Anthologies can highlight new talent, allow a more established creative to explore a theme from multiple perspectives or drop in and out of different lifestyles in their fictional universes, or encourage seasoned filmmakers to experiment with diverse styles and techniques. As evidenced by the following list of ten excellent instances, the attractiveness of a sequence of shorts in rapid succession never seems to fade.
1. V/H/S/2 (2013)
Director(s)- Simon Barrett, Adam Wingard, Timo Tjahjanto, Jason Eisener, Gareth Evans, Eduardo Sánchez, Gregg Hale
Because of its stand-out section, “Safe Haven,” V/H/S/2 outperforms any of the other entries in the fun V/H/S series of found footage horror anthologies. It’s a step up from the original, with more amazing ideas and gore than ever before. “A Ride in the Park,” a zombie film made on a cyclist’s Go-Pro. It is an excellent example of a simple concept done with panache. Hence, it would be the standout in any other horror compilation.
2. Four Rooms (1995)
Director(s)- Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell
It’s New Year’s Eve at the Mon Signor Hotel, a once-grand old Hollywood hotel that has now gone bankrupt. The slapstick escapades of Ted, the Bellhop, are chronicle in this film, which frequently employs physical comedy and sight jokes. On his first night on the job, he’s request to assist a witch coven in the Honeymoon Suite. As a result, Things go much worse when he delivers ice to the wrong room and ends up in a domestic spat at an inconvenient time. Dad then makes the mistake of agreeing to look after a gangster’s children while he is away. In conclusion, he ends the night off by officiating a heinous wager. This comedy features the collaborative efforts of four new directors, each of whom directs a portion of the film.
3. Creepshow (1982)
Director- George A. Romero
There are five terrifying stories. The first is about a deranged old man who returns from the dead to claim the Father’s Day cake that his murdered daughter never brought him. The second story revolves around a dim farmer who discovers a meteor that transforms everything into plant life. The third story revolves around an angry husband who burys his wife and her lover up to their necks on the seashore. The fourth story is about a monster who lives in a container beneath a college’s steps. The final story is about an ultra-wealthy guy who gets repay by bugs.
4. Wild Tales (2014)
Director- Damian Szifron
“Wild Tales,” which is made up of six short episodes about vengeance and violence. It revolves around the universal theme of retribution and the difficulties of achieving catharsis through vengeance. Starting with “Pasternak,” a lovely young model strikes up a conversation with another passenger on a plane about a man named Pasternak, only to discover that they are not the only ones who are familiar with him. A young waitress confronts her traumatic past and agonising moral choices in “The Rats.”
Then, in “The Strongest,” a desolate desert roadway serves as the eerie setting for two drivers. A parking violation sets off a chain of tragic events in “Little Bomb,” as a demolition engineer’s entire existence crumbles around him. The wealthy parents of an adolescent motorist who has committed a terrible hit-and-run accident develop a scheme to get him off the hook in “The Proposal.” Finally, in “Till Death Do Us Part,” a happy bride learns that her fiancé has been unfaithful.
5. Trick ‘r Treat (2007)
Director- Michael Dougherty
The picture flows in and out of numerous unique stories that are in some ways in connection. However, sometimes stand alone, and takes place on a Halloween night in the town of Warren Valley. Each horrific narrative is overseen by Sam. He is a small kid dressing in a burlap bag worthy of classic horror status. He does not approve of deviations from Halloween custom. The film as a whole is well-made, but the midway story “Halloween School Bus Massacre” deserves special mention.
6. Coffee And Cigarettes (2003)
Director- Jim Jarmusch
There are eleven different vignettes. Each film features celebrities playing semi-fictionalized versions of themselves meeting in a food service facility over coffee/tea and cigarettes. Beyond the topic of conversation that brought them together, they frequently discuss coffee and cigarettes, more often implying that coffee and cigarettes. Also by extension caffeine and nicotine, are unhealthy, particularly if they are the only foods consume at lunch. The Lee family, cousinhood, celebrity adulation, the relationship between medical and musical vocations, and Nikola Tesla’s theory that the Earth is an acoustic conductor are all reoccurring themes. In all cases, getting together for coffee/tea and cigarettes serves as a bridge to overcome disagreements and/or makes unpleasant situations less so.
7. The ABC’s Of Death (2012)
Director(s)- Srdjan Spasojevic, Ti West & More
The film is divided into 26 chapters, each directed by a different director allocated to an each letter of the alphabet. It is based on children’s educational ABC books. The directors were then given complete freedom to craft a scenario concerning death using any term they wanted. THE ABC’s OF DEATH is the quintessential portrait of modern horror’s diversity, provocative, shocking, hilarious, and ultimately confrontational. Drafthouse Films, Magnet Pictures, and Timpson Films are thrilled to present this alphabetical arsenal of destruction. According to Fangoria. Therefore, The ABC’s Of Death is a large-scale anthology film with pieces directed by over two dozen of today’s top genre directors.
8. Ghost Stories (2017)
Director- Andy Nyman, Jeremy Dyson
Professor Phillip Goodman has devoted his life to uncovering fake psychics and supernatural deception. His cynicism is quickly put to the test when he learns of three scary and mysterious cases. That is, disturbing visions in an abandoned asylum, a vehicle accident deep in the woods, and the spirit of an unborn child. Even scarier, each of the grisly anecdotes seemed to have a nefarious link to the professor’s personal life.
9. The House (2022)
Director(s)- Paloma Baeza, Emma De Swaef, Niki Lindroth von Bahr
“And a falsehood is spun within,” tells the story of a poor family who is persuaded to relocate into a mysterious benefactor’s home; the cost of accepting his offer becomes horrifyingly obvious over time as memory and reality begin to unravel. An unnerving and creepy piece that goes under your skin and sticks with you long after you’ve finished it. It suffers a little from being both top-loaded with the greatest story and confusingly presenting human protagonists. For the first half and anthropomorphic animals for the second. However, the animation is so delicate and lovely, and the voice cast is so perfect, they just about get away with it.
10. The French Dispatch (2021)
Director- Wes Anderson
Faced with the magazine’s probable demise, old-school editor-in-chief Arthur Howitzer Jr. assembles the crème de la crème of the magazine’s faithful expatriate journalists for one farewell issue. Three main pieces develop against the scenic backdrop of Ennui-sur-Blasé, Paris, France, centred on troubled genius artists, statuesque jail officials, flamboyant reviewers, moody idealists, conflicted ace reporters, legendary chefs, and, of course, the cops.
