If you’re like me, you love the anthology film Trick ‘r Treat. It’s one of the best, if not the best horror anthology movie ever, and easily one of the best horror movies period. Truly a modern classic. So it goes without saying I’m psyched for Trick ‘r Treat 2. Who has the patience to wait till God-knows-when for it to hit theaters though? Fortunately in lieu of a sequel we have the weird second cousin of Trick ‘r Treat, a delightful pillow case of tricks and treats called Tales of Halloween.
I would like to say I discovered this movie and submitted it for review. I’d like to say that, but in reality I was hunting online for something to scratch my horror itch and found this by accident. It was only after I started watching that I realized it was on the Psycho Drive-In suggested movie list. Yay for happy accidents. What made me interested was it being an anthology, which I love, being a fan of short stories in film and books.
I did pause with raised eyebrow when I saw the run time. Ten shorts squeezed into ninety-seven minutes? I knew it was going to be tight, and I feel the three minute intro was a bit unnecessary. However, despite the shortness of the stories, most of them are good, with a little bleed over into other stories.
The first story is called “Sweet Tooth” and to my disappointment it did not feature a murderous clown. It opens with a young kid going through his candy and being annoyed by his older sister’s boyfriend, a horror main stay if ever there was one. To say more is to spoil. Let us just say you should respect local legends. And never get greedy with your candy. Short and dark, this is a good intro story.
The next story “The Night Billy Raised Hell” is more comedic. In fact, it was a little too silly for me at first due to the overuse of cartoon sound effects. This story has another little brother egged on by another sister’s boyfriend (see what I mean?) into egging a grumpy old man’s house, but the old man turns out to be a demon (no spoiler there) I don’t know who Barry Bostwick is, but he clearly had a good time playing the old man. The demon takes the boy out to teach him how to do a ‘real Halloween prank.’ Even so I wasn’t feeling this one till the end, which is nothing shy of great.
“Trick” is about two couples getting high and handing out candy to kids. Things take a violent turn quickly. This tale of revenge is one of the weaker stories for plot reasons. I guess if there was a moral to this tale, it would be to call 9-1-1 instead of deleting photos from your phone.
The “Weak and the Wicked is my personal favorite story. This one is also set up by the radio DJ narrator who sets up the whole movie, offering a warning of safety to the weak, and the wicked prowling the night who would prey on them. This one feels shorter because not a lot happens. A trio of Hot Topic thug wannabes (I can’t call them a gang without snickering. Grace Phipps is just too cute to be threatening) are picking on some kid when they are interrupted by a strange figure seen only in shadow. Following the heels of the last story, this is another tale of revenge, albeit more in the vein of Tales from the Crypt.
“Grimm Grinning Ghost” is about a woman attending her mother’s annual Halloween party (her mother is our narrator) and getting sauced. She is told about another local legend, making me wonder how many this local legends this town has. This one is about the rules and rituals we make up to control our lives. Remember those old fears as you went down a dark hall, or crossed the room from your light switch to the door? Remember the gripping fear that something was chasing you? That’s what this story is about. Sometimes it’s better not knowing what is behind you…
“Ding Dong” is the weakest story, and just weird. It’s not funny or scary. It just exists. It about a man who discovers his baby crazy wife is a witch. That sounds more interesting than it actually is. This is the only story I would call bad. No plot, no rhyme or reason, and an ending that tries to be funny and fails. It’s just a bad story. Moving on—
The next story is called “This Means War.” One man loves Halloween, and goes all out every year. His new neighbor has different tastes in décor, choosing gruesome, realistic props over corny skeletons, headstones and cobwebs. The traditional guy takes offence at the nasty displays, and the metal music, and tries to tell the new guy off. Things quickly escalate, ending on an almost ironic note. Perhaps the moral here was ‘to each his own.’ This story is amusing, but not super funny.
Which brings us to “Friday the 31st” This starts where most horror movies are wrapping up, with the last girl running for her life from a masked psychopath. He’s either Jason’s cousin, or Sloth went really bad after The Goonies.
If this had merely been a Friday the 13th parody I would have been happy. I refuse to say more because I would spoil it. This is easily one of the funniest story of the anthology and you just have to see it to believe it.
If any story could challenge the last one for funniest, it would be “The Ransom of Rusty Rex.” A kidnapping goes very wrong. Or very right, depending on how you look at it. The ending brings the horror of the situation home in a truly delightful way.
And last but not least we have “Bad seed.” Pumpkin carving takes a twisted and bloody turn, and threatens to plunge the town into a nightmare of chaos, if a certain detective can’t get to the bottom of the mystery and find the killer. This one makes a few references to other stories, and serves to wrap things up, while suggesting that Halloween may not be over just yet.
All said, I think this is a great Halloween popcorn movie. Be prepared to laugh, groan, and maybe even catch a shiver or two. Oh, and don’t forget to leave some candy for Sweet Tooth.