A Taste Of Phobia DVD Review (Artsploitation Films)
A Taste of Phobia is a 2017 horror anthology film directed by Domiziano Cristopharo (Red Krokodil), Dustin Ferguson (Nemesis 5: The New Model), Jason Impey (Grindsploitation), Sunny King (Signs), Sam Mason-Bell (Right Here Right Now), Tony Newton (VHS Lives: A Schlockumentary), Alessandro Sisti, Rob Ulitski (Maniacal), Jackson Batchelor (2 Die For), Sophia Cacciola (Bring Us Your Women), Michael J. Epstein (Magnetic), Alessandro Giordani (L’insonne: Ouverture), Chris Milewski (POE 4: The Black Cat), Davide Pesca (17 a mezzanotte), Alessandro Redaelli (Shock: My Abstraction of Death), & Lorenzo Zanoni. It features directors from all over the world which include Italy, USA, & Nigeria. A Taste of Phobia explores some of the deepest fears that get into the minds of the people that can’t handle it. It plays with their emotions & faces them against something they have been trying to avoid their whole lives. It’s seen through of the eyes of 14 independent film makers which include Caetophobia, Pharmacophobia, Parthenophobia, Coprophobia, Mysophobia, Mazeophobia, Astrophobia, Mageirocophobia, Gerascopphobia, Politicophobia, Somniphobia, Oneirophobia, Nyctophobia, & Hemophobia! I know some of you are thinking, what do those exactly mean? I’ll help you out, this film covers Hairs, Medication, Virgins, Feces, Germs, Mazes, Stars, Cooking, Aging, Politics, Sleep, Dreams, Night, & Blood.
Anthologies have been making a strong comeback in horror genre in recent years. Some of them have even spawned a few sequels. A Taste of Phobia takes a different approach from all of those & focuses on fears. It’s actually a pretty cool concept & it goes into some real odd phobias that are usually not mentioned. As for every horror anthology, it suffers from some weak spots because let’s be honest when you gather up this many directors it’s bound to have something that just doesn’t vibe with you. Luckily, most of the material in this feature holds up & it keeps the overall production satisfying. It has so much variety put into this film so it should have something for everyone when viewing this. I enjoyed how they skipped most of the cliche phobias & went into subjects that are barely referenced when to comes to fears. It’s a truly unique & bizarre vision into human’s psyche. Some of these shorts could easily been turned into their own full length feature. It’s a twisted, sick, & demented appetizer for any low budget & independent horror fan so it’s definitely recommended for that community. It has some awesome gore & special effects in this. It’s also good exposure for upcoming & new film makers that most of us have never heard of before! I am looking forward to checking out other work from some of these artists & possibly reviewing their solo material in the future. I had fun with this, it has it’s flaws but for the most part it’s a entertaining journey into some crazy shit!!!!
Let’s talk about the presentation & special features provided by Artsploitation Films for this DVD release! I have to give props to the editor of this feature because it had to be tough to put this together from 14 different directors & dealing with the crazy amount of different quality as one complete feature. It looks better than expected after considering all of that plus it has a nice balance between all the shorts in this. The 2.0 stereo track is also mixed very well with having so much variety & unique styles between all the collaborators on this project. “Behind The Scenes of Pharmacophobia” is a little over a minute. It’s a brief look into the production. “Behind The Scenes of Somniphobia” is a little over 4 minutes. It features interviews with various cast & crew members. It gives you a inside look into making this short.
“Phobia Interviews” is a little over 5 minutes. It interviews producer & director Domiziano Cristopharo. He talks about the origin of Phobia & working with various directors all the world for it. Producer & Director Tony Newton chimes in & talks about the project. Producer & Director Sam Mason-Bell talks about his involvement for this. He also mentions the Italian Giallo influences on it. “Photo Gallery: Parthenophobia” is almost 2 minutes. It features a bunch of the pictures from the film. “Special FX of Mageirocophobia” is almost 2 minutes. It shows you them making the effects. “Special FX of Parthenophobia” is almost 2 minutes. This goes into the visual effects. It shows some green screen action & then what it looks like after. Bonus Short “Achluophobia is a little over 5 minutes & it’s directed by Jason Impey. It’s about the fear of the dark. Last but not least, you get a Trailer for the feature. It’s available now everywhere, CHECK IT OUT!!!!
