Be careful of what you do now … for the results will always visit you in the end.
Creative Staff:
Writer: Pat Shand
Artwork: Marc Rosete
What They Say:
When a group of delinquent teens robs an old video tape store and steals a forbidden VHS tape, they soon realize they’re watching something that seems impossibly horrifying. Now they must unravel the mystery before it’s too late.
Content (please note that portions of a review may contain spoilers):
A group of high school slackers are enjoying a typical afternoon of filming their bullying and mischief until the day finally comes to an end. It is not until after the bell rings do they get to do what they want, which is drink beer and spread chaos in the neighborhood. As they pass by a barren storefront to an old video store, one of their gang starts to panic saying that he knows that this has happened before; of course, they all pass it off as a laugh and enter anyway. They cannot pass up the opportunity to harass the owner and borrow a cassette which he warns them not to take. However, in their youthful exuberance, they ignore the suggestion and take it, but not before helping themselves to the register.
When they eventually start to watch the tape, the eerie images on the screen bring forth a nightmare for the misguided youths. The horrors which are presented before them shatter them to the core and they hope that it is a joke perpetrated by one of their own, which all deny vehemently. Of course, the only way to find the truth is to confront the old man who cautioned them not to take the video. It is then when they realise that these actions are starting to unravel before their eyes, to reflect what they saw previously on the forbidden film. The terror which was predicted has now begun to pass and there is nothing they can do to stop what will happen. Keres has come for them and cruelty is their path to the end of their pitiful lives.
In Summary:
When I first started to read this story, I was immediately reminded of the Japanese cult classic Ring; but as it began to devolve, the tale took a twisted path into The Twilight Zone. Pat Shand has managed to turn what could have been a rather linear narrative from the Grimm Tales of Terror series and twisted it into a great morality tale. To be able to see a group of crude delinquents receive karmic retribution is fulfillment in itself, but at the same time, the underlying development of a deeper subplot is what really turns this issue into a brilliant twist of the typical horror nightmare. The last panels bring everything to full circle – enveloping us within a chilling shroud of realisation that everyone has a beast living inside and all it needs to emerge is to be fed a feast of human civilisation. Innocence may be borne upon us in infancy, but the brutality of life is what turns us into the animals which we all seek to hide from each other. It is this fact which Shand has so intelligently uncovered within this issue, and it is one lesson which we all should bring to heart.
While this story could have been told so many ways, artist Marc Rosete has managed to unfold it into one which we feel no remorse for the characters. While this might have worked against him in a normal morality play, the stark reality of an inner city’s degradation is reflected in the grittiness by which he portrays the boredom this group; this works by bringing a sense of sadism to their behaviour whereby they show no guilt for their actions or conscious in wanting to redeem themselves. With each act, they become drawn more into the beast which has already begun to consume them. It is with this blunt attention to detail which makes them more deplorable as we watch their cruelty grow with each unabashed video, bragging to the world and attempting to gain some foothold to delve deeper into the pit their anger has thrown them in. Rosete shows them as normal teens who could have gone either way, but we see the perverse joy etched on their faces with each act, and though they may have regretting getting caught in the end, it is obvious that the monster has them long ago.
This issue of Grimm Tales of Terror wonderfully shows us that not all horror must be bloody and gory to give us a fright; it is the psychological thriller which works upon our emotions and leaves a much deeper and longer lasting impression. However, it does not have to be preachy to teach us a lesson, all it has to do is to be able to strike a chord by which we all have a common familiarity in the final outcome of the story. Shand and Rosete have done it in this issue and it deserves several re-reads to delve into the nuances of what was uncovered on that last page.
Grade: A+
Rating: 16+
Released By: Zenescope
Release Date: March 2nd, 2016
MSRP: $3.99