Out of the four After Dark Horror Fest films that I screened in the same evening (the others included BORDERLAND, UNEARTHED, and TOOTH & NAIL) CRAZY EIGHTS is the most disappointing because of the great cast that was put together for the film. Included in the cast are Dina Meyer, George Newbern, Traci Lords, Dan DeLuca, Frank Whaley, and Gabrielle Anwar. This is probably the best cast of any of the After Dark Horror Fest Films.
CRAZY EIGHTS concerns a group of friends who get back together after a friend of theirs has died. They haven’t seen each other in many years so the reunion is a bitter one in which they all have their own inner demons. As part of this “healing” process of getting over their friends death (and a wish by their dead friend) they venture off to look for an old time capsule they buried. When in search of this capsule they find themselves trapped in a mysterious hospital which is all to familiar to them all but they don’t know why. As they try to find a way out hidden memories start to resurface leading them to remember an event at the hospital that has haunted them their entire lives and that will not let them leave the hospital alive.
As with many low budget indie films this film takes place almost exclusively in the one location. The production design is out standing and the cinematography is some of the best of any of the After Dark Horror Fest films thus far but the film doesn’t go anywhere. There is a lot of dialogue and talking amongst the characters but other than Whaley’s character none of them are all that interesting. The cast makes the best of the material which isn’t much as this film comes off as an Asian ghost story knock-off without the atmospheric dread and ghost with long hair. The ghost in this film is a little girl which isn’t really all that terrifying. The death scenes are interesting but never anything we haven’t already seen before which is sad considering what could have been achieved in the location at hand.
Writers Dan DeLuca, James K. Jones, and Ji-un Kwon try very hard to create a suspenseful psychological horror film but fail at every turn as the situations in this film have become cliché and over done. As director Jones does a capable job (especially in terms of the look and feel of the film) but the overall film is hampered by the fact that audiences have tired of this kind of film no matter how you slice and dice and reserve it up. This is one of the few “adult” horror films on hand from the Horror Fest and I’m sure they included it because of the variety in which it brought to the event but with all this talent available it should’ve been put to better use.
CRAZY EIGHTS concerns a group of friends who get back together after a friend of theirs has died. They haven’t seen each other in many years so the reunion is a bitter one in which they all have their own inner demons. As part of this “healing” process of getting over their friends death (and a wish by their dead friend) they venture off to look for an old time capsule they buried. When in search of this capsule they find themselves trapped in a mysterious hospital which is all to familiar to them all but they don’t know why. As they try to find a way out hidden memories start to resurface leading them to remember an event at the hospital that has haunted them their entire lives and that will not let them leave the hospital alive.
As with many low budget indie films this film takes place almost exclusively in the one location. The production design is out standing and the cinematography is some of the best of any of the After Dark Horror Fest films thus far but the film doesn’t go anywhere. There is a lot of dialogue and talking amongst the characters but other than Whaley’s character none of them are all that interesting. The cast makes the best of the material which isn’t much as this film comes off as an Asian ghost story knock-off without the atmospheric dread and ghost with long hair. The ghost in this film is a little girl which isn’t really all that terrifying. The death scenes are interesting but never anything we haven’t already seen before which is sad considering what could have been achieved in the location at hand.
Writers Dan DeLuca, James K. Jones, and Ji-un Kwon try very hard to create a suspenseful psychological horror film but fail at every turn as the situations in this film have become cliché and over done. As director Jones does a capable job (especially in terms of the look and feel of the film) but the overall film is hampered by the fact that audiences have tired of this kind of film no matter how you slice and dice and reserve it up. This is one of the few “adult” horror films on hand from the Horror Fest and I’m sure they included it because of the variety in which it brought to the event but with all this talent available it should’ve been put to better use.
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