I had no idea this was an anthology and was disappointed when I found out. The reason for that is that the opening Asian-American storyline is pretty decent, but then it suddenly finishes unfinished and we move onto increasingly less elaborate and engaging tales. Most dwell on predictable violence and shock scares, and the wraparound story goes nowhere either.
49 Reviews
Highly problematic and troublesome anthology with only a few worthwhile segments
kannibalcorpsegrinder3 April 2021
Warning: Spoilers
A military scientist takes several victims and tries to experiment on them to bring out their deepest fears as a way to weaponize the concept in their future plans.
The Good Stor(ies): Vehophobia-After being left on the side of the road, a woman forced to deal with her boyfriend leaving her ends up taking his car and setting out for herself alone. As she comes to believe something is wrong with the car, a series of events arises that give her an answer she didn't want. This one served up the most potential and did have some likable qualities. Dealing with the strange incidents that seem to signal something wrong with the car is a fine series of suspenseful antics that run the gamut from unexpected breakdowns, flash visions of ghostly occupants inside the car and managing to influence her thoughts and memories. They all point to the car having a life of its own rather well and gives this some likable qualities but with all the supposed backstory this throws at us regarding their history together and what happened between them, it seems like a longer segment than what we got would've been a better choice instead of being trimmed down as much as it is.
Ephebiphobia-Home alone while her husband works late, a woman is tormented by a series of strange and unusual circumstances that suggest she's got unexpected and unwanted visitors late at night. When she realizes the true nature of what's going on, she finds a far more human explanation for what's happening to her. This was a pretty solid and enjoyable effort although there are some problems. The first half of this is among the best parts of this as the home invasion aspect of the storyline is used to generate plenty of tension with the group being kept to the shadows and trying to unnerve her which is quite effective. The confrontation scenes within the house are rather fun and manage to feature some fine chasing but it revolves too much around talky exposition scenes that don't move this one along all that much and just get undone completely by the underwhelming finale that has no purpose to it.
The Bad Stori(ies): Robophobia-Trying to carry out a life for him and his father, a computer hacker manages to tap into the conscious existence of a strange entity and finds that she's able to control him through his phone. As it gets more controlling and deadly, he wonders who or what he is talking to on the other end of the phone. There wasn't much to like with this one. The fact that it seems to shift focus away from one of the more realistic and relatable fears that it could've exploited, namely the immigrants' status and security in a country full of xenophobia and racism, to instead pull itself into a tech-savvy cybernetic angle instead makes no sense and isn't terrifying in the slightest. It gets somewhat interesting when the body count actually starts as the existence of the flaming bodies and how they're created by her controlling his phone which gives this some positives but overall this one misses the mark, especially as a lead-in segment.
Hoplophobia-Following a disastrous raid of a drug den, a SWAT officer is stricken with a strange fear of guns following the incident. As she finds herself forced to deal with the issue continuously in her daily life, it soon brings out a side of her she didn't anticipate. This was a short and completely worthless segment. While the idea is fine enough, it seems to serve more as a PTSD disorder than a true fear of guns as there's very little of that in the segment. As it's so short, it doesn't have time to get much in-depth on what's going on anyway, it can't really do much in the time that it has to really dive into that issue which makes this feel completely out-of-place in this storyline. The action and choreography present here isn't bad but on the whole, this doesn't really do much to warrant its inclusion.
Atelophobia-About to sign off on a major project, a successful architect tries to find that balance between keeping her professional reputation intact while not letting her crippling fear of imperfection get the better of her. When a problematic assignment at the company is brought up, it brings her to the breaking point of her madness. This one was a great idea but comes off rather disappointing. The main fear at the heart of this one is so obscure it's hard to imagine anyone coming across this as a fear and nothing done here to really make for a scary time here either with the antics in the office or being at her home while trying to solve their problem. With no backstory on her or what this means to her to keep these issues from bothering her, it's boring and just not that interesting until the gruesome serial killer twist that brings about some rather impressive body-horror self-surgery scenes. It's still not enough to work on this one though.
