Nerdly » HorRHIFFic 2024: ‘Horror-Scopes 2: Chinese Zodiac’ Review

05th Mar2024

HorRHIFFic 2024: ‘Horror-Scopes 2: Chinese Zodiac’ Review

by Phil Wheat

Stars: Dorothea Jones, William Marshall, Kimberley Lane, Eliza Leonard, Mark Sears, Lauren Jane Barnett, Tony Marion, Mike Butler, Judy Matheson, Dani Thompson, Annabella Rich, Hannah Paterson, Joseph Simpson-Bushell, Tony Sands. James Wren, Mark Lyminster, Rio Daniel Thomas, Mia Gill, Mireia Espluga, Catherine Mieses, Morten Fausboll, Nicole Katherine Riddel, Harry Vinall, Eve Oliver, Martin W Payne, Michael Hutchinson, Anna Dixon | Written and Directed by Alexander Churchyard, Anna Dixon, MJ Dixon, Richard Elson, Andre Harrison, Davin Jeayes, Tony Mardon, Maria Lee Metheringham, Eve Kathryn Oliver, Martin W. Payne, Bob Pipe, Tony Sands, Dani Thompson

The signs of the zodiac hold many mysteries, Some believe that to follow their path is to find good fortune, but others believe that to be guided by the stars will bring nothing but pain, misery and for some, something much worse.

Horror-Scopes 2: Chinese Zodiac is the second in a series of annual anthology collections from independent film studio Mycho (Slasher House, Panadamonium, Cleaver), which brings together twelve indie horror talents to tell twelve terrifying tales of Chinese zodiac-based horror.

RAT opens this anthology as a woman hears bumps in the night (and it’s not just her vibrator) and after investigating finds her boyfriend in bed with another woman (he’s a love rat, a great play on words). Angry, she stabs him, only to awake to find the truth about what happened and a LITERAL rat – a human-sized one – at her bedroom door. This is a short sharp shock of a tale that takes the idea of a love rat literally, providing a wonderful twist to its tale and then ruining it by having a giant rat-man appear at its close!

The second story in this anthology is OX, which sees a man on the verge of a breakdown, following the twelve hours leading up to his apparent murder of his partner’s sister by throwing her out of the window of her flat… This segment is very much of the mystery variety, starting as it does at the END of its tale and jumping back 12 hours to show us how and why this story gets to where it does. It feels like this one is trying to use demonic voices and “possession” as a metaphor for men’s mental health issues. It ALMOST works. Perhaps expanding this one beyond its brief runtime would help this particular story.

TIGER is the story of a gangster type, Vince, who likes to beat up prostitutes whose associates keep turning up dead. The culprit? One of the girls Vince abused in the past, who’s seeking her revenge in the most gruesome way possible. Because this tiger bites back in another short but sweet story that gets it point across succinctly and with a gruesome denouement that hits home (and hits Vince, right in the kisser!)

Up next is RABBIT, an odd tale about Bogus, a dead rabbit. A rabbit who had, it seems, died from literal fear – whose life we see played out in a bizarre series of “memories.” Memories in which Bogus is human?! And memories in which Bogus is abused by other people, who throw rocks at him, stick their feet in his mouth… It’s remarkably disturbing. As are this segment’s effects – on both Bogus the rabbit AND Bogus the “human” – which are grotesque enough to give this short a big impact.

The fifth segment of this anthology is DRAGON, an all-too-familiar tale of a thief getting his just desserts. In this case it’s a man, Charlie, who finds a rare egg and faces the repercussions once he steals it. This is the kind of short that’s big on ideas but the execution leaves something to be desired/ the issue/ Charlie visits an opium den, and LITERALLY chases the dragon, only for the den owner to possibly(?) be a dragon herself – eventually torturing Charlie for taking the egg. But leaving him alive to do it all over again… This short is the epitome of WTF filmmaking. A little explanation and perhaps a bit more context would have done wonders for this one.

