All the Creatures Were Stirring

An anthology film directed by David Ian McKendry and Rebekah McKendry, All the Creatures Were Stirring follows a couple on an awkward Christmas-Eve date as they sit through a series of horror-themed plays (which are presented as short films for the viewer). It’s clear immediately that All the Creatures Were Stirring‘s biggest problem is its often unreasonably low-rent execution, as the filmmakers, working from their own screenplay, deliver an often aggressively styleless endeavor that holds the viewer at arms length for the duration of its mostly interminable running time – with the less-than-captivating atmosphere compounded by a series of tales that are, generally speaking, entirely underwhelming and unsatisfying. It’s a shame, really, given the potential afforded by the setups of the individual stories – the first segment, detailing a work gathering that quickly turns sinister, holds plenty of promise, for example – and yet directors McKendry and McKendry have infused each of these mini-movies with an amateurish and deeply lackluster feel that proves impossible to overlook. The end result is a fairly disappointing misfire that just never manages to overcome its low budget or half-baked screenplay, and it’s difficult, ultimately, not to wonder what McKendry and McKendry were hoping to accomplish with this far-from-accomplished work. (There’s just nothing scary here, so what’s the point?)

*1/2 out of ****