Lena Headey Movie:

		List Price: $119.84		Label: Lions Gate Salesrank: 18670 Released: March 31, 2009
		Our Price: $75.79
		Used Price: $70.00
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
All 8 After Dark Horror Fest III DVDs in one giftset!

After Dark Horrorfest, Vol. 3 Reviews:
Some good ideas and moments, but mostly poor execution makes for another Less-Than-Stellar collection.
2009-10-10 - For the third year in a row, horror fans find themselves watching a set of 8 movies for no other reason than that someone distributed them in a group together. At this point, it seems more than abundantly clear that these "8 Films To Die For" are never going to be the elite horror experience, or the most extreme, or anything else special or unique. They're just 8 movies no one else wanted to distribute (for good reason, as it turns out).

This year's crop is slightly better than year 2, though none of them rank with the overall competence of last year's BORDERLAND, or the chills of the first year's THE ABANDONED. If there was a consistent issue this year, it was that each of these (for the most part) had a very interesting concept, but were just executed poorly. As I think on each one, I can tell you at what point the movie shifted from promise to disappointment, like a roller coaster that climbs and climbs to what seems like a wonderfully great drop to come, only to find that the top of the first incline is the end of the ride!

Another consistent theme seems to be "let's compensate for a lack of imagination by just having everyone die in the end!" With one exception, these films all end terribly. Perhaps now and then it is appropriate and interesting to end with tragedy, but such an ending has to be earned. And these films mostly do not do so. If you are going to end on a dour note, you need to at least give me a good reason!

Finally, giving a real ranking of "best" to "worst" is difficult because each film at some point has a major detracting factor - but I will do my best . . .

8) PERKINS 14: I'll start with the worst, because that's pretty easy to pick out. This film was hyped as the one "created by fans." Story, actors, etc . . . were all submitted and voted for online by fans. The story of 14 kidnapped kids raised as animals in cages and sent out for mindless killing was interesting in concept, but horrible in execution! So-lame-you-can-see-the-prop effects, bad acting, and terrible writing, and stupid characters doing stupid things sink this puppy.

7) SLAUGHTER: Tight, tight contention for last place. This one would be in the bottom save for a somewhat well done final third. This one concerns a girl moving out to a farm with another woman she barely knows, only to become wrapped up in a sinister plot for revenge. The film's death knell is it's excruciatingly boring first 45 minutes. The filmmakers must have thought their slow build of disappearing victims would be more interesting than seeing these people killed off. They are wrong - replacing potentially good kills with "girl bonding" does not a horror movie make! And, even with some good "table turning" in its final act, the last turn of the table is so ridiculously bad, I was laughing even during the unnecessarily grim final shot.

6) DYING BREED: Getting a little better. This one looks fantastic, and the actors are fairly likeable, at least in the first half. Typical fare of twenty-somethings being chased in the woods by hillbilly cannibals. The first kill is a real shocker, and one of the later ones involving a bear trap is very effective. But, as with PERKINS 14, the stupidity of the characters when the killing starts tanks the film in its final act.

5) VOICES: Asian entry is heavy on both blood and mood. Kim's family and friends keep trying to kill her. Good camera, creepy atmosphere, and perhaps the best score of the 8 films - the weakness here is, after the third or fourth attempt on her life, it becomes achingly predictable - EVERYONE is going to try to kill her, and she's always going to be saved at the last minute by someone we didn't even realize was there.

4) AUTOPSY: Perhaps the most "fun" of the set. This "horror-hospital" fare has five tweens trying to escape a hospital staffed by psychos working for a mad doctor trying to keep his wife alive with live organ transplants. Unflinchingly gory, but in a fun way, this one never takes its ridiculous premise seriously, which is what saves it. The only thing keeping it from the top spot is some very poor editing near the end, and a completely tacked on and nonsensical final shot.

3) THE BROKEN: Lena Headey sees a double of herself driving down the road, and begins questioning her own reality. Mixed fillings about this one. Loved the concept, loved the mood. The atmosphere was effectively creepy and cold. Huge Lena Headey fan. Had some good creep-outs, particularly in the final act. The problem is pacing - at first, the slower pace feeds the atmosphere. But after thirty minutes, you can't help but start checking your watch. By the time things pick up again, you've lost a lot of interest. The characters are never really fleshed out, and while you know WHAT's happening by the end, you never know WHY. Also, the film cheats by skipping a key moment at the beginning to try to have a twist at the end. However, by doing so, it only makes the twist that much more predictable. Still, from a purely production value point of view, it easily stands above the other entries.

2) BUTTERFLY EFFECT 3: Arguably the best film of the set. Very interesting story, top production value and effects, fine acting, solid ending (the only really happy ending in the group). Travelling back in time to try to discover who killed his girlfriend, our protagonist inadvertently turns a single murder into a string of serial murders, and has to try to set things right. The one thing keeping THIS one from the top spot is, aside from some inappropriately gory kills, this movie is not remotely horror.