Outpost 31-Arriving at a secret military facility in the middle of the desert, a man finds himself stranded there with other subjects and a military doctors' strange experiments. Realizing that he's being used to carry out a series of experiments to find a way to market fear, he tries to get out alive. This is just a huge missed opportunity as there's very little to this one that works. As a wrap-around lead-in to the film as a whole, it makes no sense as to what the purpose of the experiments are for and has little excitement in the escape attempt that follows, while each of the interludes signaling the next participant to the chamber makes no sense and just causes even more confusion as to what's going on. Given the lackluster ending that just falls flat as a whole, this is a massive letdown and serves as the biggest issue with this one.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.
The Good Stor(ies): Vehophobia-After being left on the side of the road, a woman forced to deal with her boyfriend leaving her ends up taking his car and setting out for herself alone. As she comes to believe something is wrong with the car, a series of events arises that give her an answer she didn't want. This one served up the most potential and did have some likable qualities. Dealing with the strange incidents that seem to signal something wrong with the car is a fine series of suspenseful antics that run the gamut from unexpected breakdowns, flash visions of ghostly occupants inside the car and managing to influence her thoughts and memories. They all point to the car having a life of its own rather well and gives this some likable qualities but with all the supposed backstory this throws at us regarding their history together and what happened between them, it seems like a longer segment than what we got would've been a better choice instead of being trimmed down as much as it is.
Ephebiphobia-Home alone while her husband works late, a woman is tormented by a series of strange and unusual circumstances that suggest she's got unexpected and unwanted visitors late at night. When she realizes the true nature of what's going on, she finds a far more human explanation for what's happening to her. This was a pretty solid and enjoyable effort although there are some problems. The first half of this is among the best parts of this as the home invasion aspect of the storyline is used to generate plenty of tension with the group being kept to the shadows and trying to unnerve her which is quite effective. The confrontation scenes within the house are rather fun and manage to feature some fine chasing but it revolves too much around talky exposition scenes that don't move this one along all that much and just get undone completely by the underwhelming finale that has no purpose to it.
The Bad Stori(ies): Robophobia-Trying to carry out a life for him and his father, a computer hacker manages to tap into the conscious existence of a strange entity and finds that she's able to control him through his phone. As it gets more controlling and deadly, he wonders who or what he is talking to on the other end of the phone. There wasn't much to like with this one. The fact that it seems to shift focus away from one of the more realistic and relatable fears that it could've exploited, namely the immigrants' status and security in a country full of xenophobia and racism, to instead pull itself into a tech-savvy cybernetic angle instead makes no sense and isn't terrifying in the slightest. It gets somewhat interesting when the body count actually starts as the existence of the flaming bodies and how they're created by her controlling his phone which gives this some positives but overall this one misses the mark, especially as a lead-in segment.
Hoplophobia-Following a disastrous raid of a drug den, a SWAT officer is stricken with a strange fear of guns following the incident. As she finds herself forced to deal with the issue continuously in her daily life, it soon brings out a side of her she didn't anticipate. This was a short and completely worthless segment. While the idea is fine enough, it seems to serve more as a PTSD disorder than a true fear of guns as there's very little of that in the segment. As it's so short, it doesn't have time to get much in-depth on what's going on anyway, it can't really do much in the time that it has to really dive into that issue which makes this feel completely out-of-place in this storyline. The action and choreography present here isn't bad but on the whole, this doesn't really do much to warrant its inclusion.
