Movie: Phantasmagoria (2014)

Premiere: 
May 20, 2014 (Cannes Film Festival)

Country of origin: Italy / France

Directed by:
Mickael Abbate, Domiziano Cristopharo, Tiziano Martella

Written by: 
Mickael Abbate, Domiziano Cristopharo, Tiziano Martella

Distributed by: EuroObscura
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Drama, Thriller
Runtime: 1h15min
Starring: Venantino Venantini, Maya Dolan, Sophie Pâris

The reason this caught my attention is because of the Italian actor Venantino Venantini, known to me from Paura nella città dei morti viventi (1980) (City of the Living Dead). In that film, he plays a very brutal father, not a huge role, but very, very memorable. 

(Paura nella città dei morti viventi (1980)

I was curious to see what more he had done and found out about this movie, wonder if I’ll even recognize him. 

This film Phantasmagoria was provided to me for this review by EuroObscura.

Jumping into this anthology movie, we start with a solid, long, old-school intro credit, then we are taken right into a Tales from the Crypt-style segment. A carnival-like, fortune teller skeleton is our host and presents the first story. I love this setup, Tales from the Crypt is one of my favorite shows. 

 

Diabolique – Director: Mickael Abbate – 15 min
The story follows an Italian film team in the south of France: three women and one man, seemingly set to record a sci-fi movie. A fun little touch, they start humming the X-Files intro, which I absolutely loved. But almost immediately, you notice something isn’t right.
 

It reminded me a lot of Blink Twice (2023). The setting adds to the unease: an abandoned mansion called La Diabolique where the townspeople acting strangely, that gave off a faint Twin Peaks vibe. The short starts strong, but unfortunately, it loses momentum toward the end, wrapping up too quickly. I kind of lost track of what was really happening before it concluded. The only super sad part was that the film crew in the short never really got to shoot anything for their sci-fi movie, they just talked about it a bit and then relaxed and all the strange story happens around them. 

WAKE UP!

I give this 4/10 – Because good effort, but it’s too personal for others to really grasp fully.

 

Our skeleton host guides us into the next story.

 

 

My Gift to You – Director: Tiziano Martella – 20 min
In this segment, I knew we would see Venantino Venantini, listed on IMDb as playing the grandpa, so let’s see if we find him.

The story starts on October 31, 1993—Halloween.
What a brutal start. A very memorable scene. A young girl, Sarah, walks in on her loving grandfather, well played by Venantini, as he shoots himself. Before doing it, he says, “this is my gift to you.”
That’s an incredibly heavy moment. For a child to witness that and then to frame it as a “gift”… it immediately sets a deep psychological weight. It’s not just shocking, it lingers.

Nineteen years later, in 2012, Sarah is still trying to understand why he did it. What she finds doesn’t come as a clear answer at first. It feels more like a dark psychological dream than an explanation. But eventually, something does emerge, just not something she was ready for.

The story stays quite open-ended. You understand most of what happened, but the details are left for you to piece together. It leans heavily into dreamlike and symbolic visuals, which fits the very, very dark themes it explores.
I’d give it a 5/10. The psychological terror comes through well, especially because of what Sarah experienced.

 

 

After another short visit from our skeleton host, we move into the third and final short.

 

A Snake with a Steel Tongue – Director: Domiziano Cristopharo – 30 min
This one starts off very bloody, with what appears to be a prostitute killing her client. It sets up a mystery right away. Who is the killer and why? The face is hidden, possibly behind a mask and it’s not even clear if it’s a woman or a man. That gave me strong giallo vibes, I was hoping it would turn into more of a detective-style story.
We follow a man who checks into a sketchy motel. It seems like the place has been closed for some time, but he’s allowed to stay there for just one night. The place and its innkeeper gives it an uneasy feeling. As things progress, the motel clearly isn’t what it seems and the connection to the opening murder becomes more and more intriguing. The innkeeper repeatedly insisting that vodka is the best choice right now adds to the strange atmosphere.

By the end, the story shifts and becomes a bit confusing, though that seems intentional. It leans into a slow, looming thriller style where you’re constantly wondering what will happen next. The end was interesting, even if the path there feels a bit uneven. Unfortunately, the audio mix was also somewhat inconsistent, which took me out of it at times.
I’d give it a 4/10. It has a nice and interesting twist, but overall it didn’t fully land for me.

After a short wrap-up by our skeleton host, the movie ends with the credits and its great 80s vibe soundtrack!

 

So overall I say it was not a bad watch, not at all. It is always interesting to see how these anthology works, what is special most of the time is how one tries to fit a short story that is intriguing to watch and how complex one can make it.
I give this full movie 7/10 – Charming skeleton host and one did feel transformed into the worlds of these stories. It was nice to see the part Venantino Venantini was playing also. 

