Well, there definitely are no safe spaces in these two anthologies. Or safe words for that matter. Sex juices and blood flow, and the results will make you squirm and scream (with sympathy pains). German Angst gives us only 3 tales in an assortment of languages, while A Taste of Phobia is in English and features over a dozen short tales. So lets take a look at them…if we can handle it…
GERMAN ANGST (2015)
EEK! See? I told you they make you eek. Maybe it’s due to history, but any time the word “German” shows up in relation to a horror movie, I feel a sense of dread about watching. Okay, maybe it’s due to Mein Trumpf.
The first story in this 3-film anthology made sure to deliver on my dread. A girl narrates, telling us all about the time her Guinea pig had its toes amputated. She eventually segues the explanation of the entire process to how it affects a man. Is there an upside to this slice of torture porn? I mean, there’s dick and balls. But then…there’s not…
The second story offers a unique twist on how to get revenge on haters using a sort of amulet with special powers. However, because German Angst is overly long at 112 minutes, so is this story. It could have been half the length and gotten its great concept across.
Instead, it is loaded with AGONY, partially during a Nazi flashback, partially as modern day Nazis (aka: Trump voters) brutally torture a deaf Polish couple they abduct.
In the third and final tale, a man telling his woman about the time he joined a secret club to meet a girl is the springboard for a lot of confusion, much of it…um…sexual confusion.
He has to kiss a dude to get into the club, and there’s a moment when he mistakes a man in drag for the woman he desires.
There are surreal sex and cutting rituals, including a heinous scene involving a woman in a tub, and eventually there’s a monster into man ass.
It’s a visually horrific story for sure, but more trippy than Lovecraft.
A TASTE OF PHOBIA (2017)
A Taste of Phobia focuses on fears, providing us with the official term for each phobia as it is covered in a short film (fear of medication, the dark, dreams, sleep, stars, blood, etc.). The stories range from gruesome to gross, scary to silly. So there’s something for everyone, even more for you if you’re a total horror whore.
Here are some of the highlights.
– A creepy bald dude is so afraid of hair he takes it out on everyone else.
– A porn star has to screw a virgin costar and he’s terrified. Another story later is about fear of blood…but so is this one when it comes down to it…
– A story about fear of feces is a quick reminder that we’re all scared of shit.
– It’s impossible not to be reminded of the bug story from Creepshow when watching a tale of a man trying to live a sterile existence.
– A man’s fear of mazes turns into a timely jab at Trump’s America, and another short is like a Russian social media nightmare as it just bombards us with political propaganda with no storyline.
– A woman’s fear of cooking leads to a 1980s horror love affair with an oven.
– Wouldn’t you know the fear of aging is tossed to the gays? Hey, it’s better than giving us the feces story.
Note that if you get the DVD of this one, there’s a bonus fear short in the special features. Find out more about both films on the Artsploitation Films site.
