Dark Zone Thirteen — Dark Zone Thirteen (VOD/ DVD)

Dark Zone Thirteen is a 2019 horror anthology written, conceived, and co-directed by Oregon’s Joe Sherlock (Odd Noggins, Channel 99, Drifter, etc). It’s a six-tale affair with a fair & varied selection of different stories, as well as Mr Sherlock’s classic tropes- bizarre chatty dialogue & self-referential moments. Showering, often tattooed, larger ladies. Lo-fi-at-points- wacky effects, and genuine passion for pulpy horror & sci-fi tropes. And most amazingly it was all filmed, edited, and put together into a finished one-hour and twenty-minute film in just four months- to have its premiere at that year's Seattle Crypticon.

The film is available direct from Joe as either a VOD (how I watched/ reviewed it), or a Ltd edition DVD- more info on the film, stills, its trailer, and of course how to see it can be found here. http://skullfaceastronaut.com/dz13/
 
The film opens with a text-based wrap-around story basically detailing that the film is based on tales from an infamous thirteenth issue of a lost pulp magazine. And it had been speculated they couldn’t be released/shown as the issue and the stories were cursed.
 
Each of the stories runs between ten & twenty or so minutes a piece. The first story up is The Doll- this was jointly shot & directed by first-time American directors Jon Stone & Joseph Voegele, and they do a pretty good job. The story revolves around a woman who gets fed up with her flatmate- and asks her to leave via the phone- the next thing she gets a strange and ugly doll appears on her doorstep. We get moments of creepy doll vision, some lo-fi killer doll effects, a few moments of unease, a shower scene, and a twist in its tail/ bloody resolve.
 
Next up is Boris- which was directed by Croatian director Filip Hanzek and is in Croatian with English subtitles. It tells of an apartment that is seemingly haunted by the spirit of a fancily deformed, red-eyed, and hooded-gowned teen- played by the director himself. This features some neat moments of chilling lurking figures in the background, spooky dreams, and a good sense of dread.
 
Third up is Just Beyond The Corner Of Your Eye- this was directed by Sherlock, and has a decidedly Lovecraft vibe. It regards a middle-aged female parapsychologist who gets involved with a paranormal blogger. We get creepy books in the post, strange cults, feeling of unease, and a neat example of seeing total terror off-camera. 
 
Next is Bath- this is another Sherlock-directed affair. It’s a most effective mystery-focused tale- which I can’t really reveal too much about, aside from saying it regards a seemingly friendly middle-aged woman who works in skincare. And yes, there is a ‘bath’ scene featuring some larger ladies.
 
Story five is Assisted Living- once again by Sherlock. It regards an ageing man who has a  well-proportioned lady coming in to help/ care for him. Again, I can’t give too much away about this one- aside from saying we get more shower action, a topless hot tub scene, and lots of gushing blood in its twisted end.
 
Finally, we have one more Sherlock-directed story called The Hunter. This finds a woman going for a woodland hike- coming across another woman who claims she’s hunting a monster. This is a more sci-fi-focused tale- with some effective low-budget effects, costumes- oh and an in-space shower scene!
 
Dotted throughout all the stories are Sherlock acting regulars- as well as subtle nods back towards his other films. Plus of course his usual tropes/ touches- though equally the few tales he doesn’t direct certainly have their own director's flavour too- with of course the odd Sherlock moments.
 
 
The film runs at just under the one hour and twenty-minute mark. Playing after it we get a short making of which runs around ten or so minutes. And this is great- as we get to meet the other directors/ find out how they came to the project, as well as Sherlock himself discussing each story & how he wrapped up/ finished off the film.
 
In finishing Dark Zone Thirteen is another consistent film from Mr Sherlock- with maybe a touch more blood ‘n’ gore than his normal output. All in all another enjoyable anthology film- which will appeal to anyone who enjoys low-budget pulpy horror & sci-fi fare.