Terror Talk ~ Review

Rating:

Synopsis:

When a virus outbreak causes widespread panic, a doomsday prepper retreats into his new house, believing that he’s safe from the dangers outside, but soon discovers that his house is haunted by terrifying ghosts.

Terror Talk is a new, indie horror title directed and produced the Jalbert Brothers and written by Bruce W. Durbin. It stars the talents of Sean Michael Gloria as Kenny, Karleigh Chase as Social Sarah, and Bob Glazier as Headhunter.

While I generally avoid reading other people's reviews so not to have them influence my opinions of a film, I had to do a little digging on this one for actor names, stills, and the like. I saw a handful of rather low ratings and perused a few reviews to see why...and I have to say that they were really outright wrong. Terror Talk was a really different, enjoyable experience that kept me very much entertained.

Yes, it's low-budget — but that does not always mean a bad film. Yes, there isn't much of a cast, as for most of the film we deal with a single character on screen — but that's the entire point of the film. Yes, the set is limiting and the special effects are scarce — so what? It's engaging, tells a fantastic story, twists cleverly, and is very well put together.

I was initially rather put off by the synopsis and didn't have high expectations of the film. Combining some viral outbreak with a haunted house seemed like a terrible marriage of horror tropes, but once the film gets going, you understand the plot. Most of the dialogue takes place over a two-way radio, with Kenny (Sean Gloria) hiding out in a house he's recently purchased. The house is all boarded up and decked out with supplies and communication equipment etc. While on lockdown, Kenny finds the two-way and a list of names and associated frequencies. Seeing the name Grey Man as the previous house owner's identity, he decides to impersonate and have some fun.

The film's characters come across as an ensemble of survivalists, doomsday preppers and libertarians; none of which is mutually exclusive. Kenny gets advice on how to manage the current outbreak ...but as stranger and stranger happenings begin to occur, his radio pals guide him as a mystery unfolds and the plot thickens. There were little to no jump-scares or cheap tricks to freak you out but rather a strong focus on the story, plot, and mystery, which was very refreshing for me. The budget was used intelligently and the acting, in my opinion, was pretty decent. I enjoyed all of the main characters and the conspiracy elements were very much entertaining. The plot takes some interesting turns too, which I'm not going to go into as that would be entering spoiler territory.

Overall, I have to say that I enjoyed the film. As an indie production, it's a solid four starts. It wouldn't be fair to compare it to some of the big name productions out there, but if you enjoy films like Bug, then this one should keep you entertained as well. Once again, thanks for reading and stay sordid. Catch the trailer and Amazon Prime links below.