Floating Fish Studios

Studio:
Brain Damage Films

Director:
David R Williams

Release Date:
2008

Genre:
Horror

Rating:
Unrated

Running Time:
100 minutes

Format:
DVD (Region 1)

Watch the TRAILER

Credits:
Presented by Brain Damage Films in association with Red Scream Films LLC

Starring Andrew Roth, Kamillia "Kataxenna" Kova, Dina Cataldi, and Tiffany Scott

Edited by Seng Varipath

Original Score and Sound Design by Any Questions?

Sound/Foley/Music Editors - Matthew R Norcross and M Scott McConnell

Sound/Foley/Music Mixer - Matthew R Norcross

Sound Studio - Floating Fish Studios

Special Makeup Effects by David M Gray

Produced by David R Williams and Debra Ann Lorenzo

Written and Directed by David R Williams

The Story:
FrightWorld, a horror themed amusement park that has been shut down for decades, is about to be re-opened. To celebrate, the new owner, his girlfriend and their friends throw a party on the park grounds. The party gets a little bit out of hand and blood gets shed; resurrecting sadistic serial killer Verden Fell. Verden takes possession of the group one by one and uses their bodies as a vessel to carry out his bloody killings.

Reviews:
Hysteria Lives!

FRIGHTWORLD is a horror flick that straddles the slasher subgenre and art film, whilst attempting to also be a meditation on the concepts of good and evil. Quite ambitious for a low budget movie.

The eponymous FRIGHTWORLD was an old time amusement park, designed as "The Disney of fear" by a Russian immigrant called Solomon. Originally it opened its doors in 1957 (although the newsreel footage is from much earlier in the 20th century), and was an immediate success; but bad business deals took their toll and Solomon was forced to shut the doors and put the exhibits in storage. He killed himself soon after.

Fast forward to the present day and entrepreneur Jack (Andrew Roth) has bought the old exhibits and plans to reopen the theme park in the next few weeks. After catching a slasher flick he invites his busty English girlfriend Kat (Kamillia Kataxenna Kova) and their friends (a raggle-taggle bunch of goths, emo nerds and general wannabe teenage reprobates) to the warehouse where the exhibits are kept. Jack takes them on a tour of all the ghoulish fayre, before the group settle down to partying (smoking the biggest joints I've ever seen in my life!). They also settle down to amusements of the fleshy kind, with them all pairing off and stripping off for softcore grapplings (that slow the film down no end).

Jack also offers to take the group to see the last resting place of notorious serial killer Verden Fell (Gary Marz), who had killed 29 people before being killed by the FBI. However, what they don't know is that Fell's body was never found. In fact, he made his way to the same warehouse where the FRIGHTWORLD exhibits are kept and then expired on the floor. Unluckily for them, a mixture of Fell's pact with the devil and all that ample flesh on show brings the demonic killer back from his gooey resting place ...

Kenneth Anger isn't a name that's usually mentioned when talking about slasher flicks, but bits of FRIGHTWORLD reminded me of his garishly experimental shorts, such as LUCIFER RISING (1972). Director Williams uses similar quick cuts, trippy colours and mixed film stocks to give the film an other worldly quality in parts. Whilst this is one of the film's strengths it is also contributes to one of its weaknesses. Of course, it's a matter of opinion but I find the overuse of quick cutting and frenzied camera work a little distracting (not to mention headache inducing). At times FRIGHTWORLD tips over into sustained epileptic frenzy (and is soundtracked with gravel throated shouty death metal to boot). Thankfully, the film does eventually avoid the sustained tiresome aural and visual onslaught of Rob Zombie's HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES (2003). Despite all the visual trickery, the film ironically comes to life during the quieter moments, such as the scene when the drunk girl has a one way conversation with clown faces staring down at her from the walls. Also, given the scenario the woozy fairground song that plays over one scene made a much better accompaniment to the proceedings than the ubiquitous grindcore (although maybe I'm just getting old!).

