In 2013, a group of eight filmmakers known for their contributions to the low-budget shot-on-video and regional horror scene teamed up to bring us Hi-8, a horror anthology jam-packed with blood, guts, and DIY spirit. Then, in 2018 came Hi-Death, the frenetic follow-up to Hi-8 featuring a group of five filmmakers (some from the first film and a couple of newcomers). Now it’s 2022, and in keeping with the trend of reducing the number of contributors, four underground horror maestros return with Hi-Fear. The third and final film of the Hi-8 series is an ambitious and varied movie with a hearty helping of sleazy goodness.
In Hi-Fear, we get four new stories with a wraparound segment about an illustrator tasked with creating comic book stories based on her greatest fears. The first entry, directed by Todd Sheets (Dreaming Purple Neon), tells the story of a group of friends who decide to visit a whorehouse and find themselves in a heap of icky trouble. Story two, by Tim Ritter (Killing Spree), is a violent yarn about a pastor, his cheating wife, a cop, and a group of backwoods creeps. The third tale is a stylish inner-city horror story by director Anthony Catanese (Sodomaniac). The final and longest segment is an artsy and atmospheric story of three film crew members stranded at a cabin haunted by an oppressive mysterious entity. This last entry and the wraparound segment are directed by Brad Sykes (Plaguers).
This movie sees a progression in production quality from the first two films. The entries are a bit slicker overall, and it strays further from the SOV aesthetic that inspired its debut. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it is worth noting. Where the first and much of the second film felt like a tribute to the VHS-era low-budget efforts that started the careers of the filmmakers involved, Hi-Fear plays more like a modern independent horror anthology. The camera work in a couple of the segments is quite stylized, and the techniques are polished. Narratively, it’s missing a bit of the humorous campiness from Hi-8 and Hi-Death, but a few outrageous performances and some wild special FX help make up for that.
The greatest strength of this movie is its varied nature. Each segment has a vastly different look and feel, making for an enjoyable and easy watch. It’s exciting for fans of these directors to identify the signature styles of the filmmakers. Sheets delivers with his trademark extreme gore and stable of fun performers, and Ritter returns with another tale of infidelity and murder full of grimy sleaze. None of the stories feel the same in terms of tone. The segments were remotely shot around the US, adding to the entertaining variance. Sheets’ segment takes us to Kansas City, Missouri; Ritter’s piece was made in Kentucky; Catanese lensed in Trenton, New Jersey; Sykes shot in two locations in California for his two contributions.
RELATED: Blu-Ray Review: Patriotic Slasher ‘Uncle Sam’ Arrives in 4K for the Summer
Hi-Fear is a fitting conclusion to the Hi-8 series. An independent horror film that isn’t without its technical shortcomings, but the flick more than makes up for it with a metric ton of heart and love for the genre. It has all you would hope for, considering the minds involved. It’s gory, gratuitous, and occasionally even artsy and atmospheric. It’s also a horror anthology that’s refreshingly varied from segment to segment. Fans of the first two films and SOV/regional horror films will find much to love about Hi-Fear.
