Wednesday Review: Tales of Halloween

My original intention for this review was A Scout's Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, but that film isn't playing less than a two hour drive from me, so I decided to go with Tales of Halloween instead. It's been getting tons of buzz in the horror press, and it's a recent film, in theatres or not. Honestly, I was afraid that with the number of horror films coming out this time of year I wouldn't get the chance to cover it, so it's a happy accident.

I didn't realize going in that this film's segments were by different directors. I initially expected something in the spirit of Trick 'R Treat. In fact, I'd even say that the opening sequence and music is intended to evoke that film. The actual movie, however, is much closer to The ABCs of Death. Ten, relatively short segments, in wildly different styles, all of which are completely independent aside from some narration by a Halloween-night DJ, and a number of callbacks in the final segment that confirms that all the stories happened in the same town on the same night.

It would be easy to spend this entire review doing nothing but comparing it unfavorably to Trick 'R Treat, but obviously that would be unfair to this film, so with that I end references to the other Halloween anthology.

The segments here vary in quality. I wouldn't say that any of them are truly “bad,” at their worst they're unmemorable. At their best, they're pretty good. Most of the monster makeup is convincing enough, but also fairly generic. Most of the filmmakers know how to use it effectively, though, and most of the stories are reasonably original.

By far the best story is the second, “The Night Billy Raised Hell,” in which a poor unsuspecting kid attempts to prank his neighbor, not realizing it's the Devil. The way in which little Billy gets his comeuppance is both hilarious, and cruel. I was legitimately surprised and unsettled by just how far this segment went. Then again, what do I expect from Darren Lynn Bousman?

Other notable segments include “Sweet Tooth” by by Dave Parker, about the revenge of a trick-or-treater denied his candy, “Friday the 31st” by Mike Mendez, which pits a serial killer against an alien who came to Earth to trick-or-treat, “The Ransom of Rusty Rex” by Ryan Schifrin, in which two kidnappers take the wrong kid, and “Bad Seed” by Neil Marshall, notable for an evil genetically engineered pumpkin rampaging through the town.

Ideally, I would have probably reduced the number of segments, to give more time to develop each story. They're decent as they are, but we really don't get to know the characters, and most stories have just enough time for a single twist, then cut to the next segment. We don't really get to dwell on what we've just seen, or watch the horror unfold gradually.

I do recommend this movie, at least enough to rent it on demand. I can't see myself watching it a second time, but I don't think I'm going to forget it either. If there's a sequel, I'll probably watch that as well.