Movie Review: HI-FEAR

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Staff Writer

Posted: June 23rd, 2023 / 01:45 AM

Rating: Not Rated
Stars: Kristin Lorenz, Dilynn Fawn Harvey, Jack L. McCord, Todd Martin, Amanda C. Healy, Trish Erickson-Martin, Leila Jean Davis, Brandon E. Brooks, Ingrid Hansen, P.J. Brescia, Julie Anne Prescott, David Sobel (voice of Fear)
Writers: Todd Sheets, Tim Ritter, Anthony Catanese, Josephina Sykes, Brad Sykes
Directors: Todd Sheets, Tim Ritter, Anthony Catanese, Brad Sykes
Distributor: Wild Eye Releasing
Release Date: June 13, 2023 (Digital), July 11, 2023 (DVD)

One thing that distinguishes HI-FEAR from most other horror anthologies is that, except for its wraparound and interstitial pieces, it all ostensibly comes from the same person’s imagination.

That person would be comic book creator/artist Natalie Chase (Kristin Lorenz). Natalie is cheerfully walking through North Hollywood when she gets a call from her publisher, Barry.

A client has offered an apparently vast sum of money (we never hear the amount) if Kristin can write and illustrate four complete stories, depicting what scares her most, by five o’clock that afternoon. She also has to deliver it in person. Kristin agrees.

Yeah, delivering it in person to an anonymous patron, that’s not suspicious at all. Additionally, unless this reviewer has a hopelessly slow view of the creative process, this seems like an impossible timeline. There’s no evident story reason for it, and it requires tossing disbelief off a cliff before we even get properly started.

That aside, HI-FEAR gives us four separate segments, each written and directed by different filmmakers in different states.

“Losing It at the Devil’s Whorehouse,” written and directed by Todd Sheets, was shot in Kansas City, Missouri. As the title suggests, two young men make a poor choice of establishment in trying to relieve a friend of his virginity.

“When Shadows Come Alive,” made in Lexington, Kentucky, is written and directed by Tim Ritter. We see what at first seem to be two disconnected plot strands. In one, masked vigilantes kill drug users and dealers in especially gruesome ways. In another, a pastor’s marriage is rapidly deteriorating. The two eventually weave together.

Trenton, New Jersey, is the setting for what is arguably the best of the episodes, “The Streets Are Watching,” written and directed by Anthony Catanese. Leila Jean Davis delivers a touching performance as a homeless teen trying to decide if neighborhood fixture Karl (Brandon E. Brooks) is dangerous, or just another lost soul.

“Day Out of Days,” was made in Frazier Park, California by director Brad Sykes, who co-wrote the script with Josephina Sykes. A small section of an independent film crew, plus a girlfriend who is an aspiring ecological biologist, wind up stranded in a cabin with a great view – and some odd things happening outside.

Brad Sykes also directed and wrote (from a story he crafted with Josephina Sykes) Natalie’s segments, which are cumulatively titled “What Are You Afraid Of?”

The way Natalie’s artwork, actually done by Scott Fry, turns into live action at the beginning of each sequence is good, creepy fun, and there are plenty of gore effects.

It’s also enjoyable to see a variety of not just styles but environments, and the segments don’t remotely repeat one another. It will be a pleasure for Angelenos to see landmarks like the NoHo subway station and Burbank’s venerable horror bookstore Dark Delicacies.

But there are some details (like Natalie’s deadline) that are very out of whack. A bigger problem is that almost none of this is truly scary, which might be less noticeable if Natalie’s phantom employer didn’t keep insisting that it has to be heart-stopping.

Perhaps the best thing about HI-FEAR, a follow-up to 2013’s HI-8 and 2018’s HI-DEATH, is that the concluding credits present submission guidelines and contact info for short horror filmmakers who would like to be included in future anthologies. Movies can do a lot of things, but not too many so overtly support the filmmaking community. HI-FEAR certainly does that, and for this, it deserves our thanks.

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A horror anthology with a comic book creator on the clock

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