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Welcome to Reviews From the Horror Chamber. I am your chamber keeper, Anthony Thurber. Well I had an opening, but decided since this might be one of my biggest rants ever, I’m holding it off until mid-week but I’ll give a little hint. I take shots again at the Weinsteins, a director that has one of this films coming into theaters this Friday. I’m not telling you the director, as I want to keep it a surprise, but if you followed a certain controversy, well, you know who it is and again supporting the independent filmmaker. Well, that might get me into trouble but I’ll let you decide. Now on to the reviews.

The Collingswood Story

Year: 2002
Directors: Mike Costanza
Stars: Stephanie Dees, Johnny Burton, Diane Behrens
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Cinerebel Films
Running Time: 80 Mins
Review Rating: 3.5 Stars
Official Website: http://www.collingswoodstory.com/

The Collingswood Story is one of those films that came out of the height of The Blair Witch Project phenomenon back where there were a lot of low-budget films. The film is the first to be told through the use of webcams. It’s about a college student named Rebecca, who left home to go to college. Her boyfriend John came up with an idea to keep in touch with her via webcam. Everything was going good until their curiosity with the unknown leads them to an on-line psychic named Vera Madeline. The psychic then begins to insert terror into the couple’s lives. Can they survive this?

The Collingswood Story is a very creepy movie, especially the last half hour. Director/Writer Mike Costanza does a good job in creating the dark atmosphere that made the film scary and making the backstory very creepy so you’re hooked into what’s going on in the film. His black and white footage for the images of the past also added to the film creepy tone. What separates this from other Blair Witch knock offs in the fact he tells it from a voyeuristic perspectives, as the story is being told thought webcam conversations. It was a very different take by shooting this movie from that perspective. He does build main character up very well. They were interesting and creepy to watch. Also the acting in this film was good. Both Stephanie Dees and Johnny Burton sold their characters' relationship as believable, which made me care about it and their characters.

The only problems I had with this film was the fact that John’s friend felt kind of out of place and the character really slowed the movie down, which hurt it a little bit. The character felt boring and didn’t really add anything to the movie. The director couldn’t have done without that character? Also, he could have also tried to focuses all the film’s events in one night, which would have made it more suspenseful and kept the pace of the film moving.

Minus those problems, the movie still was good as it had a strong ending and the fact that the last half-hour made it worth watching. The end result of The Collingswood Story will leave you in shock. Trust me.


The Recovered

Year: 2007
Director: Jay Bauman, and Mike Stroklasa
Stars: Tina Krause, Douglas W. Rose, Benjamin Budd
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Red Letter Media
Running Time: 81Mins
Review Rating: 3.5 Stars
Official Website: http://www.recoveredmovie.com/

The Recovered has been circulating around the film festival circuit. It played at the 2007 Full Moon Horror Film Festival. The film has been getting some rave reviews on sites such as B-Independent and Fatally-Yours.com

The film is about a woman (Tina Krause) who’s returning back to her hometown after not being there after fifteen years. She’s there to prepare her mother funeral. She then beings to be haunted by visions and dark memories from her troubled past. This will lead her to begin to lose grip on reality and push her to her braking point.

The Recovered is a bone chilling psychological horror film. Directors Jay Bauman and Mike Stroklasa do a good job in keeping a dark and creepy tone through out the film. It’s one of those films that take a half-hour to get into but the payoff is worth it with these types of films, as it felt like something that would be seen in a Darren Aronofsky film at times. The screenplay was good as it goes into the backstory of Krause’s character very well. I liked how they also made sense of this creepy guy in a business suit stalking her, which helped the film hold up. Only two problems I really had with the script and this film. First, it really didn’t go into the relationship that much between Krause and Budd’s characters, which I would have liked their relationship examined a little bit to get a sense of Budd’s character. And also, it should have gone into the reasons why Krause’s character was on so many pills as it felt like it wasn’t explained that much which could have used a scene to answer it.

But what makes this film very good was the acting. Tina Krause was very good in this, as I think that this is one of her best performances. She brings that intensity that is needed for her role as her character is dark and psychological damaged. Also, Douglas W. Rose is fucking creepy here. He plays his role very well, which brings a very frightening presence to this film.

The Recovered is a frightening psychological piece that will bring you nightmares at night.

The Demonology of Desire

Year: 2007
Directors: Rodrigo Gudino
Stars: Bianca Rusu, Tudor Plopeanu, Jewelia Fisico
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Rue Morgue Cinema
Running Time: 22 Mins
Review Rating: 5 Stars
Official Website: http://www.rodrigogudino.com/


The Demonology of Desire is a short film that has playing on the festival circuit for a while now. It’s played such festivals such as the 2007 Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival (where it won Best Short Film), 2007 Worldwide Short Film Festival, and the 2007 Fantasic Fest (where it won jury prizes for Best Actress and Best effects). The founder and publisher of Rue Morgue magazine, Rodrigo Guidino, directs this film.

The film is about a young woman who makes a wish. The next that wish turns powerful when she meets a boy at school. The boy doesn’t know what lies for him, as he has a crush on this woman. He then proceeds to follow the woman and her friend to her friend’s house where something is waiting in the basement for him.

The Demonology of Desire is one of the most shocking short films out there in the festival circuit today. Rodrigo Gudino’s screenplay was great. One of the things he does well is to keep the film’s tone throughout as made scary and frightening to watch. I like how he focuses on the theme of one person’s crush or obsession with another. He does this with Tudor Plopeanu’s character. It really dives into the mind of what any person, like a teenager is capable or doing, in order to fulfill his every need while not realizing that someone is manipulating him in the process. It really contributes to the horror that is occurring in the film. He also does a very good job directing the actors here, as he mangers to get good chemistry between the three main actors who haven’t had much experience acting before doing this film. Bianca Rusu gives a very good lead performance in the film. She makes her character work by adding devilish qualities to her character. It made her character menacing to watch.

I highly suggest you check this check this short film out when it’s playing at you local film festival, you will be shocked and the ending of this film. The Demonology of Desire is one of the most frightening and disturbing shorts out there today.

If you’re a filmmaker interested in having your horror film reviewed in the horror chamber, you can reach the Chamber Keeper himself at Anthonythurber@filmarcade.net or the head of Film Arcade TonyD at TonyD@filmarcade.net

Also, don’t forget to add the official myspace home of Reviews From the Horror Chamber to your myspace friends at http://www.myspace.com/reviewsfromthehorchamber.

Well that’s it for this week’s edition of Reviews Form the Horror Chamber. Next Week, I’ll review Neil Marshall’s new film Doomsday and review The Caretaker which stars Jennifer Tilly and Judd Nelson.

Until then, have a frightening week.