn my PS4 into a brick, so I popped it in and opened a 6-pack. The brief intro sequence piqued my interest. Though only roughly a minute long, the quick cuts and 80’s soundtrack reminded me a bit of Drive, and I was kind of shocked by the production quality. I think the sequence is supposed to tie everything together, as each film is introduced with some kind of road trip imagery, e.g. a late night grocery store’s flickering sign for the intro to “Ego Death” or a postcard for “Extinction.” Really though, don’t expect any kind of V/H/S-style metanarrative or even a narrator to explain or introduce anything. The only purpose I can see to the whole thing is to give the viewer a sense of movement, which does fit in with the whole “5 states” thing the movie is going for.
The first movie, titled “Ego Death”, I found to be surprisingly good. The basic premise is that a man is haunted by a girl he killed, who he remembers was wearing his wedding ring when he buried her. Kind of a weak premise, but the acting is solid and the sound and shot design are really good. Don’t expect anything beyond the standard “ghost standing at the end of the hall whispering at me,” but what is there works. It’s creepy and quick. It isn’t the best of the bunch, but as a first taste of what’s to come, it’s a cool little ghost flick that made me at least eagerly wonder what the rest of the package had in store.
“Separation” is the second film of the group, and easily my favorite. An old man living alone searches for his missing dog Charlie, and soon finds that his grip on reality might be waning. With only his daughter and her husband as a link to the outside world, he struggles to remember not only days, but events like putting his missing dog down. Eventually forgetting his wife’s face, he decides to end his life in the coffin he built for himself. Before he can finish the job, a few twists and turns lead to a stunning climax, and one of the most creatively shot and terrifying buried alive sequences I’ve seen. It is a terrifying look into old age and losing your autonomy. It raises the question, “who do you trust? Yourself, or those who supposedly care for you?” If every other movie in the bunch were a dud, it would be worth purchasing the whole thing to see this.
I don’t like body horror. As someone who grew up in and out of hospitals, needles and pus just don’t scare me. This might be why I hated the third film of the group, “Mutilation”, almost as much as I liked the rest of the films. The only film to capitalize on the whole “5 states” theme, “Mutilation” takes its inspiration from the outbreak of Lyme disease in Lyme, Connecticut. Except it doesn’t take place in Lyme, but in a town “a few miles” from Lyme. That had nazi doctors or something. The intro tries to create some intrigue along those lines, and a strange black-gloved man does offer some kind of mystery, but none of it is ever developed on or given any kind of meaningful context. The plot feels vestigial, which actually is a good description for the entire segment. The characters are standard, shots are either saturated or too dark, and tension revolves around people shakily chopping off their own skin to get imaginary bugs out. Nothing is meaningfully developed, and feels like just a play by play to get some shock horror into the five film package. If you have a fetish for young twenty-something couples with no personality flaying themselves, have at it, but everyone else should skip it.
Ever wonder what would happen if a Tiger Mom’s daughter got murdered before she could put all those violin lessons and AP classes to good use by burning out in college? If you guessed, “come back as a ghost and demand her mother avenge her killer,” then “Extinction” is for you! The fourth film in the lineup is directed by Zao Wang, and explores the touching relationship between ghost and incredibly overbearing and strict Chinese mother. A brief google search of “Zao Wang” reveals he comes from a family of filmmakers in Beijing, came to America at 14, and got a B.S. in Physics and Philosophy before going to grad school in film. I don’t want to make any assumptions about Mr. Wang, but I’d be surprised if the film isn’t an expression of personal frustrations, since he definitely has an ax to grind. I know I’m focusing pretty intently on the theme, but the plot is pretty irrelevant. A ghost girl comes back to ask her mom to kill her killer. Upon realizing that as long as the killer stays alive, the girl sticks around, the mother opts to lock him in a lighthouse with a jar to poop. The daughter’s ghost senses something is up when her hair starts falling out, they argue, and the mom beats the murderer’s head in with a rock. Really, the sequence of events is just to set up an argument for the contrasting viewpoints on overbearing parents. The mother clearly loves her daughter and will do anything to keep her around, but the wishes of the daughter are overlooked. The mother doesn’t come off as good or bad for what she’s done. The cathartic release of the ending revenge, symbolically forcing her to let go of her control, gives her daughter’s spirit release and her the strength to move on. It is not a terribly compelling film from a watchability standpoint, but is heartfelt enough that even my termite brain can pick apart the symbolism and meaning. Definitely not a film I’d watch for a good time, but I might bust it out if I’m trying to impress a film student.
The last film, titled “Loss of Autonomy,” is probably my second favorite. A newscaster suffers a stroke while on air, and his wife and co-host is saddled with caring for him. The only problem is, she hates him. Like, “fucking in front of his completely paralyzed body and not feeding him” hate. Her long-term game plan is to torture him until he signs over all of his money. Luckily for newscaster, he’s developing psychic powers. It’s pretty by-the-books horror, and doesn’t really deeply delve into anything truly terrifying and inescapably human like “Separation” did, but was well enough acted with enough minor twists and turns to make the whole romp enjoyable and cliche ending satisfying.
Overall, 5 States of Fear is definitely worth a watch. The titles imply that each segment is trying to explore a different kind of fear, but ultimately each film has its pair. “Extinction” is a more compelling “Ego Death,” which in turn is better shot and acted. “Separation” is a more terrifying “Loss of Autonomy,” which in turn is stylistically shot in one room to inspire a sense of paralysis similar to the protagonist. Turning off the television is a more compelling “Mutilation,” which in turn does benefit from technically being roughly 15 minutes of moving images. I don’t really mind, as each of the 4 passable films bring something fun and well done to the table, but for the sake of the thematic homonym, it doesn’t work.
Oh, and the states are Texas, Minnesota, Connecticut, Maine, and California, in that order. Not that you’d know that without owning the screener sleeve, so consider that a little insider scoop from the good people at Dread Central.
7 1/2 out of 5
Categorized:News