For a low budget feature the sets are top notch (actually they are a real dark ride in Buffalo, New York); all neon and creepy-assed faces gurning down from the rafters. Williams makes the most of the setting with some excellent set ups. He's also clearly a fan of the genre, with classic posters for 70s and 80s horror and slasher flicks adorning the walls of the party room. There's also a fair bit of grue on show, but the subdued lighting does sometimes make it a little difficult to see what's going on. The cast range from the adequate to the sadly amateurish, but they (and the film) do get going more when the bodies begin hitting the floor. What does let FRIGHTWORLD down, though, is a common complaint for low budgeters: muddy sound - with the dialogue sometimes almost drowned out by the ever constant booming soundtrack.

Overall, FRIGHTWORLD is perhaps not my cup of tea, but you have got to admire what the film makers were aiming to do with meagre funds - especially the ambitious mephistophelean ending.
BODYCOUNT 17 female:4 / male:13

1) Male hit with axe
2) Male killed with barbed wire
3) Male hit in the stomach with axe
4) Male killed with arrow
5) Male killed with shotgun
6) Male killed method unseen
7) Male hangs himself
8) Female killed method unseen
9) Male has cock chewed off
10) Female found dismembered
11) Male has spike pushed through eye
12) Male has face slashed with spiked glove
13) Female cut in half with chain saw
14) Male dismembered with chain saw
15) Male found dead method unseen
16) Female stabbed to death
17) Male burnt to death
- Justin Kerswell

Film Apocalypse

FrightWorld (RedScream Films) has plenty of blood and gore to satisfy any splatter fan. There is more blood and gore in the first ten minutes of this movie than most movies have in their entire running time. There are a few boobs and thongs, but there could have been more skin. The film quality throughout was much better than the average no-budget film. The lighting was impressive in the intro and added a lot to the artistic look. There were plenty of cool shots. Some of the dialog audio was muffled and difficult to understand for a short time after the opening credits, but it got clearer as the film went on. Even though it probably had a smaller budget, FrightWorld was as good as a lot of cable B-movies that I've seen.

The basic story is about a group of people who are mostly Goths previewing a haunted house inside a warehouse while a psycho killer who may have magical powers is brutally murdering them one by one. The acting is surprisingly good. The directing isn't bad. The dialog isn't very impressive, but hey, it's a splatter movie. If you want Shakespeare, you're on the wrong website!

My two biggest problems with the movie were the stylistic shift about twenty minutes into the film and the film's length. Imagine someone deciding to make a DVD of techno and goth music videos. About twenty minutes into the project, they realize that they don't have enough videos to fill a DVD, so they decided to fill the rest of the space with a splatter movie. Watching that DVD would probably be a lot like watching FrightWorld. Artistically, there are a lot of very cool visuals during the first twenty minutes, but then there is a major style shift that makes the movie feel fragmented. The stylish, gory, blood-soaked and artistic introduction sequence gives the backstory... sort of. This intro, the opening credits that follow, and even the lettering are presented like a music video in the style of Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Tool or Rob Zombie. The music, which was ok, sounded heavily influenced by the same bands. Then about twenty minutes into the movie, you have a whole set of new characters and the entire style changes from that of a music video to your standard dark B-movie. Neither style is bad, but the shift from one to the other makes you feel like you changed the channel. After the change, you have another ten minutes or so of build up before anything happens. Then the movie really picks up and settles into a solid story for a while; chainsaws, blood, gore, boobs, screaming, running, etc. Unfortunately, the final scene drags out for about ten minutes of dialog. Although the does tie things together with the beginning, it felt like too much talking. You've already seen just about everyone die and the climax is over. I think if the filmmakers had an outside editor, they probably could have cut a good size chunk out of the movie and it would have flowed a lot better.

Overall, FrightWorld was a pretty good movie. If you're looking for blood and gore, you'll find plenty of it here.

Gore-o-meter rating: 5 out of 5 (Plenty of gore!)

Skin-o-meter: 2 out of 5 (Some boobs and thongs, but there could have been more skin)
- unknown

Fatally Yours

When I first popped in the movie FrightWorld by Red Scream Films and began watching the psychedelic flashes of gruesome torture and invading SWAT teams I thought I just might be in for something truly interesting. The first fifteen minutes of psycho- art directed gore told the tale of a serial killer with a taste for the twisted and the FBI agent (Michael Ciesla) who brought his reign of terror to an end. After being shot by the agent, the killer crawls away into an abandoned building to dissolve into a hissing puddle of black bones and fog. It was visually intense and disturbing with a superb usage of just about every special effect makeup technique available. Quick and brutal, it was over and I was left thinking that what I had witnessed was a unique short- film that would instantly become cult.

