Hi-8

Independent horror films are extremely important. Without these passionate director´s, i am sure that horror films would be heading towards a bad direction. In all of these years that i have written reviews, i have always had a special place for horror independent films. There are director´s out there who makes really good low budget horror films, who have to work really hard to get their films released. I am happy to say that more people are noticing the importance of low budget horror films, and i can tell from online discussions with other fans that they are willing to support these films. When it comes to anthology horror films, there are a lot of titles that i remember. Since there are so many to choose between, i decided to pick one specific title out that i enjoy. Let´s talk about the 1993 film known as Necronimicon: Book Of The Dead. This anthology horror film tells three different stories, based on short stories by writer H.P. Lovecraft. One of the things i enjoy about this film, is that the cast is actually wonderful. You have legendary actors such as Bruce Payne, Jeffrey Combs, David Warner, Brian Yuzna, Richard Lynch, Vladmir Kulich and many more. I have to mention that the three stories are all pretty good, for different reasons. I know this film does not get mentioned very often, perhaps because the 1993 anthology horror film Body Bags is a bigger fan favourite. But if you have not seen Necronomicon: Book Of The Dead, i suggest you pick it up on DVD or Blu Ray. Some of you might have read my review of the anthology horror film known as Hi-Death this year. I had a request if i could write a review on the first film, so of course i said i would since my readers means a lot to me. Is the first film Hi-8 as good as the sequel, or is this film nothing worth checking out ?

Three people are trying to shoot a low budget horror film, while we are shown 7 different stories, from 7 different directors. If you thought you have had a good time this weekend, just wait and see what Hi-8 have in store for you......

Since i saw the sequel first known as Hi-Death, i was curious to see if the first film would keep the brutality and sadistic tone of the sequel. And i have to say, this first film might even be more brutal in some ways. With different stories from different directors, we find ourselves in very divided tales of classic grindhouse horror ingredients. Let´s get into the stories, and the ones i especially enjoyed. The Tape is a story of VHS horror nerd Tim Strauber ( played by actor Travis Hoecker ) who is given a box of VHS tapes as a gift, where he especially is interested in a VHS tape under the title of Bloodgasm. He becomes a huge fan, and decide to track down the director of the film. The Tape is a simple story, but one of the most effective stories in Hi-8. We get some interesting characters, such as Phoebe ( played by actress Bobbi Beach ), and there is no doubt that Bloodgasm director Chester Koz ( played by actor David S. Hart ) is a very disturbing and wonderful man, the one you would want next to you during Thanksgiving dinner. The Tape is directed by Tony Masiello, and he clearly loves old school grindhouse films. The next story i enjoyed is called Gang Them Style, and this is a fun one. Imagine a combination of The Return Of The Living Dead and a really bad 80´s action film, and you get this fun story. The main character RJ " Moongoose " is a cool character, and actor Wes Reid give us the perfect example how you want to see bad acting, in a positive way, with some cheesy dialogue included. This segment is directed by Ron Bonk, and i can only imagine that he is a big fan of zombie films from the 80´s. The rest of the stories on the film Hi-8 have some other highlights ( including from legendary director Todd Sheets ) while some don´t feel as strong as the ones i mentioned. But i do appreciate the effort of this film, trying to bring us back to the glory days of video violence at the local VHS store. Hi-8 is a film for fans of grindhouse films, anthology horror films and especially if you love TV series Days Of Our Lives, then you are going to dig this a lot. Anyone up for a butcher night? You bring the knives, and i will bring all the Bridget Jones DVD´s ( yes i have them all, doesn´t all grindhouse fans have them ? )

Rating: DDD