Tales of Halloween (2015)
Horror Anthology
With Halloween and horror movies existing so synonymously throughout the month of October you would think there would be endless amounts of holiday themed movies to pick from, this is sadly not the case. The reason we as fans treasure movies like Carpenter's Halloween or Michael Dougherty's Trick'r'Treat is because there are actually quite few truly good "Halloween" movies to choose from. This is why the new anthology horror film Tales of Halloween is such a welcomed treat this year. Bringing together ten highly talented horror directors they each create their own short piece of Halloween fun, each wildly different than the others.
All ten short films play is succession with nothing more than a simple voiceover (done by the wonderful Adrienne Barbeau) linking each segment to the next. All taking place in a small american suburb, each film tells a different story of what happened that halloween night. Ranging from slasher serial killers to demonic pumpkins they manage to reach just about every corner of the horror world. Though one or two failed to land their message the film is thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish.
The film hits the ground running with the first four shorts playing perfectly into the Halloween theme. Opening with Dave Parker's Sweet Tooth, a creepy homage to the local ghost stories we all loved to tell as children every Halloween. From there it moves right into what may be my favorite segment of the movie, Darren Lynn Bousman's The Night Billy Raised Hell which focuses on the devil and his little helper wreaking havoc on all the trick or treaters. Adam Gierasch's Trick and Paul Solet's The Weak and the Wicked follow right after, each giving their own inventive twist on short form horror and ultimately satisfy your Halloween craving.
The exact middle of the film is where it hits a small hump, with Lucky McKee's Ding Dong and Axelle Carolyn's Grimm Grinning Ghost failing to make the same impact as the rest of the film. Mckee's Ding Dong had good intentions but failed to clearly state its message and is ultimately a bummer compared to the tone of the other shorts. Carolyn's Grim Grinning Ghost is a fine enough straight-forward ghost story that is fairly creepy, it just doesn't have the same level of originality and cleverness brought by the other filmmakers.
Once you make it over the small hump, which is quite easy considering the brief nature of these segments, the film moves into the final leg and not one of the final four parts disappoints. After being bummed out by the "domestic violence" message of Ding Dong you will find your spirits immediately lifted with Andrew Kasch and John Skipp's wickedly fun This Means War, which sees two neighbors take their lawn decorating competition to the next level ultimately representing the fight of old school vs. new school horror fans.
The final three segments of the film are among the best of them all, Starting with Mike Mendez batshit insane slasher short Friday the 31st. Here we see the classic slasher style movie get turned on it's head when a sci-fi twist turns the deformed killer into the victim. It's wacky, silly, insane, and bloody as all hell making it some of the most fun you will have in the entire film. The second to last segment The Ransom of Rusty Rex is one of the most inventive and clever of all the shorts. Directed by Ryan Schifrin this clever tale shows us two would-be kidnappers on halloween night who get way more than they bargained for when they abduct a rich man's child.
The film ends with arguably the best and most "Halloween" of all the shorts titled Bad Seed and directed by the amazing Neil Marshall (The Descent). Here we see an evil pumpkin come to life and start terrorizing the small suburban town, killing anyone who crosses its path. It's funny, bloody, and totally out of this world making it the perfect capper to a fantastic Halloween movie.
The entire film is filled with small cameos and parts played by iconic genre actors and directors to make any genre fan feel right at home. Familiar faces such as Lin Shaye, Ben Woolf, Barry Bostwik, Greg Grunberg, John Landis, Adam Green, and Joe Dante populate the entire film and make it all that much more fun to watch. If you are looking for something besides the classic films to get you in the Halloween spirit than there is no better film to watch right now then Tales of Halloween. It is available to rent on all major VOD platforms for a measly $4.99 so show your support and help get another one of these made because this film is just what we need come this spooky time of year.
As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!
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