Director – Joe Sherlock (Things 666, Tales for the Midnight Hour II)
Starring – Tonjia Atomic (Hobo with a Trash Can, Scarewaves), John Bowker (We Need Earth Women!, Underbelly), and Richard Johnson (Drifter, Frames of Fear)
Release Date – 2021
Rating – 3.5/5
I’m now three films deep into my Skullface Astronaut marathon. Back before I started my Halloween binge I was contacted by filmmaker Joe Sherlock to review several of his films. I couldn’t get them worked into my month long horror binge but I still wanted to check out everything sent my way.
As I worked through each movie sent to me I found myself standing before a dozen or so films from Sherlock. I decided this would be the perfect time to have a marathon of his films. I started with Drifter and moved on to Beyond the Wall of Fear. The next film on the list is another anthology of his that I was looking forward so I turned to Channel 99 and turned it on.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows Channel 99 as it airs several films ranging from haunted showers, beautiful content creators with a taste for blood, and men in black. **Spoiler Alert**
Channel 99 is a lot of fun and reminds me of why I love anthologies so much. While it is a no budget production it still finds a way to hold the viewer’s attention more than most bigger budgeted films like Terrifier and it’s sequel. Yea, I said it. Those films have amazing gore but the story is lacking.
The acting in this one is similar to the previous two films I’ve watched and reviewed. The cast is having a lot of fun and is really into their roles but inexperience is evident. I like the amount of memorable characters we get and how their personalities are so very different. Also, the amount of women comfortable in their own skin that show it off really makes it enjoyable for the “sleazy” movie fan.
The stories for this one is inconsistent but none of them are what I would consider bad. It’s just obvious that some of them had more time spent on them than others. I love the Channel 99 angle again and how it takes me back to when I would watch movies on cable with my grandmother while my dad was out of town. I love that aspect and how it brought everything together. The segments are enjoyable but some are much more entertaining than others with my favorite involving the beautiful woman who live streams her heinous acts.
Finally, the film has several on screen gags and effects but it once again suffers from lack of budget. We have a lot of creative effects and deaths but these are the least entertaining aspect of the film. Overall, Channel 99 is a fantastic indie horror anthology that is for fans of the VHS era and beautiful women in the nude. I highly recommend it.
