Hostile Dimensions (2023) A Horror Movie Review

Hostile Dimensions (2023)  Written and Directed by Graham Hughes

A Horror Movie Review by Mark Walker

 
Two documentary filmmakers travel through alternate dimensions to uncover the truth about a graffiti artist who has vanished. (IMDB)

Hostile Dimensions opens with graffiti artist Emily (Josie Rogers) and her cameraman Brian (Stephen Beavis) exploring an abandoned house for whatever reason you might chose to do this – I’ve seen enough horrors to know this isn’t going to end well. Emily finds a mysterious free-standing door and disappears into thin air, freaking Brian out and leading to a missing person hunt.

Documentary-makers Sam (Annabel Logan) and Ash (Joma West) hear about the disappearance of Emily and see it as an opportunity to boost their “failing before they really started” film-making careers. Investigating the house where Emily disappeared, they find the door and take it back to their flat. Another silly decision, but you can be allowed one to kick things off, just don’t push it!

This was the one part of the film that jarred slightly.

When they find the door, it is wrapped in POLICE tape, which suggests the police are taking Emily’s disappearance vaguely seriously, so why would you leave the door in situ, for weeks, available for anyone to find and remove?

Small annoyance, but all forgotten once Dog (Lucy the Dog) appears!

Once back at the flat, Ash and Sam open the door, which appears to be hiding a mirror Perhaps Brian and Emily just spooked themselves? But when Sam’s dead mother appears in the mirror and slams the door in their faces, it is clear there is something very odd about this door.

After a brush with a very unfriendly Panda, they seek the advice of “other worlds” expert Innes (Paddy Kondracki) and it becomes apparent that they have a “Wolf Door” created by ancient magic and which allows them to travel to any one of the infinite number of alternate dimensions that exist. You want pyramids and flying whales? You got it. Man-eating yellow balloons? Yep, you can have that as well, although I am not sure why you would want it. 

Realising that Emily must be trapped in one of these dimensions they decide to help her when they discover they are able to influence where the door takes them. They seek the help of Brian in finding his friend and then things go cuckoo-bananas and a little Monster Inc before we possibly get to the point of saving the universe (multiverse?) and closing the Wolf Door for good (ish).

Hostile Dimensions is both silly and serious.

While it has its comedic moments, it also has a decent stab at some of the bigger questions around existence and belonging. Where do we fit into the universe, especially if there are an infinite number of them? However, neither end of this spectrum takes over, and Hughes has the balance just right making HD an entertaining and thought-provoking addition to the multiverse of horror.

The small cast do a good job, working well together and, while the very nature of found footage can make some of the acting seem “off” it works for the genre as you don’t want it looking too slick, otherwise the effect wears off and it stops feeling “real.”

What the team have put together with a low budget is very impressive. There are a few moments where the effects do look at a little “early 90s” but this, again, actually adds to the weirdness of the other worlds we visit. It was refreshing to see some very odd places conjured up by Hughes, reflecting the potential of an infinite number of alternate dimensions.

Things get a little frenetic towards the end and perhaps a little confused, but it’s all good and by the time the film ends I had a big smile on my face from a very amusing (to me) running gag. Like a lot of similar films, Hostile Dimensions could be picked apart for logic, but there is no fun in that – just go with it.

Hostile Dimensions is a great found footage horror with an interesting take on the multiverse that is a lot of fun to watch. It crams a lot of ideas into 80 minutes and is easily worth the 6.5 it is currently sitting at on IMDB. Will look forward to checking out some more work from Hughes in the future.

Hostile Dimensions is on digital platforms 26 August 2024