Dating Horror Stories (2024) - Horror Anthology Film Review

Joshua Nelson (Aware of the Wolf, The Things We Cannot Change) is the writer and director of horror anthology film Dating Horror Stories. I am quite fond of anthologies as I feel there is typically at least one of the shorts that makes watching worth the time. As the film's title suggests, the theme around this anthology is horror stemming from dates gone very wrong.

Within this anthology there are three short films as well as a relatively brief wraparound story. Three woman at a club are talking about relationships, one of the woman states she is able to recognise couples who are out on dates, and points these out to her friends.. Each of the three short films then centres on a different dating couple and the horror that stems from this.
The first film sees a magician; Michael the Magnificent (Richie Bruno) who tells his latest date that magic is very important to him, and that he would like his date to assist him during his latest show. Unknown to the girl, Michael is a serial killer whose M.O sees him killing his dates live on stage as part of his magic trick, in front of unsuspecting audiences. Some time later and Michael has a new date, but it seems his previous victims have had enough and appear as ghosts in order to convince the woman her life is in danger. A decent enough idea with this one, only let down by a very fake looking prop head, and a conclusion that leaves things to the imagination rather than actually shows anything satisfying.

The second film sees speed eater champion - Lee (Jon Reisch - Aware of the Wolf) dating a girl. Her friend Phoenix (Julia Wyrzuc) is concerned that the man doesn't have much of a productive life, with his winnings from speed eating contests minimal. With the option given to participate in a unique eating contest from the dark web that could result in a life changing pay out should he win, Lee and the two girls jump at the chance, with the later unsuspecting just how far Lee would go to be a winner. This one was probably the best of the three, though it was a bit odd how the three central characters were so fine to go along with something that is very wrong.

The final film starred Jeff Clark Jr. as Daniel, a man who is so obsessed with a former model he is dating that he is prepared to kill for her, due to her stating her very pampered dog Rocco has only eyes for human flesh. When the initial kill doesn't lead to getting to sleep with the woman, Daniel, with the assistance of his crazy sister, begins a campaign of slayings, desperate for his date to get more physical with him. I thought it was a bit stupid how easily the protagonist is led on, and also it ends on a bit of ridiculous note. On the flip side, I didn't get the name of the sister character, but the actress for that role brought a lot of fun with her.

This anthology was very indie feeling, this was reflected in the low amount of special effects, and being relatively light on much action. The wraparound story was almost pointless, with a slow first fifteen minutes that had me pausing the film to go check it was actually meant to be a horror film. This intro introduced all the characters from the shorts, but did drag on a bit. A much better unifying force was the character of Arnold (Matt Agnelli) who appeared in all three shorts. This self styled relationship guru was a fun character whose terrible advice for the characters helped them go along with the individual madness' that they find themselves caught up in. I enjoyed his appearances, his scenes the most fun and entertaining ones in the whole film.

Cannibalism isn't my thing in horrors (outside of zombie films of course!), so with two of the three films focussing on this topic it wasn't going to blow my mind. This was very indie feeling, and the motivations of the characters within the shorts all made them seem like desperate and dense people, from the girl in the first short who was extremely easily gas-lit, to the man in the third whose reservations about killing didn't seem that strong. I've definitely seen worse horror anthologies, look past the low budget with Dating Horror Stories and this was enjoyable enough.

SCORE: