Horrortales.666 Part 2
Film Review
By Kevin Nickelson
A down-on-his-luck burglar breaks into a home and during the course of his looting, discovers a computer program that contains five tales of terror, which he is forced to read…
If you are of a certain age and a fan of both comics and horror, you are likely to be familiar with (or maybe your dad or granddad told you about) the horror comics of the 1950s. Entertainment Comics, also known as EC, were the main purveyors of horror in comic book form at the time. Tales From the Crypt, Haunt of Fear and Vault of Horror were the big titles produced. Every issue provided blood-curdling, fanged and/or slimy beasts, or just psychotic humans committing mayhem in glorious colors. It was a foundation that, oddly, would find a sinewy connection in the 60s and 70s with the horror portmanteau, or anthology feature film. These were constructed as multiple short stories of the macabre linked together by a singular narrative thread (five strangers on a train having their fortunes told by a mystery man doctor, a house with a haunted past affecting many owners, etc.).
Amicus Films in England, run by Max J. Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky, were huge proponents of this type of cinema to scare up the box office. Every other corner of the world film industry would soon dabble in the form at one time or another.
Fast forward to 2021 and it remains an ever popular format to draw fans with. In 2003, filmmakers Phil Herman and Michael Hoffman Jr. came up with an idea of having a down-on-his-luck burglar breaking into a home and, during the course of his looting, discovering a computer program that contains five tales of terror involving lust, betrayal, greed, with each segment helmed by different directors. The sheer gory fun tone combined with the marquee presence of B scream queen Julie Strain (R.I.P.) amongst the cast, has caused the film to have gained a remarkable cult following over the years. So much so, that a sequel was created and saw release on August 24, 2021. The usual suspects are back, with Herman as executive producer/director/co-star/writer and Joel D. Wynkoop on hand once again as executive producer and starring as the inept burglar.
Joining the pair for this go round are directors Derek Braasch, Matt Cannon, Marcelo Fabani and Joe Sherlock. Horror icons Ari Lehman (the first Jason Voorhees in the original Friday The 13th epic) and Debbie Rochon (Black Easter and Shriek of the Lycanthrope, to name but a few) are the headline names this time around to appear in cameo-type roles.
This time, our burglar not only has to contend with five more twisting mindbenders to view in his latest breaking and entering location, he has to face down the devil, appearing on a computer screen to torment the hapless anti-hero with these stories pulled from the pits of Hell. The five tales are something of a mixed success lot.
Open House, about a realtor coming to grips still with her parents’ murder by a masked killer while she tangles with an egotistical boss and backstabbers for co-workers seems a bit too labored to get the point across.
The Last Day of Mr. Perez fares better with a certain level of poignance as a man is shown through his last day by an alien who takes the form of the man’s long-dead mother.
Slay Ride is one of the best. A darkly humorous look at what happens when Santa Jr. loses his lid when he sees the missus making carnal delight with one of the elves and makes the entire night a true slaying ride.
The Present offers a neat twist on the ordinary domestic family life gone completely sideways in one evening.
Things come apart a bit in My Life, when Phil Herman and producer Dustin Hubbard step in front of the camera as themselves, lamenting about their struggles dealing with egos and personalities as they are putting together the film Horrortales.666 Part 2. Much of the horror is downplayed in favor of humor here. The comedy works but somehow the piece seems an odd fit with the other stories being told.
Of the cast, Wynkoop is a gem as the rather sweetly dopey burglar that you can’t help but get behind. Filmmaker Jaysen Buterin is wildly maniacal as the devil, playing with the burglar’s soul and sanity as if it were a brief diversion only. Lehman and Rochon add a charisma that comes from years of honing thespian craft in Hollywood.
If you are looking for a grand, gory time in thriller storytelling via the anthology road so many filmmakers and fans have traveled over the years, Horrortales.666 Part 2 continues in the tradition of garish gallows humor that began 70 years ago when Harry Truman was still in office and monsters were fast becoming kings of the comic world.
Good horror fun. 7 out of 10.
