Late Fee (2009)

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

A couple goes on Halloween night to a video store to rent some movies. They pick two movies but the owner tries to convince them to rent something else. He gives in and warns them to return the movies the same day no later than 12am.They go home and watch the movies, and we watch them too. At this point it's 10pm. The first movie is called The Pick Up about a guy who picks up a prostitute and drives to a motel were they are welcomed by some obnoxious attendant. The man has a briefcase with him with all sorts of nasty torture/kill accessories and tools. But the woman has different plans for him.The second movie is called Damnation, about a woman who gets pulled over by a female cop and taken in. She's put immediately on trial and jailed by some weird judge. There book of the law is some Satanic book. Her cell mate is a pregnant girl who is one day taken away into a lab where a some wild woman is stashed in a cellar. She comes out and rips the baby out. Then our other jailed woman is released into the care of a client, who has certain plans for the woman.When our couple finishes watching the movies it's just past 12am and they get an unexpected visit.This is the kind of movie that has you wondering what they were thinking. Even for a low budget independent movie, not a lot makes sense here or has much of a point. The first story is almost too plain and simple. The highlight I guess is supposed to be the sex scene between the customer and the prostitute, who's more than just some woman. But the scene is poorly filmed to be special. The second movie on the other hand is too messy and complicated and senseless.The couple is alright and likable; the girl is cute, the guy does a good job acting. The main villain though is terrible.

On Halloween a couple goes to a video store that rents the scariest videos ever. Unfortunately its closing for a private party. The owner agrees to let them rent if they promise to return the movies before midnight. After watching the movies the couple finds its too late to return the films and finds out how terrible the late fees are. Tales From The Darkside style movie with a wrap around two shorter films. The first concerns a man who picks up a woman and takes her to a motel.(Its good but goes on way too long for what it is) and the second concerns the terrible things that happen to a young woman after a traffic stop (better but a bit unfocused). A clever and somewhat fun movie, the film is a throw back to the horror of yesteryear. Its no great shakes but in the right mood can be fun.

I am an avid horror fan and love finding a good movie amongst the bad ones and boy, was this a bad one!! If you have read a good review on this they are lying to you. The acting in this was the pits, i am all for giving the characters a chance but they are so wooden it is unbelievable. With a tiny cast the actors are regurgitated throughout the movies anthologies in different roles showing no depth of script or talent.The stories are weak which is a shame, jumping on the bandwagon of the likes of creepshow and tales from the crypt of being tongue in cheek but there is no plot, no storyline and most of all made no sense.So don't waste an hour and a half of your life only to be left feeling disappointed and robbed.

I just came from the world premiere at NYC's Kraine Theater of this Anthology Horror Film called LATE FEE produced by video company Media Blasters/Shriek Show, John Sirabella and co-directed and written and co-directed by John Carcietta & Carl Morano. Unfortunately this indie horror film can't hold a candle either acting-wise, production-wise and even direction-wise to similar anthology horror films like the recent TRICK OR TREAT & TRAILER PARK OF TERROR. The film in itself has a basic good premise in which two twenty somethings go to a video store to rent horror films on Halloween night but the seedy & weird owner of the video store warns the couple to return the DVDs before 12 midnight or literally there will be hell to pay since the video store has an unusual way to get payment for late fees. But the two films the couple see which are THE PICK UP & DAMNATION which are the 2 stories of this anthology film, promise more than they really deliver, since the stories are predictable, unfunny and not scary at all! Especially when the acting is so over the top and amateurish & even the gore and makeup effects in the film are not up to par with the kind of films Media Blasters usually releases on DVD. On the production side, the film looks so cheap that it looks like it was virtually filmed in Media Blasters' backyard in New Jersey where the company is located and even the company's video store Rare Flix in NJ doubles for the ominous video store of the film. In my opinion after seeing this tepid film, Media Blasters/Shriek Show should quit making their own movies and keep on releasing Italian , Japanese and Spanish genre films like they were doing in the first place, since LATE FEE, which will be soon released on DVD in October 2009, is not even worth a video rental.