Directors: Neil Marshall, Axelle Carolyn, Darren Lynn Bousman, Mike Mendez, Adam Gierasch, Adam Kasch, Paul Solet, Lucky McKeee, Dave Parker, Ryan Schifrin, John Skipp
Cast: Grace Phipps, Noah Segan, Alex Essoe, Pat Healy, Lin Shaye, Sam Witwer, Ben Woolf, Booboo Stewart, Barry Bostwick, Keir Gilchrist, Joe Dante, Marc Senter
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 97 minutes
Tales of Halloween is a horror anthology which sees several up-and-coming horror directors, as well as some already established, take turns in trying the scare the viewer.
Set in a small US town, we move from house to house witnessing all manner of strange going-ons. The best thing about Tales of Halloween is that there is something for absolutely everyone. The stories feature witches, ghosts, demons, the devil, goblins, serial killers and even alien abductions.
Events start on a high with Sweet Tooth (who will surely become the next urban legend a la Candy man). Its a gory tale of a demon with a candy (and more than likely diabetes) problem that will definitely have you rethinking that last chocolate. Directed by David Parker the opening short superbly sets up what follows over the next hour or so.
We end with Neil Marshall‘s Bad Seed which is terrific all out fun very much in the vein of Gremlins. This story sees one of the town’s overworked detectives trying to apprehend a murderous giant pumpkin, yes pumpkin.
Marshall’s wife, Axelle Carolyn also directs a segment. Hers features Alex Essoe the shining star of last years Starry Eyes and has a very well executed jump scare (I won’t tell you where it is, I don’t want to spoil it). Saw II – IV director Darren Lynn Bousman has a lot of fun with The Night Billy Raised Hell in which an unsuspecting trick-or-treater crosses the Devil. Other stand out tales include Mike Mendez‘s Friday the 31st, Ryan Schifrin‘s The Ransom of Rusty Rex, Lucky McKee‘s Ding Dong and Paul Solet‘s The Weak and the Wicked.
Tales of Halloween Review
Mendez’s offering features everything but the kitchen sink, including the cutest claymation extra-terrestrial you’ll ever see. It’s beautifully zany, so much so that I couldn’t explain it if I tried. The Ransom of Rusty Rex is another tale that is played for laughs as two low grade criminals decide to kidnap the son of a millionaire, but get more then they bargained for. Marc Senter shines in McKee’s dark riff on the Hansel and Gretel tale, this sequence is one that would easily fit into an episode of American Horror Story. Solet’s entry is packed full of young faces, Grace Phipps, Booboo Stewart, Keir Gilchrist and Noah Segan, all well known for their work in the genre. It’s definitely the most visually vibrant. It oozes cool and is reminiscent of the first Sin City. In all honesty though all the stories are great and compliment each other.
There’s a strangely nostalgic essence at the core of Tales of Halloween that had this writer thinking back to shows like Tales from the Crypt and Eerie Indiana.
From the Nightmare before Christmas/Tim Burton–esque opening sequence (which gives us a sneak at the running order and our town) through to the conclusion, Tales of Halloween is a well thought out and cleverly stitched together anthology. Even after all this fun, we haven’t seen the whole town yet so it’s exciting to think that we could easily get another chapter.
Tales of Halloween is the perfect trick-free treat for the ghoulish season. It’s an anthology that, unlike say the V/H/S series which all tend to be at the same level, mixes everything up. There are a few entries that are played straight for scares whilst most offer a more tongue-in-cheek skew. This mixing of tones makes Tales of Halloween the perfect Halloween party viewing.
Tales of Halloween is out in US cinemas now and available to download in the UK via Vimeo. A DVD\Blu-Ray release is still TBC.
