Josephina
Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
sol-
Consisting of ten Halloween themed stories, this horror anthology movie has often been compared to Michael Dougherty's 'Trick 'r Treat' with all incidents occurring in various areas of the same town. Everything is, however, nowhere near as interconnected here, lacking the acute blending and constantly overlapping characters that made 'Trick 'r Treat' so dynamic. There is nary a boring moment to be had though as each segment in 'Tales of Halloween' is appropriately brief. Some episodes are inevitably more effective than others though. Lucky McKee's "Ding Dong" is a clear highlight with a bizarre comedic streak and several WTF moments involving an unhappy childless couple. The Jason Voorhees spoof "Friday the 31st" is pretty innovative too with some 80s style stop animation in the mix. The vast majority of segments have predictable punchlines though, with "Grim Grinning Ghost" and "Sweet Tooth" falling particularly flat. Overall, however, 'Tales of Halloween' is no less uneven than most horror anthologies out there and while some chapters sag, the majority work with some really fun cameos from the likes of Joe Dante and John Landis.
sunsphxsuns
RECIPE: Into a large cauldron carefully separate 10 Tales. Add equal parts of creativity and passion from Directors and Writers Neil Marshall, Axelle Carolyn, Darren Lynn Bousman, Mike Mendez, Adam Gierasch, Adam Kasch, Paul Solet, Lucky McKeee, Dave Parker, Ryan Schifrin, and John Skip. Next, gently fold in the Cast, Grace Phipps, Noah Segan, Alex Essoe, Pat Healy, Lin Shaye, Sam Witwer, Ben Woolf, Booboo Stewart, Barry Bostwick, Keir Gilchrist, Joe Dante, and Marc Senter. Bake for about 97 minutes. RESULT: What you'll wind up with is a perfect anthology of entertaining stories called Tales of Halloween. Tales of Halloween has the ability to attract a wide target audience, like it was intentionally made for everybody's enjoyment. Yet ironically, it probably will not appeal to everyone. It's edgy material (think Quentin Tarantino rated very R). But it's sweet too in its own dark little way. The stories, filmed beautifully, include scary witches, spooky ghosts, nefarious demons, the devil himself, lots of goblins, a few serial killers and in one hilarious (and quite graphic episode) an unexpected alien encounter with a tiny Intergalactic Trick Or Treater! All of the Tales are profoundly entertaining and slick. My favorite was The Night Billy Raised Hell, a very funny story about what can happen on Halloween when you elect to "Trick" the Devil (who coincidentally happens to live in your neighborhood). It's a fiendishly hilarious story. But to be fair, all of the episodes are wonderful, the cast is perfect including an unexpected cameo from Director John Landis, and though each story is different, they seem to compliment each other visually. Even the sound track is hugely appealing. There are moments where surf music transports you back to The Endless Summer. But it's not a pier the characters are shooting. It's monsters and demons and flesh-eating pumpkins, and, occasionally, humans capping each other. Nevertheless the sound track is so unrestrained and clever it could stand on its own (which, incidentally, it does with a CD in the Tales of Halloween Collector's Set). Some of the stories absolutely ooze nostalgia, like something you'd remember from a 60's late night Creep Show on black and white television. There's also a very thoughtful thread of artistic homage throughout the Tales. For example, the opening sequence is reminiscent of Tim Burton's Ed Wood, allowing the viewer to get a peek at the running order of the upcoming episodes. Some of the tales appear to be filmed simply for the "scare factor," while others seem to appeal to a more dark and sardonic sense of humor. Yet they all fit nicely together to deliver ghoulishly delightful themes of pure Halloween Horror. I think Tales of Halloween pairs very well with Michael Dougherty's wonderful 2007 Trick 'r Treat in terms of slickness, visual quality, engaging cast, and beautiful photography. (Oh, please Michael, give us Trick 'r Treat 2 before you film anything else!). Tales of Halloween is perfect for a Halloween Viewing Party with friends or just to be watched alone. In the dark. By yourself. At your own risk. With nothing to protect you from the clutches of Incarnate Evil except a menacing bowl of buttered popcorn and a ridiculously heavy 36 ounce soft drink. Tales of Halloween Definitely Wants You To Have A Happy Halloween . . . but only if you dare.
jadagirl
Tales of Halloween... Campy as Hell!! OK, you do not want to watch this if you are looking for an actual Halloween/scary movie. The dialogue is horrible, the acting is horrible, the special effects were horrible. Yet, overall, the movie wasn't bad. Some of the stories had me laughing like crazy, some were really silly and some had me thinking ""What the heck am I watching?? Truth is, I like ridiculous stories. It even got the 7/10 rating because one of the tales reminds me of Evil Dead (the original and Best with Bruce Campbell, not the crap they called a remake). Watch a couple of the stories before you dismiss this movie entirely. You never know....
utgard14
Terrible horror anthology...well, horror comedy anthology, I guess, since there's a lot of attempts at being funny in this. Almost all of the stories here fall flat. The best of the lot being the second story, "The Night Billy Raised Hell," with Barry Bostwick as a devil (or THE devil, I don't know which) who teaches a boy how to do proper pranks on Halloween. It's got a few good chuckles in it but it's nothing particularly special. The rest of the stories are borderline unwatchable. Others have compared this to kiddie things like R.L. Stine stories and I guess I can see that. I'm not sure if that was intentional on the part of the directors involved, most of whom have more straightforward horror creds in their resume. Anyway, perhaps there is a market for this and I'm just not in it. I thought it was really bad, both as horror and comedy.