Atelophobia-About to sign off on a major project, a successful architect tries to find that balance between keeping her professional reputation intact while not letting her crippling fear of imperfection get the better of her. When a problematic assignment at the company is brought up, it brings her to the breaking point of her madness. This one was a great idea but comes off rather disappointing. The main fear at the heart of this one is so obscure it's hard to imagine anyone coming across this as a fear and nothing done here to really make for a scary time here either with the antics in the office or being at her home while trying to solve their problem. With no backstory on her or what this means to her to keep these issues from bothering her, it's boring and just not that interesting until the gruesome serial killer twist that brings about some rather impressive body-horror self-surgery scenes. It's still not enough to work on this one though.
Outpost 31-Arriving at a secret military facility in the middle of the desert, a man finds himself stranded there with other subjects and a military doctors' strange experiments. Realizing that he's being used to carry out a series of experiments to find a way to market fear, he tries to get out alive. This is just a huge missed opportunity as there's very little to this one that works. As a wrap-around lead-in to the film as a whole, it makes no sense as to what the purpose of the experiments are for and has little excitement in the escape attempt that follows, while each of the interludes signaling the next participant to the chamber makes no sense and just causes even more confusion as to what's going on. Given the lackluster ending that just falls flat as a whole, this is a massive letdown and serves as the biggest issue with this one.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.
Storyline
Stanlee10724 March 2021
Warning: Spoilers
The title is misleading but this anthology is mixture of stories held together by a thin plot. The writers have chosen the path less travelled & the unconventional route in that the characters vary from victims to villains.
Each character has an unique story but I recall the first and last. The ending is a bit too predictable. I could see scenes that have been done better in more famous films...
Each character has an unique story but I recall the first and last. The ending is a bit too predictable. I could see scenes that have been done better in more famous films...
Atelophobia
al-mcdowall27 March 2021
I don't know who this film might appeal to.
It's shares DNA with Creepshow and shows no real improvement on that film, despite decades separating them. Some of the cinematography is ok (particularly in the first section) but that is no reason to watch it,
Acting is poor to bad, script is generally poor, stories are poorly developed and don't connect. There is no phobia in any of the stories (in case that's what you wanted). It's rare for me to have nothing good to say about a film.
I write this review for those who, like me, are struggling to find something to watch in 2021 and feel this might be worth a try. It's not. Best avoided.
It's shares DNA with Creepshow and shows no real improvement on that film, despite decades separating them. Some of the cinematography is ok (particularly in the first section) but that is no reason to watch it,
Acting is poor to bad, script is generally poor, stories are poorly developed and don't connect. There is no phobia in any of the stories (in case that's what you wanted). It's rare for me to have nothing good to say about a film.
I write this review for those who, like me, are struggling to find something to watch in 2021 and feel this might be worth a try. It's not. Best avoided.
Uh, what just happened to 75 minutes of my life?
mcleodsf26 March 2021
A shockingly bad waste of an hour and a quarter. This movie is literally about nothing. There is no plot, almost no acting, very limited lighting (bad movies are better when you can't see them, so I guess this is a plus). Seriously, I wrote more coherent stories in pre-K with crayons.
Completely useless waste of time
carlos-pires21 March 2021
What a terrible disappointment and utter fiasco. This is one of those movies that you can tell had competent people involved (cinematography, music, editing, and some of the cast) but who somehow were infected by a deranged lunacy that led them to believe they were doing something worthwhile. This nothing of the sort. This is a completely incoherent mess without a shred of a plot, much less a script.
Macy Gray is one of these people. I will avoid her in the future.
Disappointing
solojere27 March 2021
I was pretty excited when I heard this movie was coming out. I loved Alexis Knapp and Hanna Lee in the Pitch Perfect movies. And Leonardo Nam wasn't bad in the Sisterhood of traveling pants movies. I even sought it out when I saw it was released. However, I have to say they wasted these actors on what feels like an unfinished script. If you have seen the MASH episode Dreams, this basically a movie version of that episode as 5 different characters have their worst fears realized in their dreams. The only real difference is in this film is we find out that the government is making the characters have their bad dreams. And while this has potential, the movie never really engaged me. I won't spoil anything, but I was very underwhelmed by it all. The acting wasn't great, and I have a hard time finding most of the dreams believable. For instance, who is scared of middle school kids?
