Ever wanted a manual for how to commit murder? Me neither. But you are going to get one anyway with the upcoming horror film, Murder Manual. Rather than just be one big horror story, this film will instead be an anthology, featuring a collection of stories from various directors that are all intertwined in some sinister way.
I’ve often felt that the biggest problem with many horror films is that the scary premise runs out of steam far too early and you land up with a lacklustre story and predictable scares, because that one initial scary idea cannot just be sustained for an entire 90 minutes. Having shorter stories that focus on individual scares can make things far more interesting, which appears to be what is going to make Murder Manual stand out. Unlike last year’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, which was all filmed by the same director, this film throws up and coming directors such as Douglas Keeve, Matt Newton, Toni Tikkanen, Nour Wazzi, Robin Whitten, and others into the mix to make each short story feel uniquely different, while tackling different horror genres like zombies, masked slashers, and even paranormal entities of biblical proportions.
Murder Manual sees Emilia Clarke, Maria Olsen, Bryan Manley Davis and Hadley Fraser all star in this unique an ambitious project. I love the idea of these different stories being able to bring constant scares to an audience in a way that most movies simply cannot, but the trailer feels a little too disjointed in quality and it may be a matter of not every story connecting as well as others.
It’s a concept that may work better as a short-episodic TV series, but it will be interesting to see how Murder Manual plays out in a big movie format. These sorts of films have been done before to varying success (see V/H/S, The ABCs of Death, XX, etc), so hopefully, this one can find an audience with its concept. Murder Manual is available for streaming on Amazon this week and is coming to more On Demand services soon.
Last Updated: May 28, 2020
