Portmanteau

A cleverly designed credit roll at the beginning of the film cues us off to the possibility that this anthology was designed on a decent budget. After watching, it's hard to say whether or not this was indeed the case. Still, it was an entertaining romp through several compelling, yet somewhat poorly executed anecdotes.

Everything about this anthology comes off as amateurish. But it also seems that everyone involved understood this about themselves, opting to stick to what they knew and playing to their strengths rather than stretching themselves too thin. With that in mind, the stories are clear cut, for better or worse, and are actually quite cohesive whether they make sense or not.

Though nothing about this film is earth-shattering, there are actually a lot of original and intriguing ideas conveyed in this anthology. Unfortunately, some of the ideas do not get fleshed out enough or struggle with providing enough substantial content for their brilliance to really shine through. Given the aforementioned limitations, each vignette still features some kind of creative idea or artistic effect to make it stand out. Because of this, each story can potentially keep your interest without growing too stale, nor overstaying its welcome.

Sound design and cinematography are solid enough, but won't be winning any awards. They aren't bad enough to really damage the quality of the movie, but they also aren't so great that they enhance the quality of the movie either.

While there's no wraparound story for this anthology, clever cameos are used instead to tie the vignettes together. Kudos to the crew here. They managed to tie together every single story with intelligent and smooth deliveries.

We are treated to 9 stories.

Below are brief Plot Summaries:

First Story: When a mysterious roll of used film is packaged alongside his brand new camera, a photographer risks life and limb to uncover its secrets. 6/10

Second Story: Whilst driving along his delivery route, a young man must contend with an increasingly minacious motorist. 7/10

Third Story: A young couple are painting their apartment when one of them becomes paranoid of the neighbors. 4/10

Fourth Story: A bird with one eye; a stag with one eye; a man with one eye. One photographer staying in his remote cabin in the woods encounters the Myth of the One-Eyed Stag. 5/10

Sixth Story: A sound engineer is transplanted from an unfinished project into a brand new project: Werewolf vs Merman. 5/10

Seventh Story: Bombarded by the constant chittering of a strange insect, a young woman begins to slowly unravel as she tries to silence the little bugger. 6/10

Eight Story: A bunny costume, a graveyard, and some poorly laid plans, perfect admixtures for concocting an interesting night for these three strangers. 7/10

Ninth Story: Wandering and camping alone in the great outdoors, a young lady crosses paths with an unfamiliar and worrisome face. 5/10.