Review: ‘Tales from the Other Side’ Struggles to Find it’s Tone and Audience

The horror anthology has gained popularity over the years with Halloween favorites like Trick R Treat. In that same vein comes Tales from the Other Side, the latest release from Uncork’d Entertainment. Helmed by directors Jamaal Burden (Elves), Scotty Baker (5th Passenger), Jacob Cooney (The Assault), Lucas Heyne (Mope), and Pablo Macho Maysonet IV. Featuring Roslyn Gentle (Unborn), Brandon Thayne Wilson (The Dead Ones), Vernon Wells (Commando), Chelsea Vale (Burial Ground Massacre), and James Duval (Donnie Darko).

On Halloween night, three friends, Rod, Tina, and Nancy, are trick or treating when their chaperone decides to leave them on their own to go to a frat party. Of course, they head straight for the home of the supposed town witch “Scary” Mary (Gentle). But to their surprise, she isn’t scary and invites them in for treats and spooky stories. This portion will serve as the wrap-around as the kids keep scarfing down sweets and drinking whatever is in front of them. I’m sure most of you can already tell where it’s headed. Spoiler alert: she’s not as lovely as she seems.

Between stuffing kids with cookies, we get a series of vignettes as they’re too short to be anything else. The first “The Petrified Boy,” revolves around a mysterious circus sideshow. The attraction is said to have been cursed and just so happened to be owned by the same man whose estate sale the tale takes place. With non-actors and a non-moving main doll, it’s a rough way to open an anthology.

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The next segment, “Flicker,” finds us following Carter (Wilson), an aspiring filmmaker who takes a job at a mortuary creating the memorial videos for funerals. When the undertaker (Wells) informs him that he can only work from the building itself and during the night, things begin to get a little weird. This story had an interesting premise but didn’t make much sense with the overall presentation. Perhaps given more time, they could have fleshed out the narrative and helped make the final reveal less head-scratching.

Segments “Crystal Ball” and “Blood Red,” deal with infidelity, suggesting domestic abuse, the repercussions of repressed emotions, and greed with vague supernatural undertones. These two are the stories to have any semblance of violence with minimal onscreen blood, and are the only parts of the movie that feel like it’s geared to an older audience.

“Either/ Or” is set in an asylum, where a man killed his wife and child because he said God told him to. From there, it goes nowhere, and other than Duval chewing the scenery, it doesn’t have much else to say. I’m curious if the filmmakers had to cut significant portions of their films to fit the runtime. Most feels like they’re missing pieces that would help explain what we’re watching. The final segment closes as strong as the opener. That’s to say, not very strong. “Krampus Vs. Elf” is basically a bunch of still photography edited together to be an epic battle, and it’s not.

At first watch, I got some ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark’ vibes from the tone. It seemed much more geared to young adults, but there wasn’t any of the eeriness or spooky factor like the show. The wrap-around did an alright job building the tension as the kids begin to feel ill one by one, but you could see the inevitable a mile away.

Most anthologies like Trick r’ Treat and even Tales of Halloween have a theme running through them, connecting the stories to the main wrap-around, revolving around a specific location. With Tales from the Other Side, there isn’t any cohesiveness to the themes, styles, or tones. One could interchange the shorts, and it wouldn’t change a thing or disrupt the flow any more than it already does. In a way, they mimic the V/H/S/ style as each is its own story, but in their case, they have the found footage connection to tie them together.

Tales from the Other Side doesn’t quite know who their audience is. There are some entertaining performances here and there, but the segments are so short. The minute you warm up to the premise, they’re over, and you’re confused. Shortening it from six to even four stories, would have given it room to breath. I think this one may find an audience, but it might be for the wrong reasons. 1.5/5

★★

Tales from the Other Side is now available to stream on Prime, Google and Vudu. Check out the trailer and poster below. As always, be sure to follow ScaryNerd for all things horror, sci-fi, fantasy and everything in between.

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