Having seen a lot of the promotional material for this film I was enticed by the presence of Margot Kidder. When I finally finagled a way to see Death 4 Told, I was pleasingly surprised by the sure performance of Ms. Kidder and the effervescent presence of Alicia Goransen. It's not on the level of the Amicus anthology classics and there's not many surprises in any of the 4 short stories that you can't see coming a mile away but you will still enjoy each of them because the acting is pretty good and the mood holds up pretty much throughout. After watching it once I wanted to watch it again the next day so that's a pretty darned good gauge that it's a better than decent film.
10 Reviews
Oh my god - is there NO originality left in Horror?
mchenryproj17 October 2006
I am sorry to say this but if these comments will save someone a few bucks then good. You would be better off buying soup.
I actually know some of the folks in one of the vignettes and while they did a great job with what they were given I must say the first segment was truly - not good. Uninspired, unoriginal, guys is rubber masks and so on. Come on. I suppose there are some folks who will love the "camp" aspect of this but Roger Corman did better stuff, and probably with less money. I like Corman but his time has passed by now, please, for heavens sake, move the genre forward or leave it to others.
I was truly happy to see Ms. Kidder acting again and doing a decent job. I was wondering if any self respecting agent should allow her to be part of any production with such low goals/values as this one but, she does pretty good, again, given what she was allowed to work with.
Look, I'm no expert and have dabbled in making shorts and so on. I like the scary stuff but this was not it. To slap the sub title on this as being from the "Master of Horror"? Really? Where is the horror? Buckets of blood are not scary, mental scares stick with you - "White Noise" stays in your skull, "High Tension" stays in your head, "Cigarette Burns" has staying power. This will hopefully fade away.
Again, it pains me to say all this but save your dimes kiddies and buy some pop-rocks, or better yet, an old MiniDV camera and make your own films.
Congrats to Bo and everyone involved for getting this far but really, is this on par with other films that have been commercially released? If it was made for the love of the genre, kudos. If it was made hoping to make a million dollars, sorry. If it was made as a stepping stone and learning experience, that's great. What's next?
On the positive side, you can see a definite ramping up of quality from the beginning to the end. I don't doubt that in time this team could do something great. Better stories, NO rubber face masks and better sound and I'll be right in line to see it. Keep at it. We're watching.
S.
I actually know some of the folks in one of the vignettes and while they did a great job with what they were given I must say the first segment was truly - not good. Uninspired, unoriginal, guys is rubber masks and so on. Come on. I suppose there are some folks who will love the "camp" aspect of this but Roger Corman did better stuff, and probably with less money. I like Corman but his time has passed by now, please, for heavens sake, move the genre forward or leave it to others.
I was truly happy to see Ms. Kidder acting again and doing a decent job. I was wondering if any self respecting agent should allow her to be part of any production with such low goals/values as this one but, she does pretty good, again, given what she was allowed to work with.
Look, I'm no expert and have dabbled in making shorts and so on. I like the scary stuff but this was not it. To slap the sub title on this as being from the "Master of Horror"? Really? Where is the horror? Buckets of blood are not scary, mental scares stick with you - "White Noise" stays in your skull, "High Tension" stays in your head, "Cigarette Burns" has staying power. This will hopefully fade away.
Again, it pains me to say all this but save your dimes kiddies and buy some pop-rocks, or better yet, an old MiniDV camera and make your own films.
Congrats to Bo and everyone involved for getting this far but really, is this on par with other films that have been commercially released? If it was made for the love of the genre, kudos. If it was made hoping to make a million dollars, sorry. If it was made as a stepping stone and learning experience, that's great. What's next?
On the positive side, you can see a definite ramping up of quality from the beginning to the end. I don't doubt that in time this team could do something great. Better stories, NO rubber face masks and better sound and I'll be right in line to see it. Keep at it. We're watching.
S.
