[Film Review] Dark Chronicles (2021)

The horror anthology has been making a welcome comeback in recent years. Fans with fond memories of portmanteau films such as Dr Terror’s House of Horrors and TV compilations like Tales From the Crypt have been catered to with brand new collections. Shudder’s revival of Creepshow has revealed an appetite for quirky shorts, and The Mortuary Collection and Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark have recently brought anthology style to the big screen. 

Dark Chronicles was originally a mini-series, which has now been released as a feature-length anthology. The individual tales are linked by introductions from a smoking-jacketed host in the Cryptkeeper role. These segments unfortunately don't quite work - there's a lack of context around who the narrator is, and so the viewer has little investment in this character. These parts seem to have been added solely in order to make Dark Chronicles into an anthology format , and while they fulfil this function, the film doesn’t quite feel like a cohesive whole. 

The short films themselves, on the other hand, are strong across the board. “Possession” is a tense two-hander, which sees a woman entrapped by a priest who believes her to be under the influence of a demon. “Relic” is a classic cautionary tale, gruesomely warning of the dangers ahead if you don’t respect history and its artefacts. A post- apocalyptic world is depicted in “What Hides Within”, in which human weakness is an even greater threat than flesh-eating monsters. The final tale, “The Conductor”, is the most intriguing - taking place in a rundown bar, none of the characters are exactly what they seem, and no-one’s intentions are to be trusted.

 There’s a good spread of subgenres in the mix - zombie, occult, and folk horror among them. Despite the short running times, the stories in Dark Chronicles feel well-paced, and bring some fresh angles to their subject matter. “What Hides Within” refreshingly avoids the major tropes of zombie movies, and has a couple of unexpected character moments, which are movingly melancholy without tipping into sheer bleakness. “The Conductor” keeps both the characters and the audience guessing about where it’s headed, and certainly leaves the viewer wanting to see more of the story. There’s an admirable resistance to use cheap jump scares or twists, elements that can crop up too often in short horror. 

Watching the credits of this film, the sheer effort and multitasking that has gone into the work becomes clear. The three creators, Christopher M Carter, Jessica Morgan and Dustin Rieffer, take on practically every behind-camera role, as well as some of those in front. Although Dark Chronicles didn’t quite hit the mark as a standalone feature, I’d certainly look forward to seeing more short format horror from this filmmaking trio.

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