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While watching two children on Halloween night, a babysitter finds an old VHS tape in the kids’ trick or treat bag which features three tales of terror, all linked together by a murderous clown.
While watching two children on Halloween night, a babysitter finds an old VHS tape in the kids’ trick or treat bag. The tape features three tales of terror, all linked together by a murderous clown. As the night unfolds, strange things begin to occur in the house. It isn’t long before the babysitter learns the horrifying truth…the maniacal clown is slowly working his way into her reality. With “Twilight Zone: The Movie”, “Creepshow” and “Creepshow 2” back in the 80s, we were introduced to a feature-length film but with interlaced stories throughout. The final outcome didn’t appeal to audiences in general so that specific approach of story-telling went away.
In “All Hallows’ Eve”, director Damien Leone puts said technique to good use. It’s quite obvious that Mr. Leone is paying homage to John Carpenter and the original “Halloween” movie, in substance and style, from camera techniques to the use of low drone synthesizer music which Mr. Carpenter used to great effect in his 1982 masterpiece “The Thing.” In this movie, for the most part, Mr. Leone does a very credible job. Two of the three aforementioned stories though, had endings that just didn’t work for me. Just as we get caught up in the tales, they end and we then begin the next story. These small idiosyncrasies aside, the movie, at times, had a low-budget, grungy feel to it, similar in tone to Tobe Hooper’s original “Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
The acting overall was very solid and although I’m not one of those people who has a penchant for hating clowns, the clown in this movie was quite creepy. In one scene in particular, we see the heroine of the piece come across him dismembering a body. Instead of jumping up and chasing her, he gives her a maniacal smile, letting her know that he’ll get to her eventually and continues with the task at hand, no pun intended. The ending of the movie, back in the babysitter’s house, was reminiscent of “The Ring” and if you’ve seen that movie, you know what I’m talking about. On the whole, it’s an interesting blend of intertwining tales in the spirit of “Creepshow” and “Tales from the Crypt” with an evil clown that would rival Pennywise from Stephen King’s “It.” Recommended.
In stores October 29th