Additionally, Alexis Knapp is barely in the movie! They did her dirty by making her part so small :(. Also, the writing is terrible, and the ending is so sloppy you would think a middle school kid came up with it. Now I don't want to be too harsh because there is a chance this movie's filming got cut short due to Covid-19 because it was really short, and another 30 minutes would've really helped it tell a complete story. But with that said, I feel like they really needed to do some rewrites before publishing this movie because it feels like only half a movie.
Additionally, Alexis Knapp is barely in the movie! They did her dirty by making her part so small :(. Also, the writing is terrible, and the ending is so sloppy you would think a middle school kid came up with it. Now I don't want to be too harsh because there is a chance this movie's filming got cut short due to Covid-19 because it was really short, and another 30 minutes would've really helped it tell a complete story. But with that said, I feel like they really needed to do some rewrites before publishing this movie because it feels like only half a movie.
Rubbish
msalkin-4667721 March 2021
Incoherent screenplay leaving anyone with a modicum of intelligence wondering how one portion of the movie relates to another. Hampersnow-28905 was kind in his/her review. This is rubbish that would make a purposeful hallucinatory experience unpleasant.
Misleading plot summary
nicci197231 July 2021
It is not so much about 5 dangerous patients escaping as it's about 5 people experiencing dangerous situations. Once I got pass the misleading plot summary, it wasn't a bad movie. Some of the anthologies could have used better conclusions but I was interested in what happened. Filming was good, actors were good. I think it deserves more than a 3.6. Normal I wouldn't have given it a chance with that low of a rating but I started watching it before I looked it up.
Underrated
Pnkprinses30923 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Part 1 robophobia (fear of AI)
The sentient Siri like thing wants a "friend" and destroys Johnny's (a computer expert) enemies. The best part is when the voice becomes a human figure of pure electricity, trying to save his father from death. To stop it? Find someone else.
Instead, he's taken (off screen) and it's insinuated that his dad was taken to this place as well. We meet other people tortured by the psycho doctor trying to make a gas from fear. Sami is shocked into the transition to story 2.
Part 2 Vehophobia (fear of car accidents)
Sami's car is acting up after her bf breaks up with her. Seemingly a ghost is haunting her and tries to kill her while she's driving. Why? She and her bf rob and kill a man with the car and put him in the trunk.
Back at base, Emma sees something that makes her freak. Which leads into
Part 3 Ephebiphobia (fear of youth)
Emma is a married teacher home alone and waiting for her lover when she gets a silent call and a brick through the window. Writing in the house and the line cut leads to a bunch of kids jumping out declaring they're going to commit murder. Why? Their dad is the lover. A chase ensues. The boys die in self defense, and the girl pins it on the teacher. (This is bs because there would be proof)
Back at the happy house, doc is testing Johnny and Alma, and she requested to see "him" leading into
Part 4 hoplophobia (fear of firearms)
A child is shot during a drug raid, leaving Alma, mother and cop, with shock and trauma. .. There are no English subtitles for Spanish which is annoying... Alma has a fear of raids, even mistaking a video game for one. A tv raid sets her off in a diner, which gets her arrested. (Pretty disappointing and happens to people sometimes)
Johnny is learning more about the place he's being kept. He gets freaked out by Renee, who jokes that she wants his teeth before going into
Part 5 Atelophobia (fear of imperfection)
Renee is obsessed with perfection, so much that she won't hire non perfect people, and works with her dad at a architectural company. After having her employees over to fix a major architectural problem, she kills them, cuts them up, and puts them on herself to be "perfect". By far the BEST!!
Part 6/Part 1 ending
Johnny is taken in the machine, retelling the beginning. He revealed he chose the the doc instead of his dad to be killed by the AI and they make a mistake. You also are retold that they are weaponizing fear, and they use the gas in the guards.
