Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, some of you are probably wondering. Would I consider doing lesser known horror movie sequels especially direct to video ones? Yes in fact I'm doing one in this very blog entry. By now many of you already seen All Hallows' Eve with Art the Clown. There's a lot of people that doesn't know about a sequel made a few years later. Yes one of those cash ins with as little ties to the original as humanly possible. You would think by now they would stop doing this.
This isn't actually a sequel to All Hallows' Eve at all. Yes both movies has a lady watching an VHS tape with most stories being played off it. But that's where the similarities end. We already starting in the wrong direction with no Art the Clown. Granted the guy who made All Hallows' Eve is working on a new movie based on the short film Terrifier coming out to theaters next month.
At least that guy is excused from not being a part of this abomination of a horror anthology movie. Even people not crazy about All Hallows' Eve loved Art the Clown. There is no excuse why he's not in the movie. Instead make way for an maniac wearing a big carved pumpkin mask. Unlike the original, this killer does show up early on but doesn't make his move until after the final story.
All that does is a terrible tease to us horror movie fans. Just imagine Freddy, Jason or Chucky show up earlier than expected to spook someone. Very late in that same movie finally kill them, it just doesn't work. What's worse is this really missed the mark of actually being a horror anthology movie in many ways. Most of the good ones has three to five stories.
Now take a wild guess how many stories not including the wrap around story is present in this movie? Would you ever guess eight of them? What were they thinking, they must've been on some serious drugs to think that could work. Full Moon has a few anthology style movies with their real movies cut down in length. Of course you still see all the important parts including kills.
Clearly they thought ahead how to go about that. Let's take it a step further everybody knows about The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror episodes. Almost thirty episodes with three stories being told per a episode. Majority of them works way better than this garbage. There is a great reason why three or five stories being the limit. More than five stories leads to a disappointing pile of trash.
Also another thing that most horror anthology movies does that this movie surprisingly doesn't. In some of them at least one thing connects them. For example Stephen King's Cat Eyes, a cat is seen in all the stories. Some movies like Trick 'r Treat does connect to each other in some way. Guess what there isn't anything connecting all these stories.
Of course this would be different if we were talking about horror anthology shows but we weren't. Speaking of Trick 'r Treat, I felt All Hallows' Eve 2 is more of a cash in on that movie than the original. Both movies centers on several stories taking place on Halloween. Parts of some stories are similar to each other. At one point, they enforce the spirit of Halloween among people.
Not even the cover is hiding from this movie being deception. This movie was clearly made by a different company from those who made All Hallows' Eve. In a sense that would make it sorta like Creepshow III. Except that movie got slightly more of a idea how a horror anthology movie works. I do agree this movie is better than Creepshow III but they're both incredibly boring movies.
I kid you not I almost fell asleep on this movie. Never a good sign for a horror movie. Let's be more direct absolutely nothing in this movie works. Some of the worst acting I ever seen in any horror movie. Not one story is worth rewatching. For a horror anthology movie that's just sad. Even Tales from the Crypt show made three movies being their own stories was better.
In fact, Ritual was much better than this piece of filth. Sadly I should mention a few more key things about All Hallows' Eve 2. Usually most horror anthology movies including those from Full Moon with shortened versions of their movies. Each one was given just enough time to play out. Thus giving us the illusion of several movies in one.
All Hallows' Eve 2's stories are way too damn short. Literately a few minutes at best, the original All Hallows' Eve gave all stories more time. Also the wrap around story was too lacking in many possible ways. You see a lady being on the phone to quickly look down stairs & doesn't freak out. If I were her, I would get the hell out of the house.
The ending portion of the wrap around story is a huge let down. By this point you already know this woman is going to die. She does stop the tape from playing but out of the clear blue gets her throat slash. Now that's just a horrible way to end a anthology horror movie. Tales from the Hood has a rememberable ending that many horror movies fans remember.
In that movie you find out the three gangstas are already dead & actually inside Hell the entire time. Even Creepshow III had a very slight better ending to the movie. All the effects are terrible that aren't worth revisiting in the near future. This movie already felt too dated for what it is. A true horror movie classic despite all the time passes will always be great to rewatch multiple times.
Yes I know I'm hitting the entire movie without speaking much on these eight pathetic short stories. The first story is Jack Attack not to be confused with Demonic Toys character. You see a boy & his baby sitter eating pumpkin seeds. However this pumpkin doesn't want to be carved. These seeds end up killing both of them & the dog. Oh okay that's where I start minding the level of horror.
The next story is The Last Halloween being set in a post apocalyptic world. Of course you won't realize that until the end of this story. A group of kids is trick or treating. But a man chose not to give them candy. It turns out those kids are actually monsters that are killing people. Honestly Halloween 3's plot with the masks killing people was more effective.
The Offering is one of those stories about giving something to a being as a price. Before I go on, how often do we see a story like this in anthology horror movies & shows too often. Already not working they decide to have the father to sacrifice his own son to this creature. Really movie is that the best you could do because I'm really not impressed.
The only story I might reconsider watching again but not much reason to do so. A Boy's Life is about a boy worthy why his father not being home. Later on he starts noticing something is wrong. Out of no where without actually seeing this creature. His mother gets dragged under his bed. Of course many of you heard about monsters under your beds & closets.
I really wish even if the creature look like crap to at least see what it looks like. Surprisingly you can't even see it's hands grabbing her at all. The Descent is about a woman who witnesses a murder by a psychopath. She ends up meeting him on the elevator or so she thought. The big twist is she was the crazy one killing people. Oh ok I do approve of that kind of end.
M Is For Masochist hands down my favorite story of this movie. It is the only one that doesn't flat out suck. Yes it is the shortest story of being less than five minutes. At the same time I felt that worked to it's advantage. A small group of kids take part in hurting a man later revealed to be one of their dads. The big twist is who ever kills that person becomes the new target of the game.
Oh ok now that's more like it, I only wish it was a little longer but still had fun watching it. Mr. Tricker's Treat is about a man killing people to use them as decorations for Halloween. This largely reminds me of a particular character from Trick 'r Treat movie. This story is easily the most rushed in my opinion.
We don't even get enough time to fully realize what's going on. You could look away for three minutes and be confuse. Alexia is about a man still not over the death of his ex. Her spirit starts to haunt him. I will say it is better than FeardotCom movie. I have seen more entertaining ghost stories. I actually enjoy Mirrors with Kiefer Sutherland.
Honestly two stories won't be enough reason to come back. By having eight short stories instead of the usually three or five makes it a train wreck. It felt like the movie itself really doesn't know what it wants to be. Most kills in this movie are surprisingly more boring than those in Creepshow III. This is one of the absolute worst horror anthology movies I have ever seen.
No comments:
Post a Comment