To Die For

Monsters are on the minds of the eight directors whose films comprise the 2007 After Dark HorrorFest, which arrives on DVD in an eight-disc set as well as single-disc editions. And it's interesting to note that while there are plenty of traditional monsters on display, from the vengeful spirits of Crazy Eights and Nightmare Man to the rampaging alien in Unearthed, the majority of the creatures causing havoc in the 2007 HorrorFest are all too human, which underscores one of the key functions of the horror genre: to give a face to society's darkest and most pressing fears. The best showcase for these human beasts is Jim Mickle's urban creepshow Mulberry Street, which details the outbreak of a rat-borne virus that turns New York City residents into rodent-like mutants. The monsters themselves are actually the least effective part of the film; rather, it's Mickle's ability to create both a slow-boiling panic and believable characters on a shoestring budget that gives his picture the advantage over the others in the fest. Less agreeable is Borderland, a well-photographed but mildly xenophobic splatterfest about American college students who run afoul of bloodthirsty Mexican Satanists, while Lake Dead and Tooth and Nail recycle overly familiar horror tropes (mutant hillbillies vs. city folk in