Nothing wicked, creepy or new about these tales of horror/terror
TheLittleSongbird4 December 2012
Warning: Spoilers
I love movies, old and new, good and bad, whatever genre. And generally I aim to be encouraging towards film critiquing and ratings and to be understanding of other people's opinions. If it is a movie that I didn't care for, I do least try to recognise and appreciate what it tries to do. When a film is a collection of short stories, like Death 4 Told, it can go either way, either it works or it doesn't. While I did see that Death 4 Told didn't offer that much new to the table it did have some potentially good ideas. Unfortunately for Death 4 Told, it is an example of a "compilation" film that doesn't work.
The beginning credits are only one of many reasons to the problem. The pictures shown here are very disjointed, with any scares incorporated feeling thrown in with only the sense of ambiguity working in that regard. These wouldn't have been too problematic if they were done in a reasonable way, but no that wasn't to be. The editing is very rushed-through, and the image quality is so jumpy and under-sized that not only is it difficult to make out who was who and such but it was rather incomprehensible as well. The music is also a large part of the problem. You can tell that it tried to be creepy, but due to over-use and very out-of-tune notes it only managed to be very annoying instead.
We now have the first segment, A Doll's House. It did have potential with a pretty good set-up. However it was spoiled by the lack of any terrifying or suspenseful atmosphere and due to an ending that feels abrupt the fact that it feels unfinished. The dialogue is trite at best, and the story only managed to be dull and predictable. What was even worse was that key explanations were made difficult to understand. And I blame the music and sound effects for this. The music in A Doll's House is the same as it is in the beginning credits, obvious and annoying and more irritatingly it actually drowns out the dialogue. Further disadvantaging things are the cardboard characters, cheap and rushed filming and wooden acting(well the drunk character was okay, but he isn't in it enough to make any real impression).
Next is Folklore. And I'd say of the four segments, it was Folklore that was the worst. Why? Where to begin? Maybe that it uses every possible cliché in the book and utilises them horribly, nothing is done with them and feel as though they're only there for the sake of it. The special effects are also laughably bad, the werewolf is obviously stuffed and looks so fake you are howling with laughter rather than biting your nails. The filming continues to have a cheap look to it, the writing is once again stilted and the music is annoying as ever. Other than the effects, it was the characters that really grated. You'd be hard pressed to find characters as obnoxious and unbearably shrill as the ones in Folklore. Even worse is that the actors have next to nothing to work with other than screaming, whining and throwing insults, trust me that is not good acting, far from it.
The World's Most Haunted of the lot was the one that had the most promise, and is more ambitious than the others, so a little credit is due. The acting is a little better than it was in A Doll's House and Folklore, but that is sadly faint praise as the characters completely fail to engage and the writing is not much different than the rest of the overall film. The music is little improvement either. As is with the other three segments too, The World's Most Haunted is badly hindered by the low-budget, everything just looks so rushed. But it was the story that was the biggest problem. It had potential due to its ambition but the execution only managed to be confusingly perplexing rather than having any sense of atmosphere. This was especially true in the history of the asylum exposition, which really could have been so interesting, the very echoey sound makes it difficult to understand and get your head round.
Finally, there is The Psychic. After being severely underwhelmed by the rest of Death 4 Told, I was expecting very little from this segment. Again, there is very little different. The Psychic does get a point as it does have the only real redeeming feature of Death 4 Told, which is the good performance given by Margot Kidder. I wish I could be more complimentary, but that's all I can say that is good. Tom Savini is okay, but you can't shake off the feeling that he is better as a make-up artist than he is an actor. The Psychic also is visually slapdash and musically overbearing, basically not much new from the other three segments forming the film, and the dialogue is enough to make the toes curl. The story is unimaginatively told and holds no surprises whatsoever, while you just don't give a tuppence about the characters or what happens to them.
