Nerdly » Frightfest 2019: ‘For We Are Many’ Review

26th Aug2019

Frightfest 2019: ‘For We Are Many’ Review

by Chris Cummings

Stars: Laurence R. Harvey, Tom Zembrod, Nicholas Vince, Eileen Dietz | Directed by Lawrie Brewster, Andrew Ionides, Brad Watson, Mitch Wilson, Carlos Omar De Leon, Matthan Harris, Dane Keil, Mark Logan and others.

For We Are Many is a film from the Scottish-based Hex Studios, a smorgasbord of demonic horror from thirteen different genre directors that stars some familiar faces from horror movies of the past too. An anthology film, we see a selection of tales about all kinds of demons, in a fun, dark and creepy portmanteau. Lawrie Brewster, Andrew Ionides, Brad Watson, Mitch Wilson, Carlos Omar De Leon, Matthan Harris, Dane Keil, Mark Logan and others direct here, and we see names like Laurence R. Harvey (Human Centipede 2), Tom Zembrod (Knucklebones), Nicholas Vince (Hellraiser) and Eileen Dietz (The Exorcist) among others. It’s a love-letter to horror in the form of demonic tales, and there’s quite a few of them here too.

There are a bunch of segments in this anthology and the entire film is only 75 minutes long, so things move fast and furious, which I thought worked very well. For We Are Many is presented brilliantly and looks fantastic. I was immediately struck by the quality, not just of sound and visuals, but of the performances too. The demon bestiary concept is a tremendous one and I’m kinda surprised it hasn’t been utilised like this before. Each short film offers something unique and original. They all feel totally different from each other, in tone, look and obviously in story. From guys being stalked in the woods by a shrouded presence, demons trying to use an unborn child as a portal to the human world and murderous demonic kids all the way to dolls that contain the souls of the dead, a cursed tree and the story of a Wendigo, plus a lot more, there’s plenty to sink your teeth into.

There’s also lots and lots of guts and gore to be found here, and it all works really well and looks top notch. The tones can be genuinely uneasy and creepy, and other times lighter and a little silly, changing things up as we make our way through the variety of shorts on offer. The locations are well thought out and diverse, making the selection of films visually appealing. Trains, forests, regular suburban homes. The changing environments help provide a break and help to add a vivid separation between stories. The plots are often quite short and very quick, they’re never really complex or deep, but most of them are entertaining, interesting and well acted. It’s a quick-fire anthology and while I did find myself wanting some of the films to last longer so I could spent longer with the story itself or even some of the actors and characters, I was also fine with them being so rapid. There isn’t time for things to slow down, never really an opportunity to get bored or lose interest, so that’s one of the positive elements of things being so swift. Most anthology films offer much longer short segments, sometimes up to twenty minutes in length, while some of these clock in at under five minutes. Hey, it’s different. I’m all for that.

Now, I’m a big fan of portmanteau’s. Be it Creepshow, VHS or Trick r Treat, I think the whole idea of them is wonderful, and when they work they can be incredibly entertaining. For We Are Many is just that, it’s very entertaining. I had a blast with this, and thought it was of a good quality from start to finish, something I was surprised by for some reason. I certainly had my favourite segments, some are better than others, but that’s the beauty of this cool sub-genre, you can pick and choose which of the short instalments you like the most. “Father”, the film starring Laurence R. Harvey was a weird, creepy film that definitely stood out to me as one of the most intriguing and enjoyable offerings. I also thought “Intervention”, the story of a demonic possession being filmed on social media, was a cool one, very well done.

Beasts, cannibals, succubi, devils and other demons stalk, haunt and murder in this fiendish encyclopaedia of horror, and it’s a bloody delight. There are certainly highs and lows in here, but for the most-part I was immersed, charmed and beguiled by the assorted tales of slaughter and malevolence provided. A horror anthology that does exactly what its sets out to do, I ate it up faster than a Wendigo eating an innocent human cadaver. Excellently evil. Wickedly wonderful. For We Are Many is ghoulishly good stuff. Okay, I think I’ve used as many creepy metaphors as I can fit in to this paragraph now. I recommend you check this film out, for sure. It’s a lot of fun.