Don't Go in the Attic!

The latest tape in the pile was one I just acquired at Eyesore Cinema during last weekend's Video Store Day celebrations. I spied a tape that said Horror in the Attic, saw that it starred Jeffrey Combs and Seth Green and thought to myself, “that's good enough for me.” Let's see if it was worth it.

A man (Andras Jones) wakes up in an asylum with amnesia and when the patients around him start dying, he begins to question if he might be the killer. 

While paying for it, Eyesore's proprietor Daniel was kind enough to let me know this was an alternate release of a movie called The Attic Expeditions, which did spark a vague memory of a coverbox - a dude's face wrapped in bandages, Dead & Buried style. When I later popped it in my VCR, I was immediately struck by this parade of notable names in the credits. Ted Raimi, Wendy Robie, Tim Heidecker (of Tim & Eric) even Alice Cooper shows up for a scene. It took me a second to recognize the lead was Rick from NOES 4, but I got there eventually. I initially thought his performance was fairly monotone, but later realized it was because everyone around him was so manic that it only seemed that way.

Seth Green & Andras Jones in Horror in the Attic.

It was hilarious to learn that this movie was originally supposed to be a Witchcraft sequel, but director Jeremy Kasten thought the script was too good so he made it a stand alone movie. This is likely correct, but I'd swap out the words “too good” for “too convoluted”, though I admit I am using my hazy drunken thirty-year old memory of watching Witchcraft V as a reference. I only remember bad acting and titties, and Horror in the Attic only has one of those two things. Although, it's certainly edited like an early 2000's movie.

Insert metal music here.

I must admit, I got a little dozey towards the end, but I did notice that Kasten was attempting to do some neat things with perception and consciousness with partial success. However, the main draw was just watching the actors have fun. The scenes with Combs & Raimi riffing off each other is a highlight - I literally could've watched a whole movie of that - but Seth Green is the best part of this movie. He gets to do a lot here, including a lengthy monologue one-er in which he almost dances with the cameraman. His performance reminded me of Brad Pitt's in 12 Monkeys, among other things.

Overall, this movie is quite curious. Horror in the Attic is definitely a few notches above DTV trash, but I can certainly see why it never found an audience, despite the draw of its many co-stars. See you next week for Halloween!