New urban legends are born in writer/director/producer Leon Q’s horror anthology Make It A Scary One (2020). Though most of the shorts don’t share a common theme, overall this makes for a thrilling and terrifying experience with a good production quality and lineup thought out as well with each chapter upping the horror ante.

The first installment, “Friend Request,” was a techno heavy short that felt like an internet urban legend movie crossed with a stalker thriller. Not quite as scary as one of my favorite horror shorts, Take This Lollipop (2011), which similarly used Facebook to drive home the dangers of self-exposure on social media, but still very well shot with superb acting from protagonist Emily Sandifer. The second installment, “Wicken,” follows a woman receiving a chain letter video of a creepy girl that must be forwarded to a loved one to prevent being killed. I found Wicken very well staged, building suspense with high-intensity music, a menacing poltergeist, and very fine use of light and darkness. The third installment, “The Tour,” was an American-tourist-in-trouble slow-burner that pays off with its ghostly ending. Another features a woman who received a series of letters from a convict that lead to her getting her own personal demon. This one, “Committed,” had a gaping and unbelievable plot-hole in its premise, however my fellow true crime enthusiasts should get a kick out of it.

Unlike the previous entry, “Creepy Crawly” was thrilling from start to finish. Despite having the most amateurish acting it should give anyone a case of arachnophobia with an eight-legged monster and some pretty okay body horror. The following short, “Endless,” was jaw-dropping. Despite being filmed in excruciatingly slow-motion, Endless was thrilling by it showing every single minute motion with each new development in the story unfolded something unexpected. Finally, the seventh short, “Dinah,” followed an internet troll who gets taught a lesson after disliking a video. Though there is an expositional bit that slows down the pace, it still accomplished a creepy atmosphere and scary ending.

In my opinion, the only weak part of this movie was the internet personalities talking in between the shorts. I am not a YouTube person and did not know the significance of any of those people, whose commentary on the films was unnecessary and felt like a gimmick to get their followers to watch this. As an anthology movie, Make It A Scary One would have been much stronger just showing the films without random feedback from a peanut gallery. Director Leon Q may have been going for MST3K, but these parts broke up the pacing and the production quality looked cheap.

Though most of these shorts feel familiar, making the film feel a little boring, they’re well done for the most part and the movie only falters in the sections with the YouTube personalities. As an anthology movie, Make It A Scary One is not as seamless as something like Trick ‘r Treat (2009) which cleverly connected each of its vignettes over one Halloween night–it seemed like there should be an internet theme here because of the YouTubers and half of the shorts being based around the internet. Despite confusion with the premise and purpose, most of the shorts are well-produced and are worth a watch! Catch Make It A Scary One on Vimeo, available for rental or purchase.

6 out of 10