We’re more than halfway into 2015 and I can say with most certainty, the best horror films I’ve seen thus far are the ones you have to search for. Volumes Of Blood fell into my lap directly from one of five directors, P.J. Starks, whom also appears in the last act of the movie. Yep. You read that right, FIVE. The film is an anthology series of sorts, with a different director at the helm for each story. Much like ABCS OF Death but with each sequence much longer, spanning about ten to fifteen minutes each. The directors are as mentioned P.J. Starks, Jakob Bilinski, Nathan Thomas Milliner, John Kenneth Muir and Lee Vervoort.

 

 

 

 

The synopsis of the movie is that of four college students gather at a local library on the most beautiful of nights, Halloween, all with the purpose to create an urban legend for them to spread around the college campus. Each of the four come up with their own urban legend tales as possibilities for the tale they wish to tell to others. Each is an original concept with a bit of a throwback to the old tales we know and love, and each being set in a library. The rows of books and the setting can become a bit redundant but, for me, I quickly forgot about that tidbit as the movie progressed and gained my interest more. The film pokes fun at itself in many instances all while dishing out some of the most brutal gore I’ve seen in an indie film. The acting for the most part was decently done, by some more than others. You could clearly tell the few that had little to no experience apart from the others, but hey… for an independent horror film at the end of the day, it was pretty goddamn stellar. Without giving away spoilers, let’s talk about the individual tales told within this gem:

 

 

A Little Pick Me Up

An overly exhausted college student who is prepping for her mid term is approached by a real shady fucken salesman who clearly sees her struggles with concentrating on her work. He offers her up a questionable energy drink that he claims will give her the pep she needs and is unlike all others. Of course, she’s smart enough to actually question his motives- but ultimately accepts and this one ends up being a ‘mind blower’. Before giving in however, I have to point out how much I loved her reasoning and feisty attitude toward the creeper salesman, as I could see myself saying the exact same things had I been in the same situation. This is a story I would almost expect to see from a Tales From The Crypt episode, and as it turns out after saying this in my head; one of the tale-tellers said that exact same thing. Ok.. This film is reading my fucken mind. You’ve caught my attention. Lets move on!

 

 

 

Ghastly

Ghastly is a tale full of around the corner scares of a librarian working after hours and an unwelcome entity that is hell bent on scaring the poo out of him.  Though the scares are a bit lackluster and predictable, the ‘ghost’ itself is nicely made up with horrifying features reminiscent to The Ring. At least, for me that is what popped in my head almost immediately. My favorite thing about this sequence is definitely the cinematography. Out of the four it is the most beautifully shot. What can I say, my artsy side appreciates a nicely shot scene.

 

 

13 After Midnight 

This is the one that screams urban legend to me the most, as it follows the most simple structures of urban-ish legend-ry.The tale of a bookworm eager to get some work done for her classes while her douchenozzle guy friend persists her to leave to a party with him. His attempts fail, he leaves and that’s when shit gets weird. A monster sasquatch of sorts shows up out of nowhere in the library and a chase ensues in a John Carpenter’s Halloween type fashion.  The end has a nice twist that left me satisfied.

 

 

Encyclopedia Satanica

The final installment is by far my favorite of the four. The story takes place on Halloween night and opens up to a librarian being belittled by an older woman on the phone. After slamming the receiver down, phones used to have cords ya know, shaken and upset, she assumes her duties and comes across a necronomicon-esque like book on the occult and decides to use it to resurrect her ex-boyfriend who recently killed himself after she dumped his ass. While the spell does work and he returns, it isn’t with love but with a raging vengeance. The acting and ambiance round this one out to be the strongest of the tales and a good send off to end the storytelling.

 

As the taletelling comes to a wrap we come to see there’s an even bigger twist to this film. I said I was going to keep this spoiler free and I will but the payoff is a sweet one filled with irony, a LOT of gore and left me completely satisfied wanting more. I have to add, the musical score is absolutely refreshing and ties in well with the film. When music accompanies a horror film I always compare it to  the films of the eighties and this one took me back to that time. A time where the music set the tone and in a lot of scenes helped bring it to that brilliant climax. This film excels in this area hands down.

 

In conclusion, Volumes Of Blood is just what the title of this article states: Gory good fun and a must see for any horror fanatic. The film is currently being screened at film festivals across the country and canada and set for a VOD and DVD release date in 2016. You can follow the progress of the film here on it’s official Facebook page. In the meantime check out the trailer below to get a taste for blood!

 

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