I liked it a lot, thanks those who said it was bad. You made me want to prove you wrong.
The sentient Siri like thing wants a "friend" and destroys Johnny's (a computer expert) enemies. The best part is when the voice becomes a human figure of pure electricity, trying to save his father from death. To stop it? Find someone else.
Instead, he's taken (off screen) and it's insinuated that his dad was taken to this place as well. We meet other people tortured by the psycho doctor trying to make a gas from fear. Sami is shocked into the transition to story 2.
Part 2 Vehophobia (fear of car accidents)
Sami's car is acting up after her bf breaks up with her. Seemingly a ghost is haunting her and tries to kill her while she's driving. Why? She and her bf rob and kill a man with the car and put him in the trunk.
Back at base, Emma sees something that makes her freak. Which leads into
Part 3 Ephebiphobia (fear of youth)
Emma is a married teacher home alone and waiting for her lover when she gets a silent call and a brick through the window. Writing in the house and the line cut leads to a bunch of kids jumping out declaring they're going to commit murder. Why? Their dad is the lover. A chase ensues. The boys die in self defense, and the girl pins it on the teacher. (This is bs because there would be proof)
Back at the happy house, doc is testing Johnny and Alma, and she requested to see "him" leading into
Part 4 hoplophobia (fear of firearms)
A child is shot during a drug raid, leaving Alma, mother and cop, with shock and trauma. .. There are no English subtitles for Spanish which is annoying... Alma has a fear of raids, even mistaking a video game for one. A tv raid sets her off in a diner, which gets her arrested. (Pretty disappointing and happens to people sometimes)
Johnny is learning more about the place he's being kept. He gets freaked out by Renee, who jokes that she wants his teeth before going into
Part 5 Atelophobia (fear of imperfection)
Renee is obsessed with perfection, so much that she won't hire non perfect people, and works with her dad at a architectural company. After having her employees over to fix a major architectural problem, she kills them, cuts them up, and puts them on herself to be "perfect". By far the BEST!!
Part 6/Part 1 ending
Johnny is taken in the machine, retelling the beginning. He revealed he chose the the doc instead of his dad to be killed by the AI and they make a mistake. You also are retold that they are weaponizing fear, and they use the gas in the guards.
I liked it a lot, thanks those who said it was bad. You made me want to prove you wrong.
Not the best and not the worst anthology
Movi3DO24 June 2021
I learned some new phobias today.
An anthology movie on Hulu. Five patients who suffered from different phobias were put into the test from a crazed doctor.
So that's the given synopsis of the movie. That's basically a spoiler of the overall arc of movie. What the heck?
Apparently the synopsis said these people suffered from phobias. Um not all of them did. Each time the patients were tested, we were taken back to their past. The first three were pretty mediocre, and the first one had a fire effect that was so horrible and fake. The last two was more sinister and interesting, especially the last one.
The movie maintained suspense mostly by having nonstop and a variety of background suspenseful sounds. Even though they often worked, sometimes they felt excessive and overused.
The overarching story was pretty laughable. It was stupid because it could have ended much earlier. There should be more effort into making the main story more competent.
Overall, not the best or the worst anthology, but it was pretty decent and entertaining. 6/10.
An anthology movie on Hulu. Five patients who suffered from different phobias were put into the test from a crazed doctor.
So that's the given synopsis of the movie. That's basically a spoiler of the overall arc of movie. What the heck?
Apparently the synopsis said these people suffered from phobias. Um not all of them did. Each time the patients were tested, we were taken back to their past. The first three were pretty mediocre, and the first one had a fire effect that was so horrible and fake. The last two was more sinister and interesting, especially the last one.
The movie maintained suspense mostly by having nonstop and a variety of background suspenseful sounds. Even though they often worked, sometimes they felt excessive and overused.
The overarching story was pretty laughable. It was stupid because it could have ended much earlier. There should be more effort into making the main story more competent.