Overall, apart from Kidder's performance Death 4 Told is a near-irredeemable mess. 1/10 Bethany Cox
The beginning credits are only one of many reasons to the problem. The pictures shown here are very disjointed, with any scares incorporated feeling thrown in with only the sense of ambiguity working in that regard. These wouldn't have been too problematic if they were done in a reasonable way, but no that wasn't to be. The editing is very rushed-through, and the image quality is so jumpy and under-sized that not only is it difficult to make out who was who and such but it was rather incomprehensible as well. The music is also a large part of the problem. You can tell that it tried to be creepy, but due to over-use and very out-of-tune notes it only managed to be very annoying instead.
We now have the first segment, A Doll's House. It did have potential with a pretty good set-up. However it was spoiled by the lack of any terrifying or suspenseful atmosphere and due to an ending that feels abrupt the fact that it feels unfinished. The dialogue is trite at best, and the story only managed to be dull and predictable. What was even worse was that key explanations were made difficult to understand. And I blame the music and sound effects for this. The music in A Doll's House is the same as it is in the beginning credits, obvious and annoying and more irritatingly it actually drowns out the dialogue. Further disadvantaging things are the cardboard characters, cheap and rushed filming and wooden acting(well the drunk character was okay, but he isn't in it enough to make any real impression).
Next is Folklore. And I'd say of the four segments, it was Folklore that was the worst. Why? Where to begin? Maybe that it uses every possible cliché in the book and utilises them horribly, nothing is done with them and feel as though they're only there for the sake of it. The special effects are also laughably bad, the werewolf is obviously stuffed and looks so fake you are howling with laughter rather than biting your nails. The filming continues to have a cheap look to it, the writing is once again stilted and the music is annoying as ever. Other than the effects, it was the characters that really grated. You'd be hard pressed to find characters as obnoxious and unbearably shrill as the ones in Folklore. Even worse is that the actors have next to nothing to work with other than screaming, whining and throwing insults, trust me that is not good acting, far from it.
The World's Most Haunted of the lot was the one that had the most promise, and is more ambitious than the others, so a little credit is due. The acting is a little better than it was in A Doll's House and Folklore, but that is sadly faint praise as the characters completely fail to engage and the writing is not much different than the rest of the overall film. The music is little improvement either. As is with the other three segments too, The World's Most Haunted is badly hindered by the low-budget, everything just looks so rushed. But it was the story that was the biggest problem. It had potential due to its ambition but the execution only managed to be confusingly perplexing rather than having any sense of atmosphere. This was especially true in the history of the asylum exposition, which really could have been so interesting, the very echoey sound makes it difficult to understand and get your head round.
Finally, there is The Psychic. After being severely underwhelmed by the rest of Death 4 Told, I was expecting very little from this segment. Again, there is very little different. The Psychic does get a point as it does have the only real redeeming feature of Death 4 Told, which is the good performance given by Margot Kidder. I wish I could be more complimentary, but that's all I can say that is good. Tom Savini is okay, but you can't shake off the feeling that he is better as a make-up artist than he is an actor. The Psychic also is visually slapdash and musically overbearing, basically not much new from the other three segments forming the film, and the dialogue is enough to make the toes curl. The story is unimaginatively told and holds no surprises whatsoever, while you just don't give a tuppence about the characters or what happens to them.
Overall, apart from Kidder's performance Death 4 Told is a near-irredeemable mess. 1/10 Bethany Cox
Trust me: I was in the movie!
Mister-612 June 2004
When it comes to horror films, the only tried and true formula that has stood the test of time (besides red food coloring and corn syrup) is the anthology; that is, a combination of stories that form the body of a movie.
There had been several British variations of this over the years ("Tales from the Crypt", "Asylum", "Vault of Horror"), and Hollywood has tried its hand at it as well, with varying degrees of success. It's had its greatest success on TV ('The Twilight Zone', 'Outer Limits', HBO's 'Tales From The Crypt'), and therefore every filmic variation will indeed suffer by the comparison of style and substance to what had been set before.