1) FROM WITHIN: Comes closest to hitting all the targets. Good production, good concept, good acting, good pacing, VERY creepy and chilling, and unlike BUTTERFLY, it IS a horror movie. A town is plagued by apparent suicides, but there is a sinister plot behind them all. I can reluctantly call this the overall best - my only reservations are the glibly stereotypical portrayals (both of the religious, and the pagan characters) and the fact that most of the best scare effects are lifted from other, better movies (GRUDGE, RING, EMILY ROSE, etc . . .)

Let's give a little more credit where due:

BEST SCARE: toss up between a good jump-scare in AUTOPSY, and a very chilling moment involving the father and his double in THE BROKEN.

BEST CRINGE-MOMENT: The clunky hand-drill to the head in AUTOPSY, definitely - though the teeth pulling in SLAUGHTER had me turning away as well.

STAND-OUT ACTORS: can't really say anyone was "best actor," but I liked Melanie Vallejo in DYING BREED, Jessica Lowndes and Robert Patrick in AUTOPSY, and Lucy Holt did well in psycho-mode at the end of SLAUGHTER. But I'd say Jenette Goldstein probably steals the show as psycho nurse in AUTOPSY - love when Emily pushes her to the floor and she screams "YOU GOT ME DIRTY!"

GORIEST MOMENT: Oxygen Tank to the head and face in AUTOPSY, ala IRREVERSIBLE.

BEST OPENING: VOICES had the creepiest opening, though it had nothing to do with anything else - SLAUGHTER had the most intriguing opening - AUTOPSY had the best opening credit sequence.

All-in-all, I had fun watching these movies, but I don't think a single one of these warrants a purchase, and CERTAINLY not the whole set!

Very Dissapointed
2009-04-28 - I bought the first 2 and enjoyed them. They advertize,"This set will scare you to death". They bored me to death. I think there was 1 decent one. They are mostly killer thrillers. There was nothing HORROR about them. It should be HORROR FEST.Get it? Don't just take a bunch of crappy old movies and put them together for the sake of selling them. I am reluctant to buy next year's horror fest. You let us down, big time.

terrible fest
2009-04-27 - I have been a fan of the Horrorfest films since they first came to theaters three years ago.This year proved to be very disappointing.The only film I did like had subtitles and lacked a credible ending.I suggest that in the future the filmmakers allow the characters the opportunity to have a chance for survival and not have them totally hopeless.I know its a horror movie but if I sense that everyone in the movie is going to be killed,what is the point in watching it.

The results are in
2009-04-06 - Based on all online reviews and user comments, and having watched all of the movies in the After Dark Horrorfest, this is the rundown of all eight films, ranked from best to worst:

1. FROM WITHIN - The only `proper' movie of the bunch - well executed, great cast, great story. Best film.
2. VOICES - Strong Korean horror movie with a great concept. Well delivered and shot.
3. AUTOPSY - Good cheap fun. Director works well within a budget, one for the gore hounds who don't care too much about plot.
4. THE BROKEN - Biggest budget, biggest disappointment. Great director, great cast, zero everything else.
5. SLAUGHTER - Low on gore but good use of tension, a competent thriller.
6. BUTTERFLY EFFECT: REVELATION - follow-up to the dismal second part of the popular franchise, this exceeds low expectations.
7. DYING BREED - Australian outback slasher flick, let down by acting and effects.
8. PERKINS 14 - The one that was based on a fan's idea (which is the most interesting part). Many complaints about the lighting and execution.

As the Horrorfest goes, this is not a bad year, with the best films ranking among the best of the series. Nice to see a few names from previous years return for repeat appearances.

Only saw three of them but liked what I saw
2009-03-27 - I only saw three of these movies - "The Broken", "Autopsy" and "From Within" and I liked them all in different ways. My least favorite was The Broken, which by the way looked like it had the biggest budget. It was shot nicely and worth watching for some of the effects but its slow and doesn't have much pay off. It's well directed but looks like the director could do with a better script writer next time round.

Autopsy on the other hand looks like it was made for about 50 cents but it's much more of a traditional Friday night horror about a bunch of teenagers getting killed off one by one and it doesn't take itself too seriously. It's by far the most gory but I found myself amused all the way through.

The best film I saw was From Within. It had a strong story, looked good (but doesn't rely on massive special effects) and really made me think. I liked most of the characters and am looking forward to seeing it again. Although it's scary it isn't necessarily straight horror. If I were to buy one DVD it would be this one.

I can't say what the other movies are like but I sort of want to see the Butterfly Effect 3 as I liked the first one a lot (although the sequel was pretty poor!)