Southbound comes from the makers of the popular “V/H/S” series, and they are doing their darndest to bring back the horror compilation, a long dormant venture that most recently peaked in the 1980s with Creepshow and Tales from the Crypt. Southbound ditches the campy humor of those examples and tries for a more gritty, grungy approach.

Five stories by different directors are connected by the theme of guilt and the meanderings of a late-night radio DJ (voiced by indie horror stalwart Larry Fessenden). All take place on or near a nameless Southwestern desert highway that doesn’t seem to be on any earthly map. The first story is actually the end point of the last, which is clever enough, but it means we essentially have no idea what’s going on in the beginning, and frankly don’t care. The second tale is more cohesive and an amusing enough take on the whoops-we-just-ran-into-a-satanic-cult subgenre. Though a quick word to the filmmakers: There is not a rock band on Earth that would leave a van full of equipment unguarded on a desert highway. Not one. That’s thousands of dollars right there. And probably all the assets they have. Just sayin’.

The third episode is why you pay your money to see this movie. It’s a taut, gruesome tale of a man who strikes a girl with his car while on his cell phone. He calls 911, which directs him to a nearby hospital that turns out to be deserted, and the hotline gives him increasingly more….er…invasive instructions to save her life. This is truly something that could have come from the darker recesses of Stephen King’s mind. Instead, it is the brainchild of director David Bruckner. It stands head and shoulders above the rest of the film. In short, it is a sick, twisted little masterpiece of horror.

After that come two more stories, one of a man arriving in a border town to rescue his sister, who has no desire to be saved, and another is a spin on the typical home invasion scenario, whose WTF twist is incongruous and just plain weird. It quite literally leaves the audience off where the film started.

The production values are solid. There’s good cinematography, solid acting, and a consistent tone that runs through the entire piece, but, aside from the stupendous third story, the script just doesn’t provide anything new or dynamic.