Do Not Disturb is an anthology film with five stories set in one hotel room. The maid (Diva Zappa) connects the stories. Like most anthologies, some stories are better than others. DND has three out of five, so that’s ahead of the game.

My favorite was actually the very first vignette, “Duccio’s Madonna.” What begins as a seemingly standard negotiation between an escort and a john reveals a really human story. His fetish is more psychological, definitely not the stereotypical dominatrix, and way more interesting than that. The actors, Harris Goldberg and Maureen Flanagan, do a terrific job of drawing you in.

My other favorites were the fourth and fifth stories, which I didn’t even realize were two different stories because they blend so well together. “Intrinsic” and “Death Takes a Holiday Inn” begin with another interesting dance between two actors (Elfman and Jason Alan Smith) and it gets so weird, I won’t give this one away. It’s just an interesting situation and played out by actors who do a lot with a look or a line delivery.

I wasn’t into “Rocketman,” where Eric Balfour plays an astronaut freaking out in a Cronenberg-esque fantasy with understandably limited CGI but quite good makeup. I didn’t buy Balfour as someone who’s performed any kind of service. I believed Lindsay Pulsipher as the supportive wife, but their relationship in the story was weak. Balfour’s a big boy. He can take it. And he shouldn’t be the weak link as the steadily working “name” of the cast.

“Prom” is a more stream of consciousness style banal conversation between high school teenagers on a trip to L.A. Also not for me, but vastly different from “Intrinsic” and “Death” so there’s a full spectrum.

Obviously the limited setting gives away that this is an experimental film using the hook of a single room, and it’s a hotel room so it’s not that flashy. However, don’t undervalue the cinematography. There are two shots and simple revealing movements, but it makes Do Not Disturb look like a real movie. Elfman got a crew who’d worked through their practice on other people’s films so she got solid work out of them.

So if you’re scanning through the VOD menu, now you know what Do Not Disturb is. If you want to see some crazy shorts in the privacy of your own home, it’s only 73 minutes and you’ve got this assessment so it’s worth the risk.

_{All of our Ferraris are doomed!}

Universal has dropped the brand spankin’ new trailer for Skyline. Getting down to brass tacks, aliens invade Los Angeles at 4:27AM. Eric Balfour, Britney Daniel, and Donald Faison try to stop them. Nothing revolutionary, except that the break into our atmosphere before the buttcrack of dawn. These extraterrestrials are bigger inconsiderate pricks than most.

The film is directed by The Brothers Strausse, who know their way around special effects. I’ll give the film that. The effects look impressive. And I’m all for the vacuu abduction process. At least the abductees will be with friends during the alien sexual abuse.

Check out the trailer after the jump…

New’Skyline‘ Trailer Rips Los Angeles A New A-Hole! – Watch more horror

_{These new aliens are really efficient.}

Universal has released the trailer for Skyline. It stars Donald Faison from "Scrubs," Eric Balfour from "24," and Brittany Daniel from Club Dread. The film is about aliens abducting Los Angelenos, not unlike almost every other alien movie before it. However, I do enjoy the mass human collection, even if it makes zero sense logically. The aliens are just going to have a bunch of concussed people stumbling around their ship throwing up in the hallways.

Skyline invades theaters November 12, 2010.

Check out the trailer after the jump…

First Teaser for Universal’s Sci-fi Thriller ‘Skyline’!! – Watch more horror

(Apple)

Director: Colin and Greg Strause

Cast: Donald Fasion, David Zayas, Brittany Daniel, Scottie Thompson, Crystal Reed

Synopsis: After a late night party, a group of friends are awoken in the dead of the night by an eerie light beaming through the window. Like moths to a flame, the light source is drawing people outside before they suddenly vanish into the air. They soon discover an otherwordly force is swallowing the entire human population off the face of the earth. Now our band of survivors must fight for their lives as the world unravels around them.

Release Date: November 11th, 2010