Overall, not the best or the worst anthology, but it was pretty decent and entertaining. 6/10.
Terrible
alirezahaghi-9775721 March 2021
VIEWS ON FILM review of Phobias
burlesonjesse521 March 2021
Warning: Spoilers
"Let's get you hooked up". No thanks. I'd rather eat liver and onions.
Anyway 2021's Phobias is my latest review. It features singer Macy Gray, Leonardo Nam, and Alexis Knapp. Now does Phobias have anything to do with actual phobias? Not the simple ones mind you (fear of heights, fear of spiders, fear of snakes). Was Phobias more fun to imagine than it was to watch? Uh-huh. And is Phobias one of the worst outings of this year? It's only March but yeah.
Terror-filled but not really scary and visionary but totally fitful, Phobias makes you stand up and say, "I could probably shoot this thing better and I'm not even a director". Helmers Camilla Belle and Maritte Lee Go thought they could take Saw and 1995's Strange Days and mesh them together. They thought wrong because Phobias for all its grim ambition and held-against-one's-will stature, is a plodding mess.
Belle and Lee Go fashion Phobias as a horror film that feels too elaborate for its own good. There are flashback scenes that go on too long. There are supposed payoffs that never happen. There's hate crime elements that are probably wrong for this present time. Finally, there's an abrupt ending that feels rushed and pasted on. I studied the running time of Phobias (85 minutes) wondering how the heck the filmmakers were gonna wrap this thing up. Yeah the bad guy dies eventually but do we really give a rat's butt? Uh no.
Phobias is confusing, poorly edited, and disjointed to the nth degree. In order to figure out what was going on, I actually needed to look at the flick's wiki entry (patients at a government testing facility are examined to provide an answer to weaponizing fear). Bottom line: Minus a trippy opening credit sequence, my biggest "phobia" is having to sit through Phobias again. "Fear factor" crapshoot.
Anyway 2021's Phobias is my latest review. It features singer Macy Gray, Leonardo Nam, and Alexis Knapp. Now does Phobias have anything to do with actual phobias? Not the simple ones mind you (fear of heights, fear of spiders, fear of snakes). Was Phobias more fun to imagine than it was to watch? Uh-huh. And is Phobias one of the worst outings of this year? It's only March but yeah.
Terror-filled but not really scary and visionary but totally fitful, Phobias makes you stand up and say, "I could probably shoot this thing better and I'm not even a director". Helmers Camilla Belle and Maritte Lee Go thought they could take Saw and 1995's Strange Days and mesh them together. They thought wrong because Phobias for all its grim ambition and held-against-one's-will stature, is a plodding mess.
Belle and Lee Go fashion Phobias as a horror film that feels too elaborate for its own good. There are flashback scenes that go on too long. There are supposed payoffs that never happen. There's hate crime elements that are probably wrong for this present time. Finally, there's an abrupt ending that feels rushed and pasted on. I studied the running time of Phobias (85 minutes) wondering how the heck the filmmakers were gonna wrap this thing up. Yeah the bad guy dies eventually but do we really give a rat's butt? Uh no.
Phobias is confusing, poorly edited, and disjointed to the nth degree. In order to figure out what was going on, I actually needed to look at the flick's wiki entry (patients at a government testing facility are examined to provide an answer to weaponizing fear). Bottom line: Minus a trippy opening credit sequence, my biggest "phobia" is having to sit through Phobias again. "Fear factor" crapshoot.
Total Snore
Horror_Flick_Fanatic20 March 2021
I tries to love it after seeing the trailer
kristinesklarz6 October 2021
After watching part of it, I checked out the reviews and should have listened. I wasted so much time on this movie.
Really wanted to love this movie; so a great idea wasted.
It was all over the place. At times I thought I was watching 3 to 4 different movies.
Suppose the director is to blame for that.
Believe the reviews and don't waste a second on this movie.
Really wanted to love this movie; so a great idea wasted.
