The Graves
DVD
DIRECTOR: Brian Pulido
STARRING: Clare Grant, Jillian Murray, Bill Moseley, Tony Todd, Amanda Wyss
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
RELEASE DATE: March 23, 2010

For four straight years now, After Dark Horrorfest: 8 Films to Die For has been unleashed. Eight original horror films to quench your thirst for blood and gore and screams galore. Last year I was able to check out and review their third collection of horrors (Read: DVD Review: After Dark Horrorfest III: 8 Films To Die For), and was rather excited to check out their new slate this year! Instead of cramming every review into one mammoth review, this year we’ll take it one flick at a time, with this little opener stuck at the top of each one.

The Graves tells the story of two 20-something rocker comic book geek sisters named Megan Graves (Clare Grant) and Abby Graves (Jillian Murray) who, while on a road trip together before Megan moves to New York, find themselves visiting a shady old mine town that has transformed into a tourist attraction with promises of being incredibly haunted.

It’s clear that something doesn’t feel right and Abby — the more reluctant of the two — tries desperately to convince her sister to keep moving and ignore the mine town. Of course, this wouldn’t be a horror flick if they left, and Megan convinces her sister to check it out. Before long, they witness the brutal murder of a man and the horrific and mysterious aftermath to follow, leaving the sisters on a frantic mission to get back to their car and escape. Despite their efforts, the hell that they’ve visited involves a lot more people than it first appeared, and the evil taking place runs a lot deeper than just those people involved.

Lake Mungo
DVD
DIRECTOR: Joel Anderson
STARRING: Talia Zucker, Rosie Traynor, David Pledger, Martin Sharpe, Steve Jodrell
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
RELEASE DATE: March 23, 2010

For four straight years now, After Dark Horrorfest: 8 Films to Die For has been unleashed. Eight original horror films to quench your thirst for blood and gore and screams galore. Last year I was able to check out and review their third collection of horrors (Read: DVD Review: After Dark Horrorfest III: 8 Films To Die For), and was rather excited to check out their new slate this year! Instead of cramming every review into one mammoth review, this year we’ll take it one flick at a time, with this little opener stuck at the top of each one.

Most of the movies that you’ll see when watching an After Dark Horrorfest title will involve a whole lot of graphic violence and some pretty horrific other-worldly beings. And while that’s expected and usually pretty entertaining to a horror fan, Lake Mungo brings a completely different and rather refreshing tone to the table.

The movie tells the story of a young girl named Alice (Talia Zucker) who mysteriously disappears while swimming with her family at a local dam. It takes some time, but eventually search and rescue teams discover her body. At first the family thought that was the sad and tragic end of it, but when her brother Matthew (Martin Sharpe) feels she might not be gone and sets up cameras, haunting evidence leads the family to wonder just what’s going on. One step after the other, a dark side to their daughter’s life becomes more clear, and the family must put it all in place and find a way to move on with their own lives.

Kill Theory
DVD
DIRECTOR: Chris Moore
STARRING: Agnes Bruckner, Patrick John Flueger, Taryn Manning, Daniel Franzese, Teddy Dunn, Ryanne Duzich, Steffi Wickens, Theo Rossi, Kevin Gage
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
RELEASE DATE: March 23, 2010

For four straight years now, After Dark Horrorfest: 8 Films to Die For has been unleashed. Eight original horror films to quench your thirst for blood and gore and screams galore. Last year I was able to check out and review their third collection of horrors (Read: DVD Review: After Dark Horrorfest III: 8 Films To Die For), and was rather excited to check out their new slate this year! Instead of cramming every review into one mammoth review, this year we’ll take it one flick at a time, with this little opener stuck at the top of each one.

Picture yourself at a party with all of your closest friends. You’re drinking, laughing, and having an all-around great time. Suddenly, you awake to the sounds of screaming and realize one of your friends is dead, and if you don’t kill the rest of your closest friends, you all die. This is the dilemma facing the characters of Kill Theory.

This particular group of close friends are celebrating their upcoming college graduation before intoxication lures them into sleep. Horrific screams wake them up, and they make the gruesome discovery that one of them has been murdered. The body has a message on it prompting them to turn on the TV, and they are informed that a psychotic killer is now holding them hostage. The house is surrounded by deadly traps and there’s no way out. The only option? Kill each other. If one of them is alive when the clock hits 6:00am, that person goes free. If more than one is still alive, they all die.

Dread
DVD
DIRECTOR: Anthony DiBlasi
STARRING: Jackson Rathbone, Shaun Evans, Hanne Steen, Laura Donnelly, Jonathan Readwin
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
RELEASE DATE: March 23, 2010

For four straight years now, After Dark Horrorfest: 8 Films to Die For has been unleashed. Eight original horror films to quench your thirst for blood and gore and screams galore. Last year I was able to check out and review their third collection of horrors (Read: DVD Review: After Dark Horrorfest III: 8 Films To Die For), and was rather excited to check out their new slate this year! Instead of cramming every review into one mammoth review, this year we’ll take it one flick at a time, with this little opener stuck at the top of each one.

Within the realms of the horror genre, some of the scariest movies are those that are set in reality. Movies that involve situations and people that you could brush shoulders with every single day, or maybe that you even know personally. Dread is a film that is built around this concept, and it works on all available levels.

The movie tells the story of a college student named Stephen (Jackson Rathbone), who pretty much just keeps to himself and goes about his own business, careful not to step on any toes along the way. One day he meets Quaid (Shaun Evans), and the two hit it off over a couple of beers and a discussion about fear.

Hidden
DVD
DIRECTOR: Pål Øie
STARRING: Arthur Berning, Knut Morten Brekke, Gabriel August Gjønnes, Agnes Karin Haaskjold, Andreas Haugsbø
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
RELEASE DATE: March 23, 2010

For four straight years now, After Dark Horrorfest: 8 Films to Die For has been unleashed. Eight original horror films to quench your thirst for blood and gore and screams galore. Last year I was able to check out and review their third collection of horrors (Read: DVD Review: After Dark Horrorfest III: 8 Films To Die For), and was rather excited to check out their new slate this year! Instead of cramming every review into one mammoth review, this year we’ll take it one flick at a time, with this little opener stuck at the top of each one.

With each Horrorfest (the last two anyway), there’s a foreign horror title included. This year, the movie came from Norway and is called Hidden (Skjult). While there are other titles that hail from other overseas locations like the UK and New Zealand, I say “foreign” meaning that this one is fully subtitled.

Beginning with a tragic accident that sees a boy’s family killed, the story revolves around Kai (Kristoffer Joner) who witnessed the tragedy and is brought back to the town it occurred in when his mother dies. This return sparks many painful memories of his life, and his ties to the tragedy he witnessed as a young boy.