Director: Justin M. Seaman, Zane Hershberger, John William Holt, Brett DeJager, Rocky Gray
Year: 2017
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Anthology
Plot:
With trick-or-treating over, a group of kids sits back to watch a Halloween movie marathon hosted by their favorite presenter who shows five seasonally-themed genre films.
Review:
The Old Hag-Meeting a client at their house, a couple of screenwriters arrive to sell their idea of a commercial for how to promote her house as a bed-and-breakfast and begin shooting that night. When he constantly believes something is in the house with them during the shoot, they learn too late who’s living in the house and what they want with the crew. This was a fantastic setup to start this off. The atmospheric look of the house and old-school layout adds a wholly intriguing Gothic vibe to their stay, which is only enhanced by the constant fleeting glimpses of the other person in the building which is exceptionally chilling in concept. However, the strange idea of not playing up how crazy he is or might be going with all the different incidents and making a bigger deal out of the situation. When it’s proven true at the end result is revealed, there’s some fun to be had knowing he was right all along but that’s the only real downside was the weak build-up surrounded by a lot of other likable factors.
Trespassers-Leaving a Halloween showing at a movie theater, a man and his date want to continue their evening and decide to visit a local haunted house rumored to be cursed by a scarecrow. When they find what they’re looking for, they learn the terrible secret is all too real and are caught up in its fury. This was a pretty fun entry. There’s so much to like with the small-town backstory and the idea of the killer residing in the scarecrow for killing his family gives off a wholly enjoyable vibe. The cheesy attack scenes, both in the flashback and the present-day encounters offer up quite a lot of nice gore with the killers’ attacks on everyone providing a lot of fun if only making it seem a bit too long as there are a few extra beats in the finale where it could’ve ended earlier than what we’re shown
Killing the Dance-Heading out for a Halloween party, a teen is forced to bring her kid brother along at her mothers’ insistence where she finds the evening strained upon the arrival of her ex-boyfriend. Trying to get a handle on everything going on at the party, a masked killer knocking everyone off complicates it even more. This was a pretty solid effort. That there’s a lot of fun time at the skating rink showing off the kids partying and going around in their costumes that are quite fun at generating a holiday feel overall. The slow-burn build about the situation focusing on the masked skater following everyone around adds a nice bit of suspense before this one really gets going with the rampage on the dance floor where the masked madman begins skating around killing everyone with the razor blade. It’s almost enough to overcome the bland and insufferable teen melodrama hanging around that story which takes up too much running time and isn’t that interesting being filled with all the usual cliches and setpieces to be found here. With a rather quick and easy finale, it does have a few minor issues but nothing too bad.
Halloween Blizzard of ‘91-Stuck at home for Halloween, a family snowed-in for the holiday lamenting the situation finds a strange gift left behind by a group of trick-or-treaters but decides to go to bed early instead. When there’s a series of interruptions throughout the night, they realize something wants the kids and must try to save themselves. Overall, this is a slightly weaker if still enjoyable entry. Although not a Halloween vibe but more of a Christmas effort with the snow on the area, there’s still a decidedly creepy and suspenseful atmosphere which is soon all the more obvious with the big reveal about what’s in the house which adds a nice crossover feel. However, that just highlights the flaws present here in that this one doesn't do much to make what's going on scary or frightening, as the concept of what's going on with the kids is all this one has going for it. Beyond that, there's nothing really scary about the situation and it doesn't strike the same chord it could've with a more obvious threat established.
The Samhain Slasher-Trying to head out for a Halloween party, a teen decides to visit her friends for a holiday party even though they’re warned against it due to a serial killer on the loose. When the party starts to get out of hand, they realize that someone is killing them to send a dark message to others out there. This was a decent if somewhat underwhelming way to end this one. The fact that this one tends to feel so haphazardly written that a lot of what's going on seems missing is the biggest factor, as there's nothing here about the family drama, who the escaped madman is, or who anyone at the party is. It can be somewhat jolting to see this play out as such here without that context, although it admirably tries to overcome that with the stellar attack scenes with the killer on the rampage as these scenes are brutal, graphic, and somewhat enjoyable with the way they play out. It’s just missing the context to bring everything together.
Overview: ****/5
While some of the later segments aren’t as good as the other entries, there’s still a lot to like overall here as like most anthologies there’s still more than enough to enjoy with this one. Give it a look if you’re a fan of the creative crew, appreciate anthologies in general, or seasonal genre entries overall, while fans turned off by the style or format here should heed caution.
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