It should come as no surprise, however, that there has indeed been more bad than good horror anthology films. Just look at your video store 'Horror' section. SO many, in fact, that it takes a special something to make even one stand out from the norm.
Sometimes it's a matter of attitude ("Tales From the 'Hood"), other times a matter of the talent before and behind the camera (the aforementioned British classics). And then other times still it depends on the energy, desire to entertain and a willingness to admit that there's nothing new under the sun and just crank it all up as loud and as fun as a horror movie can be.
To say that "Death 4 Told" does nothing new is not news. But for a movie that took less that $90,000 to film and produce and featured a majority of fledgling actors and so forth, it would be difficult to not appreciate the effort put forth. I'm sure this also isn't news to a majority of the people who are reading this.
Suffice it to say that as far as anthology movies go, "Death 4 Told" does deliver the goods from beginning to end.
Since this is an anthology, allow me to describe each segment as ambiguously as possible:
1) A DOLL'S HOUSE - A young writer (Brian Cade) and his wife (Britt Marder) move to a small town and rent a beautiful house for him to work in. Secrets abound, however, when footsteps and a child's laughter are heard within. This is only compounded when Pete (ME: George Litman!), a crazy local, asks a cryptic question: 'Have ya met Toby yet?'
2) FOLKLORE - A group of college friends set out for the woods when the driver Travis (Nar Williams) runs over a strange wolf-like animal. Soon, the group finds themselves beset by strange sounds deep in the woods, rustling bushes and glowing white eyes that lie in wait in the dark night.
3) WORLD'S MOST HAUNTED - A young intern (Stasia Andrews) on a reality TV show helps set up an abandoned asylum for a broadcast along with the director (Harley Kaplan), technician (Mark Van Fossen) and soundman (Michael Evanichko). But after she finds some unknown secrets on the building's history, its evil history comes to hideous light.
4) THE PSYCHIC - Hypocritical psychic Madame Baudeau (Margot Kidder) begins to find her predictions are finally coming true. Unfortunately, the future she forsees is all tragic. Will the next person she reads for live or die?
Again, nothing here is terribly original story-wise. That's not the point here. The point is that the directors (Bo Buckley, Michael Close) set the mood early on; messy and chaotic but with huge dollops of humor (much of it self-referential to those who are familiar with the genre); the actors, big and small, put everything they have into their parts.
It's all in the tone - fun, of course, but a suspension of belief is still necessary for any movie to work. That's true here; not to mention an appreciation for the general scenes you see in any b-movie: the scary legends, the dark shadows, the unexplained noises, the sinister locals, the sudden splashes of blood, the gratuitous displays of skin.
God bless independent horror films.
Ten stars out of ten. Watch for "Death 4 Told"!
There had been several British variations of this over the years ("Tales from the Crypt", "Asylum", "Vault of Horror"), and Hollywood has tried its hand at it as well, with varying degrees of success. It's had its greatest success on TV ('The Twilight Zone', 'Outer Limits', HBO's 'Tales From The Crypt'), and therefore every filmic variation will indeed suffer by the comparison of style and substance to what had been set before.
It should come as no surprise, however, that there has indeed been more bad than good horror anthology films. Just look at your video store 'Horror' section. SO many, in fact, that it takes a special something to make even one stand out from the norm.
Sometimes it's a matter of attitude ("Tales From the 'Hood"), other times a matter of the talent before and behind the camera (the aforementioned British classics). And then other times still it depends on the energy, desire to entertain and a willingness to admit that there's nothing new under the sun and just crank it all up as loud and as fun as a horror movie can be.
To say that "Death 4 Told" does nothing new is not news. But for a movie that took less that $90,000 to film and produce and featured a majority of fledgling actors and so forth, it would be difficult to not appreciate the effort put forth. I'm sure this also isn't news to a majority of the people who are reading this.
Suffice it to say that as far as anthology movies go, "Death 4 Told" does deliver the goods from beginning to end.
