Tales of Halloween

source: Tales of Halloween

I started watching this without any high expectations, and was only going off the other reviews. If this was compared to the Trick r' Treat movie, it would fall terribly short. Trick R' Treat had good tales/stories, and some were actually creepy. Tales of Halloween was cheesy the majority of the time, and you get the occasional chuckle here and there, but that's really it. Of all the short stories, I only found one that was good and had a nice unsettling feeling to it. Don't get me wrong, the other stories were pretty decent, but a couple were downright ridiculous and seem to have no effort put into it. This film was okay for what it is, and it's something fun to watch near or during Halloween; however, if I had to choose between watching and not watching, I wouldn't have watched it. It wasn't that good to waste and hour something on. I'd personally only recommend this film if you have nothing else to watch, because the negatives of this film were more numerous than the positives.

Ghosts, ghouls, monsters, axe murderers, aliens, urban myths, and the devil delight in terrorising unsuspecting residents of a suburban neighbourhood on Halloween night...... Back in the seventies and early eighties, horror anthologies were something of a regular occurrence come Halloween, but they always starred Peter Cushing and featured some of the most recognisable faces from prime time TV (like Tom Baker or Windsor Davies.........ask your grandad). Over the past few years, there has been a little resurgence in these anthology movies, the V/H/S series show how well they can be made, even using found footage, others like The ABC's of death show that too many in one feature can be a bad thing. This however is a welcome anthology, and I haven't seen one as traditional since Trick 'r Treat. But it does suffer with the over exhaustion of too many stories, and quite soon after viewing the movie, the average stories that are included in the film disappear like tears in rain. But the standout movies are really interesting, and although the film or the stories featured are never in the slightest bit scary, they are enough fun to keep any Halloween party amused. The narrative of the story is basically saying that on Halloween, all the evil and anger that the world has, comes out to play, particularly on one suburban street, hence The Night Of The Living Dead being played on every TV featured in the film. Stand out stories include the story about 'sweet tooth', a Halloween decoration battle, some bizarre story about a women's time of the month, that turns her into a witch, a Bad Grandpa-esque trick or treat segment, and my favourite by Neil Marshall, the story of a kidnapping that turns the table on the captors. But with the gems, there are a few frankly bizarre stories that are bewildering as to why they are included. But there are more traditional Halloween stories here than not, and there is a wonderful reference to the The Fog during the film, as we have Adrienne Barbeau giving us a bit of Basil Exposition as to what is going on. So all in all, it's a pretty solid anthology of fun stories, bookended by the best stories, but it's no surprises that there are a few changers in the film

Hello anthologies, you've got competition. This film kicks some horror ass! 10 stories (all excellent!) hitting you like a ton of bricks. What's great is the humor and there is lots and lots and lots - see for yourself. The multi - talented John Landis makes an appearance as does Lin Shaye. I don't want to give much away all I want to say is support this film! Spoiler Alert: since I have to meet the 10 line quota, I will tell you horror fanatics about one story. It goes something like this: A hot brunette dressed up as Dorothy from The Wizard Of Odds is being chased by someone or something that resembles an ugly version of Leather face (is that humanly possible?)She stumbles, as they all do, meanwhile this "thing" is right behind her and he is clutching a human head (righteous!)- she gets back up and runs towards a barn. Once inside, we see human heads decorating the shelves - cut to the chase - she runs out and is killed by something that resembles a sphere. Oh yes, a claymation alien appears and kills the beast (Thank you, mescaline.)

Don't read any of the reviews that are positive about this movie because they obviously participated in this movie or are related to somebody that participated. It's absolute garbage. A horror movie is supposed to be scary, or at least try to be scary. This one is none of the above. Not only there are ten different stories in Tales of Halloween but none of the ten is even slightly good. They are all crap, one by one boring as hell. Now, if you have kids between eight and ten and you wan't them to shut up for 90 minutes on Halloween then just put them in front of this garbage. In any other case avoid this monstrosity at all cost. What a waste of my time. I rarely give movies the lowest rating possible but in this case it's justified.

