I'm saving the best of the Eight Films to Die For Horror Fest DVD for last. It's Dread, and while its premise is similar to some of the others (Kill Theory, especially) the payoff exceeds its promise. Being based on a short story by Clive Barker (and filmed with the author's blessing) certainly doesn't hurt. It's also interesting to note that this is one of the very few Barker stories that's not mystic in any way: It's a straight ahead psychological horror tale, but thanks to first-time writer/director Anthony DiBlasi's flourishes Dread doubles as a supernatural thriller — its clever use of dream sequences, vivid memories and fake-outs deliver on the suspense.
The movie opens on an exceedingly gory ax-murder scene, in which a young boy witnesses the brutal dismemberment of his parents. Left alive, the little one never forgets the killer's face and physique. Those images haunt him into adulthood, flashing forward to Quaid (Stephen Grace) in the here and now. Deeply troubled from the incident but showing no shows of wear on his breezy veneer, Quaid decides to do a thesis study on fear and dread. He teams up with two fellow students (Jackson Rathbone, Hanne Steen) to suss out what really scares people, and finds himself far too close to the project to be at all objective.
I first saw Dread at a test screening shown before it had distribution. I felt it was slightly too long, but overall I loved it. I even chose Dread as one of the best indies of 2009 . However I know as well as anyone that as time goes by, things ferment. Moods change, expectations are no more, and as a result sometimes opinions evolve. I didn't know if I'd like Dread just as much, but as it turns out I liked it even better the second time around. For one thing, it's a tighter edit and for another, the hair-don'ts aren't as obvious on the television screen (and with After Dark's usual routine transfer).
Extras on the DVD include a Making-of featurette that will pretty much guarantee star Jackson Rathbone won't be getting as much tongue action as before (maggot… mouth... memorable!). It's a pretty standard behind-the-scenes thing, but it covers all the bases nicely and I appreciated the unusual framing the videographer used (interview subjects are not shown as your standard 'talking head'). Barker and DiBlasi spout a few bites in the Making-of featurette, but if you want to delve deeper into Dread, then definitely watch the Conversation With. There are also a handful of deleted scenes and trailers for other After Dark Horror Fest 4 films.
If you only purchase one DVD from the Eight Films to Die For, make sure it's Dread.
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