All the Creatures Were Stirring (2018)

I disagree with many of the negative reviews here. This was very different in it's approach and style for the usual Horror Anthology films. For my own taste, I usually do not care for many of the supposed Comedy/Horror movies that are made. I normally really prefer my Horror to be very serious and atmospheric and of course well done. But, in some rare cases where the film is just over-the-top insanity or really clever, I do like them, such as 'REANIMATOR', for example, which is one of my very favourites of that style.

This film, though, is again quite different. It does have a Dark humour throughout it, but overall it is fairly subtle. One thing that many of these kinds of movies usually have that I very much do NOT like is a self-conscious 'aren't we being so cool' vibe. Either that, or the characters themselves are so over acted, poorly written, and plastic that it is a complete turn off. But, I honestly found this film to be quite clever and well done. It IS very odd though, I will give you that. And, I can understand how the style may not be to very many person's tastes, thus the moderately low rating I'm sure.

But, I truly found this movie very engaging and well done. None of the characters, although extremely weird in some cases, came across as shallow or stupidly written. The way the stories played out, whatever was said or done in each 'story' seemed to fit the overall mood of each one. Now, one thing for sure, and I believe this could be a very big factor why many here either didn't like it or thought it wasn't very well 'executed' as some reviews stated, is that the stories themselves were quite abstract and in some cases thematic, but in a very vague and many times hard to follow way. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind 'vague' or weird at all, but in my lowly and wretched opinion it has to be done in a clever way and with some thought behind it. Not just odd for odd's sake (I'm looking at you 'LIGHTHOUSE' : )

They didn't really spell out in very much detail what precisely was happening in each story, but just gave the audience kind of a vague (there's that word again) impression of what was going on. I thought the approach as to how the theatre audience and we the movie audience 'saw' the stories differently was really very sharp and imaginative, with a little dry humour thrown in I thought as far as how the 'stage actors' came across. Clever idea...

Anyway, this one is SUPER hard to explain and recommend. I think what caught my interest was primarily that I found the way they told the stories was very clever, and yet used very 'normal' seeming dialog and such. Also, to me anyway, each story kind of created it's own mood which seemed to work. And, again, they deliberately didn't spell everything out for you, but gave you a general idea as to what might be happening. Some were more clear such as the story where the fellow locked himself out of his car. But, most of them were quite vague, but at the same time very intriguing I thought.

I gave the movie a '7' because I honestly felt that it was done very well, and 'executed' just fine. I thought the concepts behind the stories and the imaginative way they were presented were very clever, well written, well acted, and well though out. I think, though, that quite honestly many here just didn't care for it, and I can understand why. BUT... again, a point that I have made time and time again a

Fmovies: I disagree with many of the negative reviews here. This was very different in it's approach and style for the usual Horror Anthology films. For my own taste, I usually do not care for many of the supposed Comedy/Horror movies that are made. I normally really prefer my Horror to be very serious and atmospheric and of course well done. But, in some rare cases where the film is just over-the-top insanity or really clever, I do like them, such as 'REANIMATOR', for example, which is one of my very favourites of that style.

This film, though, is again quite different. It does have a Dark humour throughout it, but overall it is fairly subtle. One thing that many of these kinds of movies usually have that I very much do NOT like is a self-conscious 'aren't we being so cool' vibe. Either that, or the characters themselves are so over acted, poorly written, and plastic that it is a complete turn off. But, I honestly found this film to be quite clever and well done. It IS very odd though, I will give you that. And, I can understand how the style may not be to very many person's tastes, thus the moderately low rating I'm sure.

But, I truly found this movie very engaging and well done. None of the characters, although extremely weird in some cases, came across as shallow or stupidly written. The way the stories played out, whatever was said or done in each 'story' seemed to fit the overall mood of each one. Now, one thing for sure, and I believe this could be a very big factor why many here either didn't like it or thought it wasn't very well 'executed' as some reviews stated, is that the stories themselves were quite abstract and in some cases thematic, but in a very vague and many times hard to follow way. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind 'vague' or weird at all, but in my lowly and wretched opinion it has to be done in a clever way and with some thought behind it. Not just odd for odd's sake (I'm looking at you 'LIGHTHOUSE' : )

They didn't really spell out in very much detail what precisely was happening in each story, but just gave the audience kind of a vague (there's that word again) impression of what was going on. I thought the approach as to how the theatre audience and we the movie audience 'saw' the stories differently was really very sharp and imaginative, with a little dry humour thrown in I thought as far as how the 'stage actors' came across. Clever idea...

Anyway, this one is SUPER hard to explain and recommend. I think what caught my interest was primarily that I found the way they told the stories was very clever, and yet used very 'normal' seeming dialog and such. Also, to me anyway, each story kind of created it's own mood which seemed to work. And, again, they deliberately didn't spell everything out for you, but gave you a general idea as to what might be happening. Some were more clear such as the story where the fellow locked himself out of his car. But, most of them were quite vague, but at the same time very intriguing I thought.

I gave the movie a '7' because I honestly felt that it was done very well, and 'executed' just fine. I thought the concepts behind the stories and the imaginative way they were presented were very clever, well written, well acted, and well though out. I think, though, that quite honestly many here just didn't care for it, and I can understand why. BUT... again, a point that I have made time and time again a

A relatively low-budget Christmas horror anthology - think Holiday Hell (2019) rather than A Christmas Horror Story (2015), and if you're OK with that you'll probably be entertained.

