Tales of Halloween is an anthology of
10 films that all take place in a small American town where the
townsfolk are terrorized by ghosts, ghouls, aliens, and killers on
Halloween night. Inevitable comparisons to Creepshow and the more
recent Trick 'r Treat are justified and expected, but Tales of
Halloween does more than enough to stand on its own in the anthology
sub-genre.
Tales of Halloween is a love letter to
Halloween itself and all the myths, superstitions, and lore that
surround the fun and spooky holiday. There are 10 stories in the film
that could only be expected to happen on Halloween and yet seem
unexpected to the towns people they happen to. It takes itself
seriously but leaves plenty of room for humor, mixing the scares and
the laughs extremely well. There are plenty of practical effects on
display that give the film that fun, lived in, old school horror
feel. The makeup and lighting are also utilized to benefit the film
and add to the creepy feel and atmosphere. One segment in particular
had one character as a red witch who was shown in very effective red
and black makeup with strobe light like movements and lighting that
worked wonderfully and was truly terrifying.
There is some great talent walking
around the streets of this doomed town throughout the 10 films in
Tales of Halloween. We see Lin Shaye, Pat Healey, Tiffany Shepis,
Barry Bostwick, Kristina Klebe, a blink-and-you'll-miss-her Felissa
Rose, and a handful of others populating the stories. The one
appearance that got me the most excited and felt like hearing a
comforting blast from the past was Adrienne Barbeau as a disc jockey
who worked as a narrator of sorts throughout the film to help tie
the stories together. As soon as her voice came through the speakers
to open the film in that smooth, inviting tone from “The Fog”, I
had a big smile on my face and I was hooked! The actors didn't have a
lot of time to flesh out characters or create many memorable moments
due to the length of each short film, but I was impressed once again
by Alex Essoe in her short time on screen, the first time being her
commanding performance in Starry Eyes. She's incredibly talented and
I eagerly await her future films and performances.
What makes Tales of Halloween work so
well as a whole is a noticeable effort in the writing to provide
original and fresh feeling stories. 'Sweet Tooth' offers a fantastic
new Halloween legend, 'The Night Billy Raised Hell' provides the
ultimate revenge trick on an unsuspecting young trick or treater, and
'Bad Seed' ends with a sinking feeling of lost hope. I could not
begin to guess where a story was headed or how it would end once it
began. The quick pace of the film was helped by the fact that every
segment seemed to be about the same length. And while some stories
weren't quite on par with others, there was no filler here and the
film is solid throughout its run time. The stories were written with
a Halloween loving audience in mind and the result is an anthology of
films that are full of tricks but leave the viewer with one giant
treat.
Tales of Halloween is available on
video on demand and any fan of Halloween or horror should definitely
give this film a watch, it's an all around great time!
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