Links:
IMDB: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt3026102/
Homepage: https://www.facebook.com/Phantasmagoria.the.movie

http://www.euroobscura.com/

Article written by: Sonny Mikszath

Movie: Merge – 2025

Premiere: Oct 29, 2025
Country of origin: UK
Directed by: Various
Written by: Various
Distributed by: Cine Circle
Genre: Sci-Fi, Drama, Anthology
Runtime: 77min
Starring: Various 

Merge is a sci-fi anthology film exploring a common theme of future technology and its effect on humanity. The shorts span from 2021 to 2023 and come from different countries such as Austria, UK and USA. Rather than feeling commissioned as one unified project, it feels like a carefully gathered collection that fits together naturally. I would love to see more anthology films like this.

One thing I noticed right away was the lack of an opening title card. The film simply starts with the first short, which felt a bit strange.

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01 – Angst (2021, Austria)
Director and Writer: Béla Baptiste
Length: 10 minutes
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11775300

 

This short hooks you immediately with a world that appears perfect on the surface. Beneath that utopian look, something feels wrong. The use of digital backgrounds creates an uncanny atmosphere that supports the story very well. In just ten minutes, it explores how fragile perfection really is and leaves behind a quiet unease that lingers after it ends.

 

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02 – Soulmate (2023, UK)
Director and Writer: Richard Fenwick
Length: 15 minutes
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16310522

We follow Anna, who works at a digital social platform company called “Synaptic – Beyond AI”. She becomes increasingly involved in the virtual world, to the point where it starts affecting her real life. The storytelling is rich and believable, showing a future that feels very close to what we already have today. Platforms like Second Life comes to mind.
 

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03 – When Unfettered (2023, USA)
Director and Writer: Derek Franzese
Length: 12 minutes
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18271646 

This one hit me the hardest. We follow Ash, an AI caregiver for an elderly man. After his death, his daughters no longer want her around. The short raises classic questions about artificial intelligence. Do AI feel? Do they dream? It echoes themes explored by Philip K. Dick.

There are subtle Blade Runner vibes, mostly through the music, while the visual tone feels lighter and reminded me of Detroit: Become Human. The acting is strong and the story is emotionally grounded. It is unfortunately a bit short, but I would absolutely love to see this expanded into a full-length movie.

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04 – The First Time I Never Met You (2024, UK)
Director and Writer: Eric Kole
Length: 14 minutes
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14253218

John has a loving family but is completely consumed by work. Through experiments involving flowers, he finds himself traveling back in time. The reasons are unclear at first, which adds to the emotional weight. This is a tragic and thoughtful story about choices people dream of making but never truly can. It leaves you questioning whether changing the past is something we should ever attempt. Well made. This short could also work very well as a full-length film.

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05 – Subscribed (2022, USA)
Director: Diana Porter
Writer: Mikel J. Wisler
Length: 10 minutes 
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15286106

This short opens like a commercial for an AI assistant company called “Vitalus”. We follow Carol, who is isolated in her home due to quarantine. What starts as helpful AI assistance slowly becomes something more unsettling. What might be the reason?

With real-world AI assistants like Siri, ChatGPT, Gemnie, Grok and more already being part of daily life, this short feels uncomfortably realistic. There was no title card at the beginning, which initially confused me. I first thought the short was called Vitalus. Later I discovered the actual title is Subscribed. The realism here is what makes it scary. An interesting detail is that the director Diana Porter also plays the lead role. 

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06 – The Man Behind the Machine (2023, UK)
Director and Writer: Dalano Barnes
Length: 15 minutes
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21249986

 Another AI-focused story, this one follows an older second-hand shop dealer whose AI assistant is suddenly taken away. The assistant is one of the first hundred of its kind. The story asks familiar but still powerful questions. Do AI have feelings or is it all just programming?

The short moves quickly and ends almost too soon, but the idea is strong. Watching AI struggle with reality always raises the question of what reality even means. 

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Overall Impressions

All of the shorts are well made. Some have higher production value than others, but none felt weak or careless. My favorite was When Unfettered because it feels grounded in a reality that is already forming around us.

 

What really stands out across the collection is how little of this feels like distant science fiction. We are already living in this world. AI assistants are part of everyday life now. I chat with ChatGPT almost every day, sometimes about lingering questions, sometimes just random thoughts. The idea of having an AI assistant moving around my home does not feel out of the question.

 

That is where the real dilemma appears. How safe are we with AI around us. Our phones already observe us constantly. Shorts like Subscribed show how easily helpful technology can shift into something controlling. That is what makes it unsettling. It feels real.

 

All of the directors appear to be indie filmmakers. Some have worked on larger productions in assistant roles or as actors, but none seem to have directed major studio films yet. That is not negative. It actually makes the collection more interesting. I hope several of these filmmakers move on to larger projects, especially a full-length version of When Unfettered.

 

One thing that still stands out is the lack of an intro or closing title for the collection. Seeing the Merge title at the beginning or the end would have helped tie everything together. It was nice to see full credits for all the shorts in the end, appreciated.

 

I give it 8/10, This is a thoughtful and engaging sci-fi anthology that encourages reflection rather than spectacle. These stories feel less like science fiction and more like a glimpse of a very near future. 

Links:
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt38793708
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP8EUOzWsJ0
Prime Video Link:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/B0G2MRLS5Y
https://www.cinecircle.co.uk/

 Article written by: Sonny Mikszath