It was all over the place. At times I thought I was watching 3 to 4 different movies.
Suppose the director is to blame for that.
Believe the reviews and don't waste a second on this movie.
Better As Anthology
beechenp6 October 2021
The individual stories would be served better if the main story that connected all of them was removed. It would allow more time for each individual phobia story to be flushed out more. Separated, they each had something compelling to say, but were cut short to make room for the interweaving "main" plot. They also could have a bit more focus on the phobia itself that they were portraying. The actors did a pretty solid job but the storylines were a bit short to allow them to dive into their characters, motivations and set the environmental moods for each segment. Love Macy Gray though!
Not a bad anthology
kyleallencole930 June 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Wouldn't really classify this as a horror movie, but more of a thriller.
I will try to break this down the best way that I understood it.
We have the central character Johnathan (Leonardo Nam) who wakes up in a government research facility run by a deranged doctor. This doctor induces fears from other young captives pasts in order to draw some type of serum from their brains to create a fear gas.
This part of the anthology is the wrap around story. We learn that the young Korean guys father was help prisoner there years before and he had taken care of him since then, but has developed the ability of pyrokinetic powers.
The 2nd prisoner, we see how she and her boyfriend murdered someone during a robbery and put the man's body in their trunk and after her boyfriend feels guilty and leaves her with the car, the man's spirit terrorizes her from inside the vehicle.
The next patient is forced to relive a night of terror. She is a married school teacher whose husband is away. She messages her married lover and then has to deal with his 3 young vengeful children who break into her home to teach her a bloody lesson. She turns the tables on the three violent youngsters but finds herself the victim instead.
The fourth patient's backstory really wasn't a fear but more of a form of ptsd. She was part of a drug raid that turns ugly with alot of shooting and the death of a innocent child. She begins to experience the trauma which she cannot wake up from and let's it consume her.
Now when the fifth patient played by Macy Gray tells her story, it is a gruesome one. She plays the boss of an architect firm who let's her insecurities get the best of her by trying to be absolutely perfect. This results in her drugging her young coworkers at her home so she can take pieces from them and make herself even more perfect. When she reveals her true body, you see she is nothing more of a Frankenstein creation.
When the movie comes to its conclusion, we learn patient Johnathan is there to seek revenge on the doctor and has the patients help him make an escape. They use the fear gas on the doctors crazed staff and on the doctor himself. The final moment of the movie, you see the fear gas engulfing the doctor in flames which tells us that his fear is of fire. This is sort of symbolic with the main patient seeking revenge since he has pyrokinetic powers which they actually didn't explain where that came from.
Overall it was a decent movie.
I will try to break this down the best way that I understood it.
We have the central character Johnathan (Leonardo Nam) who wakes up in a government research facility run by a deranged doctor. This doctor induces fears from other young captives pasts in order to draw some type of serum from their brains to create a fear gas.
This part of the anthology is the wrap around story. We learn that the young Korean guys father was help prisoner there years before and he had taken care of him since then, but has developed the ability of pyrokinetic powers.
The 2nd prisoner, we see how she and her boyfriend murdered someone during a robbery and put the man's body in their trunk and after her boyfriend feels guilty and leaves her with the car, the man's spirit terrorizes her from inside the vehicle.
The next patient is forced to relive a night of terror. She is a married school teacher whose husband is away. She messages her married lover and then has to deal with his 3 young vengeful children who break into her home to teach her a bloody lesson. She turns the tables on the three violent youngsters but finds herself the victim instead.
The fourth patient's backstory really wasn't a fear but more of a form of ptsd. She was part of a drug raid that turns ugly with alot of shooting and the death of a innocent child. She begins to experience the trauma which she cannot wake up from and let's it consume her.
Now when the fifth patient played by Macy Gray tells her story, it is a gruesome one. She plays the boss of an architect firm who let's her insecurities get the best of her by trying to be absolutely perfect. This results in her drugging her young coworkers at her home so she can take pieces from them and make herself even more perfect. When she reveals her true body, you see she is nothing more of a Frankenstein creation.
