What’s in the water o’er at The Horror Channel? Their original programming continues to impress me greatly – first with SHADOW FALLS and now even more so with HEARTLAND HORRORS: SEASON ONE, another online series rounded up in its entirety for DVD.

Ten short films await you on HEARTLAND HORRORS, none of them related other than the behind-the-camera talent – primarily Patrick Rea and SHADOW FALLS’ Kendal Sinn. Once again, this proves you don’t have to have a big budget to do horror right – just the heart for the material (well, competence goes a long way, too).

It begins with THE THING ABOUT BANNON’S LOOKOUT, which may be the most predictable of the bunch. But from there, things get more original and better, starting with COPY, in which a Xerox warns a woman not to hire the guy she’s just interviewed for – and promised – a job. It’s original and clever. So is THE LAST LAUGH, with a clown torturing a mime to try and coax a sound out of him. The ending is creepily dark, and kudos to whomever plays the mime; he turns in a hilarious silent performance.

WOMAN’S INTUITION has a young lady visiting the doctor because she feels something is wrong. As revealed in the shocking ending, boy, is it ever! A FEW MILES BACK feels like an adaptation of an old urban legend. It’s decent, but goes on a big too long at just over 10 minutes, beating you over the head with the obvious. (OUT TO PASTURE and BITTER SWEETS also carry the ring of a strong folklore influence, but succeed more with less time.)

SMOKED is kind of a one-joke bit, but done well, subverting expectations, and SHED OUT OF LUCK (great title, that) has a guy being held captive in a barn by … well, you just have to see it. When he’s offered a bowl of dinner, I just about lost it. And if you like zombies (these days, who doesn’t?), CAFÉ AT THE CROSSROADS will be you cup of undead tea.

Don’t click around and watch just a couple; hit “play all” and treat yourself to what amounts to a surprisingly satisfying indie-minded CREEPSHOW. The production values are superb for this sort of thing, and these guys clearly know what they’re doing. I just hope they get to do more of it.

But, wait! There’s more! Four additional shorts appear in the extras. Being all comedy-oriented and less polished, they wouldn’t fit in all that well with the main episodes, but as bonuses, they’re welcome. THE CLICKER is concerned with a remote control with a mind of its own, while THE PIRATE P.S.A. decries the oppression of the salty seafarers. MULTI-TASK is a six-minute mockumentary about an DIY filmmaker so fed up with his crew that he clones himself, so he can serve as director, writer, actor, etc. – all at the same time. Lastly, MIME AWAY is a commercial parody that is exactly like what it sounds.

At under $10, this is really quite a steal. Indie horror is alive and doing very, very well. –Rod Lott

Buy it at Amazon.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 2nd, 2008 at 10:44 pm and is filed under DVD Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.