SNAKE is, frankly, the most bizarre segment of Horror-Scopes 2: Chinese Zodiac. In it, a woman complains to a national TV station that they reported on a snake bite death incorrectly. The station doesn’t care so she takes matters into her own hands and infiltrates a pie-eating contest called Pie-thon… Pie-thon, python, snake, geddit? Her plan? To prove the TV station wrong by poisoning the participants in the contest! Thus proving the difference between poison and venom! From the get-go this is not a short to be taken seriously, it feels like something Troma (or a huge Troma fan) would produce. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

At the halfway point comes HORSE. A short about a male enhancement drug that is said to enlarge men’s members. Of course, this segment is called Horse, so you can probably guess where this is headed – even its twist in the tale! Essentially a dick joke taken to horrific extremes, Horse is just weird. It’s also one-note… Which makes it one of the weakest stories in this anthology. Just as one-note is GOAT, which sees three guys trying to sacrifice a fourth to their goat-headed lord and failing when their sacrifice decides he doesn’t want to be a sacrifice and they go for a picnic instead. It’s a short segment, one that thinks it’s funnier than it is… Though if you think stroking a horn like you’re masturbating is funny then you might like this one!

One of the true shining stars of this anthology is MONKEY, a bilingual short that takes the oft-told tale of The Monkey’s Paw (as in be careful what you wish for) and mixes it with the classic TV movie Dark Night of the Scarecrow – to tremendous effect. This one may be short but it’s easily the most powerful, heartfelt and downright emotional story in this entire anthology. It’s also a short I would LOVE to see expanded into feature-length, for even at this short running time you can see there’s enough imagination in the storytelling to carry a much longer iteration.

ROOSTER is the next story, one in which two women sacrifice their date to a giant rooster in their bathroom… Well, I say rooster but it’s actually a man, the girl’s boyfriend, who kills the unsuspecting date and drains him of his blood, storing it in the fridge for later – marked up with the victim’s year of birth. So I’m guessing we’re supposed to assume the trio are vampires? This short is too short to really convey what it needs to add substance to the story. Are they vampires? Are they using the blood of their victims to stay youthful? Who knows.

DOG is the penultimate segment of Horror-Scopes 2 and much like Monkey it is one of the best. In this story a couple move into a new home, setting up a nanny cam to watch their child. Only the nanny cam screen picks up more than just the camera in the kid’s bedroom, it also picks up footage of the husband beating a woman tied up in the family’s garage. Of course, being a concerned mother, the wife investigates… Big mistake. Dog is another powerful short that has a story which could easily be expanded upon – there are many questions left unanswered but it’s still a short that has a solid story – a familiar one if you’ve been the likes of The Woman but still one of the highlights of this anthology.

Finally we have PIG, a seasonal tale that sees a man, Mr. Grimes, tied up in his by a pig-masked man who proceeds to torture him for taking things that didn’t belong to him. Only Grimes has no idea what he’s taken and the intruder won’t tell him. Only that he’s taken “something” that didn’t belong to him… And when Grimes won’t answer his questions, well the nursery rhyme “This Little Piggy” takes a more gruesome turn. When it’s revealed just what Mr. Grimes is being tortured for, well it’s both hilarious and brilliantly sardonic – really hitting home for the put-upon office workers in the audience! The twist in the tale, as our antagonist realises he’s made a “pig’s ear” of torturing Mr. Grimes, makes this one even more fun! Ending this entire anthology on a fantastically twisted high note.

Essentially a series of unconnected shorts, independently filmed and then brought together under the Horror-Scopes banner, Horror-Scopes 2: Chinese Zodiac is an interesting prospect. It’s very much a snapshot of the current UK independent horror scene, especially the scene that’s thriving OUTSIDE the mainstream, outside of traditional distribution, the true grassroots horror that seems to be finally finding a home at festivals like Horror-On-Sea and HorRHIFFic. In terms of the segments, not all of them work (some are too short, or too daft to really work) but there are some, like Monkey and Dog, that deserve the exposure an anthology can bring and for that, Horror-Scopes 2: Chinese Zodiac should be commended.