Review of Dread (2009) by Rachelle B — 27 Jan 2010

Dread, a short story first published in 1984 as part of the Books of Blood anthology, offers a disturbing perspective on what could happen if the implied emotion was allowed to manifest itself through the â??experimentalâ?? control of an external force, eliminating the capability of reason. The story also serves as a close examination of the collective fascination with being scared and indicts each of us in our own twisted and perverse pleasure of another's misery.

Another tale based on a short story from Clive Barker (Hellraiser, Nightbreed, The Midnight Meat Train...). Eloquently executed, I particularly enjoy the return to a more psychological horror - don't get me wrong, there is still a fair amount of blood and gore, but the thrills & chills in this one really stem more from the implied ramifications of Quaid's (Shaun Evans) final fear 'study'. Nicely acted for the most part, although I do find something rather irritating about Jackson Rathbone (Jasper Hale from the Twilight series). I can't quite pin it down to one thing, but there's just something about him... All in all a good adaptation of 'Dread'.