Movie Review: Weird Fiction (2018)

Written and directed by Jacob Perrett, we felt that Weird Fiction was one of the best indie horror films of 2018. Associated with Slaughtered Bird, and Fame Cinema Productions, this film has a really unique feel to it that other indie anthologies should take note of. There were some upsides and downsides to each story, but the overall result was great.

Goodnight Daddy:
This story is about a prostitute that gets picked up and goes missing after meeting up with a client. Some kids find the body later after meeting up with a girl who says she knows where they are, but there is something much more in store for them. The only downside of this story was that a newer car is used in a scene for this, which takes away a bit from the immersion of the nostalgia they are going for here. Seems like an oversight that could have been avoided and would have ultimately made the retro-feel more authentic. Great story, though. It definitely screamed “80’s horror” and had that retro hitchhiker/slasher vibe to it.

Night of the Sitter:
Night of the Sitter was a pretty good part of the Anthology. In this, a guy babysits a girls brother in return for sexual favors and prom date. Kade is the brother, who uses a dummy to communicate. We really appreciated the use of the boogieman in this film. It was actually done well and was made to be a bit on the scary side. Great Job on the atmosphere and cinematography here.

The Incubus:
This was one of the more interesting stories in this anthology and our favorite. A man gets bitten in the neck while shooting a pornographic film. He also meets a cute neighbor that has a crush on him, and it ends up being a poorly-timed Romance. This segment had some nice surprises that we don’t want to spoil. The cinematography was great, though. There were also some awesome camera shots in this one. Some scenes even briefly reminded us of Italian horror films like Suspiria. And it’s just generally always refreshing to see a good take on Vampires, which not a lot of films get right.

Cosmic Terror:
This was what we felt was our least favorite of the entire anthology. It is about an alien that is taken in by a girl. It starts off with an E.T. vibe, but things take a wrong turn. The alien is from Mars and wants to make Earth home for him and his species. It feels like a lot more could have been done with this concept, but it was alright for a short sci-fi segment. Not as much horror as we would have liked, but in the context of the film we would have loved it as 80’s us.

Overall:
Weird Fiction is an excellent anthology film. It uses a gritty overlay, which makes it feel like it was filmed in the 80s or early 90s, and also does a pretty good job of keeping you in that pocket for most of the film. The sets, gritty film style and a host that is reminiscent of the Crypt Keeper was all great nostalgia for those who are into that kind of thing. It’s often not easy to pull off, but this film does it well. The cast in this film didn’t do a bad job and was also playing different characters throughout the anthology. They also had no prior experience. We’ve seen far worse acting come from much more experienced casts, so much respect to the cast here. Also a huge kudos to the sound, set and cinematography departments. As with most of these indie films, it’s director Jacob Perrett’s debut film and a pretty good one at that for having taken on writing and directing roles. We would definitely recommend this to horror anthology fans. It’s a fantastic retro-anthology that any horror fan could appreciate.

You can find Weird Fiction over at Facebook at www.facebook.com/weirdfictionmovie so give them a follow and keep an eye out for updates on where you can see it!