Hostile Dimensions

Death of a Vlogger in 2019 caught a few people on the hop, when it was released with its cheap and cheerful approach but also a deep understanding of that phenomenon that has now been picked by several filmmakers. It also marked Graham Hughes as a writer and director to watch.

Opening with graffiti artist Emily (Josie Rogers) in a derelict building with a camera operator she comes across a freestanding door that she promptly disappears through. Meanwhile Ash (Joma West) and Sam (Annabel Logan) are documentary filmmakers looking for something more substantial than teddy bears stumble across the footage of Emily online.

Posted by Brian (Graham Hughes) they find him and take the door back to their flat. Temptation too much and being fearless documentary makers, they open the door to find variously a talking dog, their mirror selves with Sam’s mother and later when they pass through it a very strange children’s play area that they soon abandon when a panda bear suit attacks them.

The mission then becomes to find Emily and pulling in academic Innis (Paddy Kondracki), who has some experience of this, they begin to explore what they now know is a multiverse once they land on a beach with more battered doors.

This is loopy stuff that as with all time travel, wormhole adventures require the viewer to pay close attention or just roll with it. Either will work with Hostile Dimensions as Hughes has crafted a wonderfully inventive narrative that includes sci-fi, horror and a good dose of comedy.

The actors excel in their roles and there’s a particularly testy relationship between Ash and Sam, with Logan and West on a roll. Clearly on a tight budget Hughes manages to construct some spooky scenes with excellent use of space and angles. It’s not all multi-dimensional science though as there’s a more empathic strand regarding Sam and her late mother which leads her reevaluate her own life.

Hostile Dimensions had its World Premiere at London FrightFest 2023.