Since this is an anthology, allow me to describe each segment as ambiguously as possible:
1) A DOLL'S HOUSE - A young writer (Brian Cade) and his wife (Britt Marder) move to a small town and rent a beautiful house for him to work in. Secrets abound, however, when footsteps and a child's laughter are heard within. This is only compounded when Pete (ME: George Litman!), a crazy local, asks a cryptic question: 'Have ya met Toby yet?'
2) FOLKLORE - A group of college friends set out for the woods when the driver Travis (Nar Williams) runs over a strange wolf-like animal. Soon, the group finds themselves beset by strange sounds deep in the woods, rustling bushes and glowing white eyes that lie in wait in the dark night.
3) WORLD'S MOST HAUNTED - A young intern (Stasia Andrews) on a reality TV show helps set up an abandoned asylum for a broadcast along with the director (Harley Kaplan), technician (Mark Van Fossen) and soundman (Michael Evanichko). But after she finds some unknown secrets on the building's history, its evil history comes to hideous light.
4) THE PSYCHIC - Hypocritical psychic Madame Baudeau (Margot Kidder) begins to find her predictions are finally coming true. Unfortunately, the future she forsees is all tragic. Will the next person she reads for live or die?
Again, nothing here is terribly original story-wise. That's not the point here. The point is that the directors (Bo Buckley, Michael Close) set the mood early on; messy and chaotic but with huge dollops of humor (much of it self-referential to those who are familiar with the genre); the actors, big and small, put everything they have into their parts.
It's all in the tone - fun, of course, but a suspension of belief is still necessary for any movie to work. That's true here; not to mention an appreciation for the general scenes you see in any b-movie: the scary legends, the dark shadows, the unexplained noises, the sinister locals, the sudden splashes of blood, the gratuitous displays of skin.
God bless independent horror films.
Ten stars out of ten. Watch for "Death 4 Told"!
Death 4 Told- A B-Horror film lover's dream!
briocade219 June 2004
Death 4 Told is what it is- a low budget "Creep Show"-esk horror film filled with cameos and loaded with zombies, gore, haunted houses and cheesy valley girl screams; a b-horror film lover's dream! The film is put together very creatively through the twisted eye of writer/director Bo Buckley and the "star" of the movie, Margot Kidder, gives a wonderful performance backed strongly by a slew of very talented new comers and old hats that should not be overlooked.
This very "un-mainstream" level film is a horror gem that is absolutely worth a peek and I look forward to the future blood-covered delights created by the fearmakers team.
This very "un-mainstream" level film is a horror gem that is absolutely worth a peek and I look forward to the future blood-covered delights created by the fearmakers team.
If you liked Creep Show, you should like D4T.
obxfxrs3 June 2005
Death 4 Told, an Indie of limited funding (just sounds better than low budget) was well written, directed and acted. The four subtlety linked stories, reminded me of Creep Show, with each tale covering a piece of the horror genre.
I felt the stories were properly sequenced, with the weakest link (which still offered a satisfying level of creep) at the beginning and the strongest as the closer. The resulting buildup easily held my attention through the plot changes. The cast, most of which are newcomers to the screen (as would be expected of an Indie) played their roles convincingly well, that, or casting did a great job.
Judging D4T for what it is, an Indie, not a major motion picture, I found few flaws, and those that were there were forgivable.
I felt the stories were properly sequenced, with the weakest link (which still offered a satisfying level of creep) at the beginning and the strongest as the closer. The resulting buildup easily held my attention through the plot changes. The cast, most of which are newcomers to the screen (as would be expected of an Indie) played their roles convincingly well, that, or casting did a great job.
Judging D4T for what it is, an Indie, not a major motion picture, I found few flaws, and those that were there were forgivable.
Read the User Comments, Not Just the Star Rating
darth_nax14 August 2005
I don't know why this film has such low ratings. If you see this on the front page click through and read the reviews. Then you'll see what a good film this is.
