PopHorror Let's Get Scared
As a fan of low/no budget indie horror, I always look forward to seeing what these hometown auteurs come up with using their, often meager, means. When the studios start re-hashing literally everything, it’s usually in the indie folks that bring both the originality and the heat. I’m of the mind that a lot of questionable stuff can be overlooked if there’s a decent story. So, with this in mind, I dove right into the new anthology film Unnatural Causes, from prolific filmmaker Jim Haggerty.
Synopsis
When horror icon Vlad Eterno shuffles off the mortal coil, it seems a powerful voice in the Fright community has been forever silenced. But Eterno leaves behind a final gift to an unsuspecting world, tales of death by Unnatural Causes!
Unnatural Causes, like most anthology films, opens with a “set up”, to set the tone, act as a segway between stories, and as a “wraparound”. Vlad Eterno (Carnivore AD vocalist Baron Misuraca), a beloved horror icon/alleged vampire, has died of undisclosed causes (not unnatural??). Two goth girl fans arrive at the funeral home, and are let right in (!) by the funeral director to pay their respects in private. While viewing the corpse in question, the girls seem particularly unmoved when Eterno rises from the dead, and instructs them to tell his unreleased stories to the world, before getting into a late model caddy and skedaddling (“he just got up and left”). Thus begins the Unnatural Causes segments.
First up is “The Other”. Dr. Jack Perkins (Ray Talercio; Hit Men) has a woman problem, his wife Gail (Tina Krause; Bloodletting) is being stalked by someone claiming to be his wife! Polygamy? Nope, it’s cloning gone wrong, as it’s soon revealed that after several unfortunate mishaps, the good doc has been cloning his wife (complete with deep, deep Jersey Shore style tan!) multiple times, trying to create the perfect partner! Featuring dubious acting, some shaky camera work, and a few truly groan worthy moments, the first segment, while trying it’s damnedest, doesn’t really deliver a power opening.
On to “The Drag”. This, dear readers, has some potential story-wise! A smartly written, vaguely Lovecraftian tale of a spot in rural NY that hides the gateway to a different dimension. Cheating wife Wanda (Debbie D; Doomsday Stories) and her stud-boy Ron (Cole Buck; From The Embers) fall victim to vengeful spouse Tom (Tom Ciorciari; Hit Men) first, then it’s angry husband Jerry’s (Andrew Murano) turn, who, rather than get a costly divorce, opts to send his nagging wife Polly (Stacy Brooke Schwartz; Make Them Die Quickly) into the void with the help of his lawyer George (Justin Levine; From The Embers). Quick, mean spirited, and loads of fun!
Finally, the crescendo! “Exhumed Innocent” (I see what they did there…) features the comely goth lass Janie (Livi Rose D’Achille) exhuming her dead father Edgar (James Rappa) so he can exact vengeance from beyond the grave on his murderous wife Carrie (Bec Fordyce; The Karening) and her boyfriend Clyde (Ryan Denicola; Wait List). Will the scheming couple be able to stop Edgar in time? Why is attorney George hanging out? Will the dead stay dead? All this and more are answered in this concise little yarn!
Featuring every bit of the acting snafus, effects shortfalls, wonky sound, and overall varying production quality one would expect from a flick at this price point, Unnatural Causes nonetheless has that charm and chutzpah that aficionados of bargain basement horror admire. The latter two parts work very well, and Haggerty and crew avoid the unintentional comedic moments (well maybe not with some of Misuraca’s bits) that can plague a project like this. Standout performances from Levine, D’Achille and Fordyce give the proceedings a good shot in the arm in the quality department as well, so, while it never achieves the lofty Tales From The Crypt creepiness and camp they were likely reaching for, it does manage to hold your attention and, perhaps most of all, entertain. And isn’t that what we watch movies for in the first place? I mean if I wanted Avatar (and trust me I don’t) I’d watch Avatar.
With a standard box with cover art that delivers what it promises, the disc proper features a collection of trailers and some Drunken Frankenstein music videos, bare bones, but honestly, what were you expecting. The picture looks as good as it can, what with the limitations that things like lack of money and huge production crews can put on a film. The film looks and sounds passable on a 4K set, and nothing stood out that would hamper the viewing experience.
Clocking it at a perfect 104 minutes, Unnatural Causes isn’t going to set the world on fire as some cult sensation, but it does make for a fun watch! If anyone runs into Jim Haggerty, see if he’ll tell you where that woody area in NY is at…I have a few people in mind.
SRS Cinema’s Blu-ray release of Jim Haggerty’s Unnatural Causes is available now from fine retailers.