It's not an art film, or an artsy one; I'm not sure where anyone would get that. The wraparound story does feature a couple attending a play on Christmas Eve at a very small theatre without knowing what to expect. They're subjected to a few nearly identically-clad performers giving performances with only the barest of props and no sets, and certainly *that play* is arty, but done tongue-in-cheek by the filmmakers. Relatively little is seen of the play; just the beginning and ends of the play's acts, to bookend the segments of the movie's anthology. The two theatre-goers find it off-putting and somewhat funny; the few other watching are even less engaged. The performances are very stripped-down versions of the anthology's segments, to the point of abstraction at times. A neighbor's oppressively bright and loud outdoor Christmas decorations in the play become just a large red light and a large green light held in one of the performers' hands; blood becomes just red ribbons.

One of the sins anthologies can commit is having segments that might as well have been combined, but here the different segments of the movie have very different stories. With five segments and a wraparound story, none of them are especially long.

The directors had only done short films prior to this one. One might see this film as them continuing to develop their skills while making short films but using the anthology format to give those shorts more of a market. That's probably a good thing; one of the sins that low-budget filmmakers make is jumping into a feature when they clearly lacked the skills to make even a short. These directors show promise; I thought it compared favorably with Holiday Hell (2019), for example, and that movie had Jeffrey Combs to help it. The abstract theatre was a far more creative device than HH's curio shop, which is rather a cliché: Das Wachsfigurenkabinett (1924), From Beyond the Grave (1974), Friday the 13th: The Series (1987) (TV Series), etc.

All the Creatures Were Stirring fmovies. A relatively low-budget Christmas horror anthology - think Holiday Hell (2019) rather than A Christmas Horror Story (2015), and if you're OK with that you'll probably be entertained.

It's not an art film, or an artsy one; I'm not sure where anyone would get that. The wraparound story does feature a couple attending a play on Christmas Eve at a very small theatre without knowing what to expect. They're subjected to a few nearly identically-clad performers giving performances with only the barest of props and no sets, and certainly *that play* is arty, but done tongue-in-cheek by the filmmakers. Relatively little is seen of the play; just the beginning and ends of the play's acts, to bookend the segments of the movie's anthology. The two theatre-goers find it off-putting and somewhat funny; the few other watching are even less engaged. The performances are very stripped-down versions of the anthology's segments, to the point of abstraction at times. A neighbor's oppressively bright and loud outdoor Christmas decorations in the play become just a large red light and a large green light held in one of the performers' hands; blood becomes just red ribbons.

One of the sins anthologies can commit is having segments that might as well have been combined, but here the different segments of the movie have very different stories. With five segments and a wraparound story, none of them are especially long.

The directors had only done short films prior to this one. One might see this film as them continuing to develop their skills while making short films but using the anthology format to give those shorts more of a market. That's probably a good thing; one of the sins that low-budget filmmakers make is jumping into a feature when they clearly lacked the skills to make even a short. These directors show promise; I thought it compared favorably with Holiday Hell (2019), for example, and that movie had Jeffrey Combs to help it. The abstract theatre was a far more creative device than HH's curio shop, which is rather a cliché: Das Wachsfigurenkabinett (1924), From Beyond the Grave (1974), Friday the 13th: The Series (1987) (TV Series), etc.

Painful to watch and horribly executed- All the Creatures Were Stirring is a mind numbing christmas horror film that tries too hard and yet not at all all at once. The film goes through a series of short tales, much like other horror classics like Creepshow, Trick 'r Treat, or even A Christmas Horror Story. Now imagine any of those films without a decent production value, capable actors, or anyone who knows how to edit a film- and you have this mess. For most of this film, I was incredibly dumbfounded that someone actually took the time and effort to make this film, and still thought it was a good idea to release it. It's a nightmare to watch, and not in a good way. The story with now headlining actress Constance Wu was entertaining, but for the most part all the stories are ridiculous, bland, incredibly forced- and simply a bore to watch. In the end, All the Creatures Were Stirring is a film I almost immediately forgot after it ended, and if it wasn't for the story with Constance Wu- I could have easily said it's one of the worst horror films i've ever seen, and honestly it still is.

My Rating: 1.1/10.

Painful to watch and horribly executed- All the Creatures Were Stirring is a mind numbing christmas horror film that tries too hard and yet not at all all at once. The film goes through a series of short tales, much like other horror classics like Creepshow, Trick 'r Treat, or even A Christmas Horror Story. Now imagine any of those films without a decent production value, capable actors, or anyone who knows how to edit a film- and you have this mess. For most of this film, I was incredibly dumbfounded that someone actually took the time and effort to make this film, and still thought it was a good idea to release it. It's a nightmare to watch, and not in a good way. The story with now headlining actress Constance Wu was entertaining, but for the most part all the stories are ridiculous, bland, incredibly forced- and simply a bore to watch. In the end, All the Creatures Were Stirring is a film I almost immediately forgot after it ended, and if it wasn't for the story with Constance Wu- I could have easily said it's one of the worst horror films i've ever seen, and honestly it still is.

My Rating: 1.1/10.