Acorn Media International, out now

Two strangers, Fred and Fanny, are stuck in their Catskills cabin during a power outage. Looking to pass the time, they decide to tell each other scary stories. But the more Fred and Fanny commit to their tales, the more the stories come to life.

Director Josh Rubin (Werewolves Within) writes and stars as Fred Banks in this comedy ‘cabin in the woods’ caper, which is a lot of fun while it’s on, but ultimately you may feel starved of a final ingredient.

Fred is staying in a remote cabin in an attempt to find his muse, and as luck would have it, his neighbour is best-selling horror writer Fanny Addy (Aya Cash, The Boys). Immediately there’s competition between them, Fred somewhat in denial as to who already has the proven talent, and so follows a night of terror as the two try to out-scare one another with campfire stories.

There’s a great rapport between the two leads, who argue, bicker, show off and generally become the sort of people you wouldn’t want to spend much time with. The dialogue is witty and knowing, with many horror tropes in its sights, and a further element is added when pizza delivery guy Carlo (Chris Ebb) joins the games. The stories are told with heightened sound design, as if they were really happening in the cabin, and you can have a lot of fun working out just what’s going on. Unfortunately, not as much as you’d like to think, and it all falls somewhat flat.

Acorn’s disc includes director and cinematographer commentary, interviews with the cast, a behind the scenes photo gallery, an episode of the Make Cool Sh!t podcast, out-takes and music video.

Verdict: Colourful, funny and informed, but ultimately lacking that killer blow. 7/10

Nick Joy

Click here to read Paul Kane’s take on the movie