The Chicago-based horror anthology film Skeletons in the Closet had its world premiere this week at Nightmares Film Festival ’18. Directed by B.A. Lewandowski and Tony Wash, the film is presented as a TV series within a horror movie. As an anthology horror film, it tells three separate stories, in addition to having two frame narratives on top of that. As you can expect, the overlapping narratives can sometimes strain the viewing experience, but in the end, the film still manages to be an enjoyable throwback to renting horror movies on VHS in the ’80s.
Setting up the story are 11-year-old Jamie (Alaina Carner) and her dimwitted babysitter Tina (Elizabeth Stenholt). When Tina arrives to babysit, she finds that Jamie is about to begin watching her favorite TV program, “Skeletons in the Closet.” Conjuring shades of Elvira, the program features a woman called The Widow watching horror movies and providing commentary with her dead husband Charlie, who’s now a decaying skeleton. Their movie for this evening is called Chop Shop, which is an anthology film telling three separate horror stories.
To recap – we’re watching a movie about people watching a TV series about people watching a movie with three separate stories. If you’re already finding it hard to keep up, know that the experience will be similar when actually watching the film. At times, the story gets a bit hard to follow, especially as the film is constantly switching between the multiple narratives. This is sometimes remedied when exposition is supplied by young Jamie and her babysitter, but it is a little disconnecting as a viewer.
As for the three horror stories, the first one is easily the most entertaining of the bunch. It follows a young girl staying with her extremely-strict grandmother, only to uncover the sinister dark secrets about her family. With The Widow (Ellie Church) and Charlie (Adam Michaels) providing humorous commentary, the first tale certainly offers the best part of the viewing experience. The second story, about a woman who dreams about murdering her husband, is a little confusing and a tad on the short side. Finally, the third Chop Shop tale – about a junkyard ghost targeting criminals – has an intriguing concept with interesting characters, but doesn’t quite manage to top that first story.
In addition to the madness going on in each of our narratives, another subplot reveals an escaped lunatic is closing in on Jamie’s house. While interesting, it all just starts to feel like too much well before we reach the end of the film. While both Jamie’s story and the “Skeletons in the Closet” TV show have their moments (each are more entertaining than the actual spooky stories), it seems like the film could have benefited from choosing to go one way or the other with these frame narratives.
At the end, however, I found myself having enjoyed watching Skeletons in the Closet, despite the movie’s flaws. It does manage to capture that VHS horror tone it’s going for, bringing about nostalgic memories of watching movies like Creepshow 2 back in the day. The film is now making its rounds with film festivals, and you can find out more info about where and when to see it over on Facebook.
Synopsis: Skeletons in the Closet is a late-night, horror anthology television series featuring The Widow and her dead husband, Charlie. Each episode finds them providing hilarious commentary on a variety of B-movie horror films – some of which are terrifying! Their number one fan, a precocious 11-year-old named Jamie, never misses an episode. With her parents out for the evening, Jamie sits down in front of the tube to devour the delectable terror, but her favorite Friday night freak show is constantly interrupted by her annoying new babysitter, Tina. If they can survive each other, they may be able to survive the night!
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