In 2019, Graham Hughes debuted the brilliant Death of a Vlogger at FrightFest as part of the First Blood strand. Now in 2023, Hughes has returned with his follow up feature, Hostile Dimensions. Screening not once, but twice, Hughes’ new movie retains some of the visual style of his previous film, but steps away from horror to delve into science-fiction and the multiverse theory.
Having made Death of a Vlogger from his home and starring in the lead role himself to keep costs down, Hostile Dimension retains that guerilla style spirit. Once again Hughes makes an appearance in front of the camera, though this time he switches to a supporting role. As well as Hughes, all the gang from Death of a Vlogger have returned with attention shifting to the duo of Joma West and Annabel Logan. The pair play Ash and Sam, two friends and documentarians who find themselves drawn into a dimension of strange new worlds after investigating the disappearance of another young woman, Emily (Josie Rogers).
Whereas Death of a Vlogger was presented as a mockumentary found-footage film, Hostile Dimensions pivots slightly. Ash and Sam are making a documentary so there are plenty of sequences told with one of the pair holding the camera, but most of the film features the two of them in frame. During these moments they don’t speak to the camera, but the shots are static and could be interpreted as them having set it up to capture their conversation. By alluding to rather than fully leaning into the documentary found-footage style, Hostile Dimensions opens its world up.
This opening is mirrored in the subject matter. Rather than just be a story about one man, it becomes an exploration of multiple worlds. Missing girl Emily vanished whilst exploring an abandoned warehouse. Footage of her disappearance exists and captures her entering a random standalone door. Intrigued, Sam has purchased the door and Hostile Dimensions charts their investigation of it. Before long the women have opened and entered the door, but find it keeps taking them to different places. They call in the help of scientist Innis (Paddy Kondracki) and discover they may have uncovered a portal to any dimension they can imagine. It’s all mind-bending jargon and theories that are intriguing to hear, but the real excitement rests with what is behind the door…
Hughes has clearly had a lot of fun dreaming up a wealth of weird environments for Sam and Ash to explore. Some locations are merely a little strange, others eerie, with a few downright terrifying. A trip to a kid’s soft play centre called Pandemonium provides a traumatic time for the audience; prepare to never feel safe in soft play or in the presence of pandas again. Before that though, Hughes gets in a sneaky scare early doors (or should that be door?) with the surprise appearance of a nightmarish visage. The visual FX to achieve some of the otherworldly settings is brilliant. Hughes manages to mask the production’s tighter budget, helping it stand aside those with triple the money. It’s proof that you don’t need a ton of money, just a clever idea and those displayed here are ingenious.
Death of a Vlogger had an excellent sheet ghost scare, and the pinnacle of fear in Hostile Dimensions comes one evening as the camera is trained on the door. Each night that Ash and Sam have the door, they film it all night. Footage is shown in a Paranormal Activity style, so the educated viewer knows that something is coming. What or when remains a mystery, and just like his previous ghost scare, this one sucker punches the viewer right in the nervous system.
Although a very different film to Death of a Vlogger, Hostile Dimensions is still easily identifiable as a Graham Hughes film. That his DNA remains is proof of a talented filmmaker with a singular voice. Given the success of Death of a Vlogger, the temptation to repeat the formula must have been great, but this new science-fiction direction is proof that Hughes is more than a one trick pony. A must-see for science-fiction fans, especially those who enjoy their pseudoscience with a hefty side of scares.
Hostile Dimensions
Summary
It’s another solid hit for Scottish director Graham Hughes. Though Hostile Dimensions might be more heavy on the sci-fi elements, there remain plenty of Hughes’ now trademark unexpected scares to give the heart a jolt or two.
Hostile Dimensions was reviewed at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest 2023.
