As with most anthologies, not all of Horror Stories II is worth seeing. Out of the four segments, maybe two offer up interesting new twists on old horror tropes. But even the better segments have their problems, and that makes this collection a little tough to recommend. Still, it manages to keep things tight, and we should always be grateful that these films provide a stage for younger filmmakers to show off their ideas.
The film begins inside an insurance office. We meet an employee with the ability to receive visions of the past, seeing the stories of things she comes in contact with. Her boss asks her to stay late to review some old cases that he has doubts about. She looks into the files and reveals the strange circumstances that led to each catastrophe. And as she does so, she notices a dark force surrounding her hapless superior. This framing device doesn't really add much to the overall picture, and in the end, it fails to deliver any real scares.
The first story, Cliff, is probably the best among them. It concerns a stockbroker who goes on a hiking trip with one of his clients. The two end up on a ledge on a sheer cliff face, with absolutely no hope of rescue. The first half of the segment is mainly about the broker trying to avoid sharing a candy bar. The film gets a lot out of these very small stakes, working off the heightened tension of the situation. But then the second half takes a more typical path to its horror, building to a twist that doesn't amount to a whole lot. Still, Cliff manages to be pretty entertaining for a while.
The Pain of Death is largely a waste of time. It follows three girls on a vacation, drinking to forget the fact that they just failed their exams. They get into a car accident in the middle of nowhere, and they have to walk a long way to safety. The segment's twist is pretty obvious right from the start. The film does a terrible job of obscuring the truth, telegraphing the turn pretty much in its opening moments. It trundles along awkwardly, leaning on old clichés and offering very little of value to the horror fan.
The final bit, Escape, offers audiences a rather unique sensibility. It mashes up its horror trappings with oddball, gross-out comedy as it relates the story of a loser newbie teacher trying to escape from an alternate dimension populated by demons. The story doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but it has a very distinct comedic voice. It’s kind of like amplifying the slapstick elements of a Sam Raimi film, pushing all of it to extremes. In doing so, it offers up the movie's most memorable visuals, which include a bathroom filling up with blood and a demonic hellscape.
Horror Stories II is a mixed bag at best. These mixed experiences are pretty tolerable when they're kept short, though, and this film manages that feat pretty handily. It's a little easier to swallow the weaker parts knowing that there isn't going to be much more of it. In the end, the highs of the film are worth a marginal recommendation. The film indicates a few new ideas popping up in the increasingly stale Asian horror scene. And that's a good thing in the long run.
My Rating:
