Tales of Halloween (2015)

Movie Info

Got to get my candy!

In a normally quiet town, things happen on Halloween night. A child murderer looking for candy roams the streets, a young boy finds a demonic influence to his trick-or-treating, friends find themselves assaulted by killer children, murderous bullies pay a price, a bullied child seeks revenge as a ghost, a woman unable to have children shows her demonic side, a man discovers a neighbor rivaling his yearly Halloween display, a slasher becomes the victim of an attack, kidnappers find getting a ransom is harder than they thought, and a killer pumpkin could mean the end of everyone in the town.

Tales of Halloween is a horror-comedy anthology film. It is split into different stories with different directors and stars: “Sweet Tooth” (David Parker), “The Night Billy Raised Hell” (Darren Lynn Bousman), “Trick” (Adam Gierasch), “The Weak and the Wicked” (Paul Solet), “Grim Grinning Ghost” (Axelle Carolyn), “Ding Dong” (Lucky McKee), “This Means War” (Andrew Kasch and John Skipp), Friday the 31st (Mike Mendez), “The Ransom of Rusty Rex” (Ryan Schifrin), and “Bad Seed” (Neil Marshall). The film premiered at the Fantasia International Film Festival and received positive reviews.

John Landis already has enough problems with his own kid…of course he gets rid of this one.

I like anthology films. If you have a part of the film you don’t like, it can end quick and a new story starts. Tales of Halloween follows this format by having short, quick tales (and no, not all of them work).

The movie has a basic framework with Adrienne Barbeau returning to her DJ role reminiscent of The Fog. The individual stories receive a brief wrap-up in the final story “Bad Seed” which functions like a police procedural story. It is a pretty smart way to put a bowtie on the story and give it a bit more cohesion than simply having a bunch of stories.

The cast is varied. You have actors like Greg Grunberg, Clare Kramer, Barry Bostwick, Jack Dylan Grazer, Keir Gilchrist, Lin Shaye, Dana Gould, James Duval, and John Landis among others. Some of the acting is good, but some is a bit questionable. The movie has fun with itself, and it doesn’t take itself too seriously so some of the weaker acting is forgivable.

Trick or treat?

The movie has a lot of styles. It does have a bit of cheapness to the production value, but in general, it has a bit of a Creepshow or Tales from the Crypt feel that once again build a bit of “cheapness” into its style and therefor becomes stylized. The movie utilizes the format to provide a lot of different means of storytelling throughout the picture.

Tales of Halloween has a lot of good to it, but there is also some very average segments. Though it is one of the goofier segments, I think that the “Friday the 31st” might be one of my favorite simply because of the slasher motif and the introduction of a little Claymation alien that is more dangerous than a Jason Voorhees type of character. Tales of Halloween is a quick watch and for fans of horror and Halloween, it is worth seeking out.