Spooky Season Starts Right With Sea & Sky Productions' Horror Anthology, 'Lore'

The descendant of the campfire fable of yore, anthology films are the modern-day inheritors of classic gothic- and pulp-era short stories. Sharpened to visceral perfection by EC Comics during the 1950’s, anthologies distill horror to its most essential elements: a grimly humorous host announcing a simple set-up, a twist, and (hopefully) a jolt of disquieting terror. Movies such as The House That Dripped Blood, Creepshow, Tales From The Darkside: The Movie (and it’s urban-centric cousin Tales From The Hood), Two Evil Eyes, Trick ‘r Treat and the V/H/S series have kept anthologies undead throughout the ‘70’s, ‘80’s, ‘90’s and deep into the 21st century. Now Sea & Sky Productions brings a new entry to the fore with Lore, a delightfully dread-inducing compilation that kicks off the spooky season with ample thrills and chills.

The movie’s framing scenario takes the aforementioned campfire atmosphere to heart: four twentysomethings—wiseass Mark, level-headed Dan, average-gal Donna, and up-and-coming novelist Sally (Dean Bone, Miles Mitchell, Sally Collett, and Samantha Neale, respectively)—hike into the isolated English countryside for a weekend with their paid guide, Darwin (Richard Brake, of Rob Zombie’s Halloween II, 31, and 3 From Hell infamy), whose website promises customers a genuine supernatural experience. After settling in, Darwin regales the group with the unsettling knowledge that their remote campsite was erected upon an age-old mass grave, and that to appease the spirits of those ancient ghosts, visitors must offer a totem to the flames and spin a story that’s frightened them.

“This is about shadows,” Mark says at the onset of the film’s first, and weakest, segment, ‘Shadows’. Set in an abandoned warehouse, cash-strapped addict Daniel (Andrew-Lee Potts) is running from drug-dealing lowlife Terry (Steven Blades) and his enforcer, Barry (the imposing Daniel-John Williams). After a cat-and-mouse chase Daniel is cornered, but unlikely salvation arrives in the form of a hideous demon that melts from the darkness to make short work of both thugs. Taking refuge with a security guard (Bill Fellows) whose video surveillance captured the killings, Daniel quickly learns that all is not as it appears to be.

Shades of James Wan’s Insidious and The Conjuring haunt the stronger second installment, ‘The Hidden Woman’, which follows Hannah and her son Charlie (Jennifer K. and Theo Preston) as they arrive at the decrepit Victorian manor previously owned by Hannah’s recently deceased mother, Anna (Jordaine Lincoln). Trouble soon arises, however, after Hannah discovers a broken antique Victrola; the phonograph starts playing of its own volition, Hannah hears disembodied footsteps and, scariest of all, Charlie begins having conversations with someone he claims is his dead grandmother. Is Anna the spectral ballet performer Hannah sees dancing up the darkened staircase, or is something more devilish afoot?

Katie Sheridan and Rufus Hound play Cath and Steve, a couple on the verge of divorce experimenting with the swinging lifestyle at a hotel in Lore’s next episode, the surprisingly gory folk horror farce, ‘Cross Your Heart’. Steve thinks he’s hit the jackpot when he’s paired off with the mysterious, sexy Luna (Alana Wallace), but gets more than he bargained for when she proves to be a member of a hungry Druidic cult eager to turn him into a human sacrifice.

By far the anthology’s best effort is its climactic sequence, the fun (and funny) cinema-set slasher ‘The Keychain Man’. Friends James, Natasha, and Matt (Jacob Anderton, Sarah Lewis Obuba, and Christopher Mulvin), attend a midnight premiere of the latest maniac-on-the-loose movie when the theater’s disgruntled concession counter employee (the hulking Finbar Healy) embarks on his own rage-fueled rampage. Livened with witty banter and a smattering of inventive kills (including what may be cinema’s first-ever murder-by-popcorn scoop), ‘The Keychain Man’ is a wickedly entertaining bloody body count romp.

Anthologies are sometimes considered a tough creative sell to audiences. As movies they offer a variety that’s simultaneously the format’s central strength and primary weakness, for while there may be several excellent proffered tales in any individual film, there’s always (at least) one that a viewer may not find to their particular taste. Lore is no different; with the exception of its culminating revelation, ‘Shadows’ is largely unmemorable, and thin characterization mars the otherwise satisfying ‘The Hidden Woman’ and ‘Cross Your Heart’. Visually, Lore exhibits an impressive cohesiveness; while recent anthologies such as last year’s Hi-Fear often employ directors with wildly divergent styles, the triple threat of Patrick Ryder, James Bushe and Greig Johnson helm—either solo or in tandem—each section here, ensuring a comparatively even cinematic tone. Paired with effective gore effects and a roster of capable actors anchored by Brake’s ominous presence, Lore sets the 2024 Halloween bar high and earns a well-deserved 4 (out of 5) on my Fang Scale.