From the title alone, you can probably tell this has been on my list to watch for some time now. Tales of Halloween is a 2015 anthology of ten short films, each set on Halloween night in a small town. Each interlocking segment ranges from comedy to horror, or somewhere in between. As an added bonus, each feature a twist, of sorts, which will keep you guessing.
+ Sweet Tooth is the tale of a boy who wants to eat too much candy on Halloween. This opening segment is one of the better ones, with a suitably gory final few moments
+ The Night Billy Raised Hell is far more comedy than horror, and generally it succeeds in this regard. The old man is a highlight of not just this segment, but the anthology as a whole
+ Trick is legitimately quite intense, as a group of children choose to ‘trick’ their neighbours in incredibly violent ways
+ This Means War is a frankly hilarious battle between houses across the street as they attempt to one-up each other in their Halloween decorations. Things escalate dramatically, leading to a gruesome conclusion
+ Friday the 31st is (originally) an in-media-res tale of a serial killer chasing his fleeing victim. Things get really weird, and then straight up hilarious with over the top gore and splatter. It’s simply amazing
+ The Ransom of Rusty Rex shows us two bungling thieves who try to kidnap a wealthy man’s son as his son goes Trick or treating. Par for the course of these segments, things don’t go as you’d expect. A predictable but still enjoyable ending only adds to the fun
– The Weak and the Wicked is one of the weaker entries (hilarious pun intended), and tells the tale of a boy tormented by his parents’ death, being bullied by a rowdy trio of teens
– Grim Grinning Ghost is effective as it builds tension, but an ultimately very unsatisfying ending makes it difficult to remember fondly
– Ding Dong is a sorry tale of an abused husband and his mentally unstable wife/captor, though as par for these segments, nothing is quite what it seems. It is basically just not very enjoyable, scary or funny
– Bad Seed, the final entry, is a surprisingly simple ‘evil pumpkin head is alive and likes to kill scenario’. It is an admittedly weak segment to end the anthology on
Should you see this film: It is hard to deny the straight numbers above, and with a lead of 6:4, this is officially worth watching.
MoshFish Reviews 