As the title foretells this is four short stories. They are a mix of horror and psychological thriller. Nicely sequenced and told. There are not special effects. The budget is low. The direction and acting could be better but is still not bad. But the end result is good. Personally I think most people don't get this movie (and hence rate it lower than they should) is because the endings are not pat like most Hollywood shows. They leave a lot to the imagination and things are not wrapped up with respect to where the characters involved stand.
As the title foretells this is four short stories. They are a mix of horror and psychological thriller. Nicely sequenced and told. There are not special effects. The budget is low. The direction and acting could be better but is still not bad. But the end result is good. Personally I think most people don't get this movie (and hence rate it lower than they should) is because the endings are not pat like most Hollywood shows. They leave a lot to the imagination and things are not wrapped up with respect to where the characters involved stand.
It was a fun ride
eevuldead23 June 2004
Death4Told is a fun ride. It takes you through four different stories and the lives of the characters which inhabit each film. I say each film because, each story could be a film all by itself and you would enjoy watching anyone of the four films alone. The unique way all four are linked together is interesting. Do not blink though you may miss a few of the links. The film starts you off slow, letting you get your feet wet then picks up a lot midway. By the end you are racing down on a roller coaster at breakneck speeds. Once you pull into the station after your ride you want to ride again. I enjoyed my experience watching Death4Told and I am sure anyone who loves scary, horror, indie type movies will also have a great time
Interesting Thriller
TheSppencerGroup7 July 2004
I wasn't sure what to expect when I saw this film. I knew that it was 4 parts, all thrillers and each somewhat related to the others. I was surprised at how entertaining the movie was. Each part had something in it to make you laugh, groan, roll your eyes and even jump out of your seat. I especially enjoyed The Psychic and it's attention to details (pay close attention to Madam Badeau's shop).
The music added to the suspense and terrified the person I was sitting with. The film did need some work with lighting and sound but overall was a fun flick and definitely a thumbs up for people who enjoy this genre.
The music added to the suspense and terrified the person I was sitting with. The film did need some work with lighting and sound but overall was a fun flick and definitely a thumbs up for people who enjoy this genre.
4 Tales to get spooked by
moviechic_Carrie11 May 2005
Stories/Plots : Each story written and directed by Bo Buckley and presented with a different level of spookiness. I have to admit the first installment THE DOLL'S HOUSE started off a bit slow but the other stories moved smoothly and made up for it. My favorite of the four would have to be WORLD'S MOST HAUNTED - any "reality" haunted show should end up like this one. So in one movie you get a haunted house, some werewolves, a haunted sanitarium and a tarot card reader. It spans a good variety of the horror genre.
F/X : I was impressed with the effects. They didn't come across too cheesy and and felt pretty high quality. Always a bonus in Indie films. Two thumbs up to the F/X crew. Only problem I ran into was soundtrack music overrunning the dialog at times.
Cast/Characters : Good scripting allowed for good follow through on the actors part. Everyone did their parts to tee - the ditsy girl does get killed and the annoying guy will get killed, that is what we like to see.
Jekyll's Final Thoughts :I was very happy to hear about this movie through a friend and glad I had the chance to watch and review it. I will recommend it to my fellow horror fans and look forward to seeing what else Mr. Buckley has in store for us. This one, appropriately, gets a 4 star rating from me (out of 5)
F/X : I was impressed with the effects. They didn't come across too cheesy and and felt pretty high quality. Always a bonus in Indie films. Two thumbs up to the F/X crew. Only problem I ran into was soundtrack music overrunning the dialog at times.
Cast/Characters : Good scripting allowed for good follow through on the actors part. Everyone did their parts to tee - the ditsy girl does get killed and the annoying guy will get killed, that is what we like to see.
Jekyll's Final Thoughts :I was very happy to hear about this movie through a friend and glad I had the chance to watch and review it. I will recommend it to my fellow horror fans and look forward to seeing what else Mr. Buckley has in store for us. This one, appropriately, gets a 4 star rating from me (out of 5)
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