If they had only seen to end it there...

When there is a lack of script or decent acting talent, a producer can always fill the remaining minutes with sex. Lots and lots of sex. This appears to be what David R. Williams and Mike Bohatch have chosen to do with their 2008 premiere, FrightWorld. It was immediately obvious to me as the actual movie began that in the place of a truly unique script and actors that can, ahem...act, they chose instead to fill a large portion of the movie with overt sex scenes between the overly produced group of "alternative" kids hanging out in the empty haunted house attraction recently purchased by their friend Jack (Andrew Roth). But donÕt let this lead you to believe that this is a "sexy" slasher film. The fumbling, drunken pawing these actors do to each other is hard to watch and makes me feel rather sad for any of their lovers in real life. Not only that, but it goes on and on, scene after scene, until you are simply begging for one of them to get the axe, literally. Which they do, one at a time, by the evil spirit of the dead serial killer Verden Fell (Gary Marz) who has risen to take revenge on a new set of unwitting souls in tiredly typical slasher style.

What was most disappointing about this movie was the fact that Red Scream Films apparently had a very talented team of special effects and makeup artists at their disposal. Their wide range of skills was extremely evident and I hope that they are offered more substantial and credible opportunities in the future to display their abilities. With an ounce of originality to the script or even an iota of convincing delivery on the part of actors, FrightWorld could have been an extremely cult -worthy film. In fact, if they had followed the same bizarre, sadistic art- pop direction they had utilized in the introduction before the opening credits, they definitely would have had a slick piece of memorable movie on their hands.

Instead, they opted for the lifeless porn aspect of the worst kind of slasher film known and, in turn, reduced what could have been an extremely creepy take on the haunted theme park into a sloppy, drunken screw in the backseat of a hearse. Then again, any movie that is an obvious marketing ploy for the opening of an actual theme park/haunted house (Eerie Productions, 2008) is always a bit suspect in my mind as to its artistic legitimacy.
- Gabrielle Faust

Fangoria

The beginning of this low-budget feature from writer/director David R. Williams is blunt, effective and sprinkled with disturbing images. Bald psycopath Verden Fell has been torturing and slaughtering women, and in the film's prologue, he takes a break from abusing his latest half naked, trussed-up victim, since the police are laying siege to his booby-trapped HQ. Critically injured Fell escapes, only to crawl into an abandoned building and dissolve into black goo. Unfortunately, after this solid 15-minute setup, it's all downhill, folks! The plot then shifts to a group of Goth wannabes (who apparently shop at Hot Topic) as they discuss reopening a creepy them park known as FrightWorld - the "Disneyland of fear" - that has been closed for years. All of its old attractions (carnival funhouse, a graveyard, a decrepit mansion, etc) are currently in storage, and after getting drunk and high, the group wanders about the warehoused relics, with filmmakers less interested in horror than in low-rent T&A: One girl trips, a couple has sex in the back of a hearse and this intro to characters (and their mating habits) goes on for over half an hour! Zzzzzzz. Meanwhile, their lacivious actions awaken Fell's spirit, which magically locks all of the warehouse's exits and then begins to predictably dispose of these dolts, one by one. There isn't much logic to the killings, though, since the ghost likes to possess others' bodies and make them do its bloody bidding. Gary Marz is effectively demented as Fell, and the only other memorable individual is Kat (Kamillia Kataxenna Kova), who dresses like a stripper, is actually a virgin (at least for the movie's first part) and has a past connection to the vile villian. The rest of 'em are either obnoxious, tedious or whiny, and their deaths will be applauded by viewers who manage to make it that far into the film. It's doubly disappointing that after teasing us with dark, early thrills, FrightWorld quickly settles for a generic plot, limp characters and a smattering of cutrate carnage. At least its titular backdrop is halfway decent, undoubtably because the place is an actual Halloween attraction located near Buffalo, New York. It certainly looks like more fun than this forgettable cinematic mess.
- Dr Cyclops