Not everything Clive Barker writes has to be bizarre.
Starring:
*Jackson Rathbone as Stephen
*Hanne Steen as Cheryl
*Shaun Evans as Quaid
*Laura Donnelly as Abby
*Jonathan Readwin as Joshua
Story: Tells the story of three students who decide to study people's fears for a video documentary college class. Initially they simply interview their subjects but then one of the students progresses to setting up situations where the subjects are forced to confront their dread.
Trivia: Based on the short story by Clive Barker, originally presented in his Books of Blood anthology series.
Clive Barker is mostly known as the guy who created the world of Hellraiser. While he's written a ton of different works it always goes back to Pinhead whenever you mention him in conversation. While the original novella The Hellbound Heart is a macabre and twisted love story some of his other stories and novels get even weirder. If you don't believe me, check out his "Books of the Art", both Everville and The Great and Secret Show. That's what makes Barker one of the most original horror storytellers out there. But if you know where to look you'll be able to find a standard tale of terror. This is the case with Dread, a short story that Barker had published in the Book of Blood, Volume 2.
The story of "Dread" was one of my favorites, as it told the story of Quaid, a man who performed sadistic experiments in fear in order to understand the phenomenon and help himself. The ironic twist at the end is great and it's one of Barker's best stories. The film admirably attempts to take the small story and turn it into a feature-length picture. While occasionally this can succeed (both Candyman and The Midnight Meat Train were originally short stories), other times it can fail (the abysmal Book of Blood).
Fortunately, Dread has enough in the story that it wouldn't be hard to craft a feature-length script out of it. All you have to do is keep the same tone and make sure that most of the story's details are intact. While director and writer Anthony Diblasi changes some elements to make it a more cinematic experience, the key parts are still there. Characters are added and changed and some brand new subplots are introduced, but these only really help the film more than hinder it. For example, if you're expecting Dread the film to end the same way that "Dread" the short story ends, you might find that it doesn't exactly go the same way. I think this was done more to deceive fans of the story who think they know what's coming instead of change things for the sake of it. The essence is still the same and that's what matters.
But what about those who aren't fans of Barker or didn't read the original short story? Will this movie appeal to them? It should appeal to any fan of horror as there are some disturbing things here and there and a nice character-driven story that lets you get to know these people before the horrific events start happening. Stephen and Quaid meet outside of an ethics class where they get to talking about fear. Quaid soon has the idea to interview others about what really scares them and Stephen brings along his friend Cheryl (who he's interested in romantically) to edit. Along the way we find out that Quaid is...a tad unhinged. He's got some repressed issues that make him obsessed with the subject of fear and he's going to figure out how to conquer it at any cost. While Stephen and Cheryl see it as just a school project, Quaid sees it as much more and eventually you know something bad is going to happen.
When the bad things do happen, that's when the movie really picks up. In fact, it almost incorporates some Saw like elements as Quaid's experiments get more terrifying and more dangerous. The difference between Dread and Saw (or it's many ripoffs) is that there is no real physical torture here. Okay yes, physical trauma is inflicted, but it's more about the psychological trauma that occurs and putting yourself in their position. What would happen if you were suddenly forced to confront your greatest fear with no way out? The answers in Dread made me feel uneasy and a little uncomfortable. The tone is set early and the viewer's own sense of dread is heightened.
That's not to say there are not any flaws. DiBlasi's directorial style and editing can feel erratic at times. Sometimes we'll abandon one plot point completely and not pick it up again until far later. Other times a quick nothing moment will be spliced with a conversation for no apparent reason. Whether this is done to help throw the viewer off I'm not sure, but it just took me out of the movie. There is also a subplot involving the character of Abby that is largely unnecessary and only serves to give Stephen motivation later when if the story hadn't been changed in that particular aspect he would have already had it. I liked the actress portraying Abby, I just thought her character wasn't needed.
The acting in general is actually quite good for something like this, which is more than you can say for the majority of After Dark's releases. Jackson Rathbone makes a good lead and Shaun Evans reminds me of Christian Slater with his manic performance (I mean that in a good way). For the horror fans you'll be pleased to know there is also plenty of gore moments, but those don't really matter. It's not about the gore really, but about the fear of these things happening to us.
Dread is a worthwhile watch and it gets a strong recommendation. If you can't see all eight of the Horrorfest lineup, then this is the one you should watch above the rest. There's good acting, gore, a bleak tone and moments that make you feel uneasy. While it's not exactly scary, it does like to get under your skin. What more could you ask for from a horror film?
The 411: A cross between a character study and Saw, the film Dread doesn't scare as much as it should, but it's still a very interesting movie. Shaun Evans gives an inspired maniacal performance and the experiments in fear were very hard to watch but for different reasons than you'd expect. Normally the films presented at the After Dark Horrorfest are hit or miss, but this is one that you should definitely check out.