When the movie comes to its conclusion, we learn patient Johnathan is there to seek revenge on the doctor and has the patients help him make an escape. They use the fear gas on the doctors crazed staff and on the doctor himself. The final moment of the movie, you see the fear gas engulfing the doctor in flames which tells us that his fear is of fire. This is sort of symbolic with the main patient seeking revenge since he has pyrokinetic powers which they actually didn't explain where that came from.
Overall it was a decent movie.
2 stars for effort
divinechannel29 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
But truly there was none. This movie was a waste. It was so pointless and just horrible. The characters stories weren't even scary. Criminals who got away with so much. The children who attacked the teacher were wrong, that was self defense. Chick runs over a guy to steal his money that story was just plain stupid. A cop with i guess ptsd or something, pointless. A chick who slices and dices others to create her own image....what? Just dumb all around.
Camilla Belle directs a nice section of the film.
tccandler2 April 2021
Split into five sections, with a central narrative tying them together, this film feels a tad disjointed. Each section has a separate director... and each is named after a specific phobia. "Robophobia" & "Hoplophobia" are the two best sections. The others leave room for improvement. Camilla Belle, makes her directorial debut with the latter of those two... and she shows assured cinematic control and storytelling. Other than that, this is really worth skipping.
Simple and atmospheric, not bad.
What-a-Punk14 May 2021
This movie is simple, but I wouldn't really call it bad. Not sure about all these negative reviews. I came in with no expectation and I actually got something out of it. I liked how it just consisted of few shorter stories put together.
It doesn't really go deep into details and doesn't bother to explain much, and I actually liked this. Because, you know, if it was Netflix, they would've made five movies out of this one. One per each story, and they would've filled them all 80% with soap opera and some excess drama. That would be terrible.
It hasn't felt like it had any unnecessary drama or meaningless dialogues. Here it was all just enough to put together the stories and not waste my time. That I appreciate.
It's obviously a niche movie and a low budget one, but I didn't expect much else, when I came into this, so I'm satisfied with what I've got. I believe it is actually quite atmospheric, these disorders and events feel real, some of this could totally happen in real life.
I also have felt some 'Black Mirror' vibes throughout it, which is nice.
It doesn't really go deep into details and doesn't bother to explain much, and I actually liked this. Because, you know, if it was Netflix, they would've made five movies out of this one. One per each story, and they would've filled them all 80% with soap opera and some excess drama. That would be terrible.
It hasn't felt like it had any unnecessary drama or meaningless dialogues. Here it was all just enough to put together the stories and not waste my time. That I appreciate.
It's obviously a niche movie and a low budget one, but I didn't expect much else, when I came into this, so I'm satisfied with what I've got. I believe it is actually quite atmospheric, these disorders and events feel real, some of this could totally happen in real life.
I also have felt some 'Black Mirror' vibes throughout it, which is nice.
Yeesh! Do NOT waste your time.
bierbreth13 October 2021
Whoever cast this film wasn't looking for talent, they were keeping a spreadsheet. Whoever wrote this mess either has no talent to begin with, or made a conscious decision to be unoriginal, uninspired, and unrealistic to a fault. Whoever green-lighted this project was either leaping onto a bandwagon, or made the choice to pander to weak-minded muppets. In no way is this film worthy of the resources put into it, and it pains me that filmmaking in this country has fallen so deeply into this pit of placating and virtue signaling schlock.
Messed up movie
funnycommentor13 September 2021
The only interesting about the movie was the plot, the storyline and the characters. The location was ok. The execution was a failure. It wasn't scary at all. The kills weren't nice. Unfortunately, the movie wasn't good.. Also, in my opinion the trailer is better than the movie. By the way, some scenes weren't edited well, which made them look very unrealistic.
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