But not suitable for children so I guess that just leaves the immature. Unfortunately this little collection of shorts mainly comprises of the same thing on repeat - trick or treaters followed by a large dose of ultra-violence followed by a predictable twist. Well actually I can't say that's true for all of them because I must admit that I'd seen enough by story three. So if there are any good ones in this anthology then they certainly haven't decided to start with their best foot forward. I just don't understand what a plot line that might as well have been dreamt up by a 13 year old boy with anger problems has to do with horror? Chuck in some guts hanging out and some eye-balls rolling around on the floor and somehow, someone thinks this is scary. As a show-reel for aspiring directors I can understand why this movie exists. Short of that though it's utterly pointless.

There are not many horror anthologies out there, at least the good ones, so Tales of Halloween is a pleasant surprise. It's a series of many stories with one common theme, each spanning about five to ten minutes. They are relatively short and only have one good twist or shock in them, but most of them are well-crafted to maximize the surprise effect of the scare. Using good practical effect and occasional exaggerated acting, this is a fine collection of horror popcorn stories. I rather not delve specifically to each story, since the runtime is short, it may divulge too much. However, majority of them are splendid little forays to creepy madness and ironic comedy. The practical effect is consistently good across the board. Expect tons of blood and limbs thrown together at almost every story. It also produces quirky alternate to usual slasher theme. The make-up for characters is top notch, it may appear over-the-top yet it bizarrely fits the spirit of Halloween. At some more eccentric ones, it even uses comical animation or stop motion. The quirky nature is decent for ironic comedy horror, which the movie takes full advantage of and create unapologetically weird tales. A few cameos from well-known stars like Lin Shaye is appreciated. As far as acting goes it gambles on the absurdity and for most parts it's a definite success. There's a lingering eerie feel on few particular characters. It also presents the usual looming threat and jump scares really well. The movie knows its audience and incorporates modern touch on its classic Halloween rendition, it resembles a mix of creepypasta from internet and campfire stories. With a bag of visceral gore, bizarre characters and unworldly tales, fans of the genre will find a treat here.

Whatever happened to HORROR? I mean scaring people. Now its all "don't take it serious just poke fun at horror movies". There is no such thing as HORROR COMEDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Its an oxymoron. Yes life is funny sometimes. Horror is not funny in any remote way ever. These type of films are embarrassing. These type of films are killing horror as a genre. Really good directing, acting and writing is really wasted here. Use horror tropes, throw a little blood around and call it Halloween-Whatever. So so so sad. So tired of the comedy-horror bullshit. It cheapens and ruins the genre. Horror websites need to man up and denounce this kind of crap.(And yes I know tongue-in-cheek but that is just comedy by another name).

I really do feel like it could have been something along the vein of Trick r Treat. As it is, the stories seem sort of dull, sort of charming, sort of funny, sort of entertaining... They don't really inspire too much passion, and they don't really stand apart from each other too much either. I definitely wish that I had liked it more, I found it merely okay. It's definitely not bad though, it deserves a watch definitely. And the halloween atmosphere is definitely there. I do think there was potential for more. The stories are mostly not really scary, and they do seem to go for gross outs more than horror, which is fine. Overall, definitely a decent way to sort of spend the time with friends.

Let's get right to it- this movie is OK at best. If you are very forgiving when it comes to bad special effects, mediocre acting, and not-so-clever nods (rip offs) to other horror movies (Halloween, Friday the 13th, The Exorcist, for starters...), then you will probably be entertained. It's not the worst, but I had hoped for a little bit better, a specially with some of the names attached. It has the feel of some of those straight-to- video horror movies of the 80's, so, if that's your thing, try this one out. I watched this on pay per view, so now I'm feeling a sense of loss (the 5.99 I paid to watch this flick). To summarize: if you don't have anything to do, you're easily entertained, and you are not a horror snob, this movie will probably be watchable.