Scary Tales Movie Review 297

Scary Tales is a 2013 horror movie directed by Geno McGahee who also directed Family Secret and Rise of the Scarecrows.

This movie is an anthology which is similar to Twilight Zone episodes or Tales from the Darkside which I like. There are four tales of terror. The movie begins with a group of old high school friends who are having a reunion in an isolated cabin in the middle of the woods, so the setting is spooky already! Tim(Tim Pieciak) has called his old pals to the cabin. They are Butch(Forris Day Jr), Wendy(Kate Lago) and Susan(Jaki Valensi-Lauper). Tim talks about the past and he seems to think that his best days are behind him. Tim is getting a divorce and he is going to lose his cabin. His life is at a standstill while the others are happy enough with their lives. He seems bitter over the way that they have moved on and he hasn't. They decide to tell each other scary stories....

Tim begins with THE BULLY. Richard(Bill Boughton) is a nasty bully who beats people up for small reasons. He gets fired from his job and loses his girlfriend after he attacks a poor man and really hurts him. He doesn't seem to care at all. He is visited by a strange man in a suit(Mike Lauper) who knows all about him and his nasty behaviour. He tells him that the cops are coming to get him, but he can escape from them if he agrees to play a game with him. If he wins the game, he is fine, but if he loses, he will be in trouble. Richard agrees. Unfortunately for Richard, the game is not what it seems and there are some nasty surprises in store for him!

Next, Butch has a tale of terror for the pals. His is called CURIOSITY KILLS. It is about an eerie house which was in the middle of the woods. There are no roads or driveways up to it. The story begins with a young woman called Amber(Leeann Aubuchon) who has an argument with her stepfather, Sam(Ray Surprenant). He is a pervert and he tries to come on to her. She is disgusted and pushes him away, but he is eager. They have an altercation which results in him trying to choke her. Her cousin Mike(Josh Tienson) shows up and tries to help, but Amber stabs Sam and kills him with a scissors. She and Mike run away from the scene and head to the woods to hide out. They discover a strange house in the woods and they enter it to get out of the cold. They think that there is nobody home, but they are wrong. There is a girl called Alice(Savanah Lee) and her mother May(Charlotte Lewis) there and they seem a little strange. What is their secret???

Susan is next with her story called  MAJORITY RULES. A guy called Steve(Steve Adams) and his two pals Phil(Richard A. Smith) and Jamie(Dave Sauriol) are scam artists who go around playing poker games with unsuspecting marks. They have cheated many players out of their money and they are
going to keep doing it . Steve tells them that he has the perfect man to scam. He is called Mark(Brent Northup) and his is a rich guy who likes to gamble. The game is set up and Mark comes along with his money. He thinks that the game is above board and when he discovers that it is not, he demands retribution from them.They have a choice to make- give him the money which they could never do or kill him. They decide to kill him. They think that they have it all sorted, but they are in for a nasty surprise...

The last story is from Wendy and it is called THE BRIDGE. There is a bridge in town which is supposed to be haunted. The local legend is that if you cross it, then you will see the Devil or demons. People have gone missing while crossing it.Bill(Logan Lopez) and his dad, (Martin Du Plessis) are chatting about his college life and Bill is doing a project on the local legend about the haunted bridge. His grandad(Ed Reed III) is sitting in the living room and he never speaks a word, but when Bill mentions the bridge, he speaks and tells him to go out there and walk across it to see what happens. It is eerie. Bill tells his girlfriend,Sue(Crystal Aya) all about it. They go and see her cousin, Sarah(Sarah Supernaut) who knows about supernatural things and she tells them that years ago when the railway came to the town, the ruthless developers took over all of the area and put people out of their homes etc to make it. The bridge was reportedly haunted because of all the misery caused. Bill finds out from his dad that his mother died on the bridge and this makes him determined to go out there and find out the truth for himself. Will he be another victim of the curse???

The movie ends in the cabin with all of the pals chatting and some strange things happen, but I will not give away the ending so you can enjoy it for yourself! This was a very good movie. I always like anthologies and I enjoy different stories in the same movie. I liked each story and I enjoyed the tales very much. As I said, it does remind me of the old Twilight Zone episodes and the stories are each very well written. Having seen FAMILY SECRET and RISE OF THE SCARECROWS, I was looking forward to this movie from horror director Geno McGahee who very kindly let us have a copy of his movie to watch. He does low budget movies well and this one was even better than the last. The writing was good, the acting for the most part was good and I did like the creepy stepfather, Sam in the segment CURIOSITY KILLS. I think that this is worth a watch because sometimes, low budget horror movies can be more entertaining than the big budget ones. This has it all- killings, good stories and the occasional chuckle. I would definitely recommend this if you can get a chance to see it as I did enjoy it and I would watch it again. I was impressed with this film so watch it if you like low budget horror like I do! You won't be disappointed! It gets a 8/10.