The Ezzera & Gore-Girl Horror Anthology

The Ezzera & Gore-Girl Horror Anthology follows a woman who discovers an old VHS tape in her deceased parents’ basement, which contains a series of short horror films recorded from a late-night cable TV show hosted by the titular characters. While the premise is derivative of other anthology titles such as the V/H/S franchise, the central host segments from Ezzera Eve (Julia Van Dam) and Hellenore the Gore-Girl (Paige Hounsome) grant the piece a unique twist on the concept.

Perhaps the biggest issue with the piece is the severe lack of tension and engagement within each story, primarily due to the glaringly sparse time allocated to develop these ideas and the central conflict. While each tape does vary in quality and tonal shifts, there is ultimately an overly convoluted amount of material that feels assembled poorly to see what sticks. As something interesting begins to occur within a story, it bafflingly concludes and simultaneously switches to the next story. It's a bizarre choice that feels like the screenwriters ran out of ideas whilst trying to cram in as much material as they could. The narrative directly becomes less interesting when it cuts away from the delightful host segments, wonderfully performed by Julia Van Dam and Paige Hounsome.

The writer/director Brandon Rhiness employs some decent gags throughout most of the stories and effectively displays his distinct love for the genre as the darkly comedic elements soar. Unfortunately, these sequences are few and far between as the breathless pacing can feel disorientating with a severe lack of horrific scares and loss of tension towards the conclusion. While the make-up and costuming are commendable given the budget constraints, the frightful imagery feels undercooked and visually unappealing at times. There are also some bizarre editing and directing choices that seemingly see the piece cutting away from its own violence, with certain stories concluding almost immediately. Prolonging specific stories could have given the final film more depth, while further fleshing out ideas and granting each story an actual conclusion.

The performances, for the most part, are serviceable for the plot of each story; however, they are nothing groundbreaking to elevate the material. On the other hand, Julia Van Dam and Paige Hounsome, portraying the titular characters, profoundly carry the material as they are astonishing performers. Whenever the film cuts away from the host sequences, it makes you question whether the entirety of the piece should have been based around their mischief, as their chemistry is incredible. The wraparound story with the titular characters is, unfortunately, underwhelming, though. Each short ultimately isn't given enough narrative flair to be compelling enough for the audience to stay on board with it. Thankfully, the quick-moving pace never makes the first half dull; however, it loses momentum towards the back half and feels like a chore to sit through its final moments. The piece, unfortunately, overstays its welcome and becomes too overly bloated with a mind-numbingly meandering finale.

The Ezzera & Gore-Girl Horror Anthology is a baffling attempt at a horror anthology piece with decent gags throughout and an overly convoluted amount of short stories that amount to minor. While it displays moments of campy fun and a brisk pace, its ultimately underwhelming antagonists and questionable acting choices bring it down and make it feel like an endurance test to sit through. Can we get a spin-off feature based entirely around Ezzera Eve and Hellenore the Gore-Girl instead, please?