A lot of people became huge fans of writer-director-star Graham Hughes when he delivered the found footage-adjacent horror Death Of A Vlogger. I liked the film, and it's one that I have enjoyed rewatching since buying a digital copy, but still don't love it as much as many other people. This film, similar in both style and the various tricks used, feels like a slight improvement on his previous feature, but there is a leaning towards sci-fi that may displease those hoping for a delicious selection of oddities and frights.
In a concept that will be familiar to many, but especially familiar to those who have watched Monsters, Inc., or have read (and probably re-read) The Dark Tower series by Stephen King, Hostile Dimensions shows people being presented with a number of doors that don't work according to the known laws of our universe. The doors don't necessarily have to be fitted into a wall, for starters, and opening them up can allow you to step into a very different world. That would be okay if every doorway took you into Narnia, but the title might clue viewers in to the fact that safety is far from guaranteed for those who decide to step over the threshold. Josie Rogers plays Emily, a young woman who disappeared after checking out one such door, and Ash (Joma West) and Sam (Annabel Logan) decide that it might be worthwhile making a documentary about her disappearance. Things take a turn for the interesting/dangerous when they start to piece together what could have happened to Emily. And the same thing might happen to them.
Paced well enough, and with a couple of genuinely great scares sprinkled throughout the thing, Hostile Dimensions is an entertaining slice of oddness that only suffers from never coming close to fully realising the potential of the concept. Hughes does well with his budget, but there are times when his limitations are obvious, especially in the different dimensions that seem to be home to polygons that have escaped from an old Spectrum 48K.
The cast will be familiar to those who saw Death Of A Vlogger, but everyone seems to have become more accustomed to the style, and what is required of them. Hughes is arguably the weakest of the main cast members, although I am not saying that he’s bad, but West, Logan, and Rogers are all very good, and Paddy Kondracki benefits from the fact that he’s not needing to be as over the top and comedic this time around.
Apparently the second in a planned trilogy of movies in this style, this is certainly enough to win over some more fans of Hughes, and to please those who were impressed by his previous feature. I tend to like the fact that we can still see the rough edges and flaws that show his vision and ambition staying ahead of what he has to work with. Others may not view the end product so kindly, and I am sure that I am in the minority for preferring this to the last film helmed by Hughes.
7/10
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