A Taste of Phobia is an unnerving horror anthology crafted by 14 innovative directors who each explore mankind’s most bizarre and frightening phobias. It is available is available on DVD and VOD from Artsploitation Films.
The phobias covered here, that you’ll soon be Googling, include caetophobia (fear of hairs), henophobia (fear of young virgin girls), coprophobia (fear of feces), mysophobia (fear of contamination and germs), and many other things that you never knew people are afraid of. A Taste of Phobia is set up a lot like ABCs of Death, in a sense that it features a vast variety of shorts that are held together by a traditional wrap-around segment.
When I say variety, I mean variety. The shorts are made by directors from around the globe, the US, Italy, the UK, and even Nigeria and all feature very different styles of filmmaking. This is usually the biggest strength or weakness for anthologies of this type. While they offer a variety of different shorts, most of the time, quantity means sacrificing quality. In the case of A Taste of Phobia, the film benefits from its varied stories. There were a few that completely missed the mark for me and detracted from the experience, but I was soon drawn back in by a segment that blew me away. I feel that this will be a common issue with people who venture into this one.
The great thing about films like A Taste of Phobia is that viewers all have different taste (pun intended) when it comes to cinema, while one may love a segment, another may hate it, but it could be followed by one that completely blows you away. There are plenty of brilliant shorts that make up the run-time of the film, including Poison Rouge’s “Mysophobia (Fear of Germs),” Lorenzo Zanoni and Alessandro Sisti’s “Chaetophobia (Fear of Hair),” and Domiziano Cristopharo's “Mageirocophobia (Fear of Cooking)." These segments alone completely outshone the disappointment I felt with others. The success of these segments can be attributed to the fact that they all featured great cinematography, acting, special effects.
I admire A Taste of Phobia for what it accomplishes by bringing multiple directors and filming styles to the table, proving that short films are still very much alive and well. Films like this offer independent filmmakers a chance to showcase their skills among others and create a product that appeals to many horror fans. While the film as a whole could use more polish in terms of plot, it still succeeds at creating an entertaining experience that will satisfy gore-loving horror fans and gross out casual viewers who are looking for a rush. A Taste of Phobia truly features something for everyone, this one is worth adding to your Halloween watch list. Check this one out if you're a fan of anthologies like Tales of Halloween and Holidays.
Order your copy from Amazon. The film was produced by Vestra Pictures and Enchanted Architect, and made in collaboration with Trash Art Pictures.
