By Nia Edwards-Behi
The recent resurgence in anthology horror films seems to have slowed down this past year or so. However, with Tales of Halloween, the subgenre’s given a bit of a shot in the arm, taking on a different format to other anthologies which string together a series of shorts with only a very vague sense of coherency. Straddling something of a middle point between the formats of V/H/S (bleugh), Trick ‘r Treat (yay!) and ABCs of Death (meh), for me Tales of Halloween is a resounding success, a seasonal treat that easily lends itself to annual re-watching.
The main reason for its success is its very canny structure. There are definitely segments which work better than others here, and while none completely missed the mark for me, the point at which I started to think that my attention might be flagging, the film picked me right back up again and straight through ‘til the end. Of the segments, there were certainly more I outright enjoyed than those I thought were just ‘okay’, and that’s more than can be said for a great number of other big anthology films of recent years.
The framing concept of the film contributes to its success too. Rather than simply offering a bunch of shorts on a theme (eg. ABCs), or a string of seemingly unconnected films connected by a wrap-around story (eg. V/H/S), Tales of Halloween offers glances into different stories in one location on Halloween night. There are too many segments for them to intertwine quite as readily as the segments in, say, Trick ‘r Treat, however, I thought the linking together of the stories works. This is helped by the titles and credits appearing altogether at the start of the film, accompanied by main theme music by none other than Lalo Schifrin. The commonalities between the segments can probably be best described as ‘old school’. I mean that positively, as it encompasses not only the range of referential and tongue-in-cheek moments of the film, but also in the stories being told and the overwhelming use of practical effects.
Rather than pick on the segments I feel were less successful (I enjoyed all them to some degree), I want to highlight my favourites. What was nice about approaching the film with credits all done at the start is that I approached most of the film without a clear sense of who’d directed which bit, which meant at the end there were some surprises and unexpected favourites. The film’s opening segment, Dave Parker’s Sweet Tooth, sets the tone nicely: trick or treating, babysitters, urban legends, a sense of humour and lashings of gore. That’s essentially what I mean when I describe the film’s sensibility as ‘old school’ – there’s no sense of pretention or mockery in its embracing of all things Halloween, and it benefits greatly from that.
Darren Lynn Bousman’s The Night Billy Raised Hell is wonderfully anarchic and surprisingly silly, and boasts a hugely entertaining and over-the-top performance from Barry Bostwick. There’s a similar sense of anarchy in Ryan Schifrin’s The Ransom of Rusty Rex, in which a pair of men get more than they bargain for when they attempt to get ransom money out of a man by kidnapping his son. Mike Mendez’s Friday the 31st is a hilarious send-up of slasher films, and features the cutest alien you’ll see all year. Perhaps the most overt homage of the film is Neil Marshall’s Bad Seed, a glorious cop-movie that sees Kristina Klebe investigating, well, pumpkins (you’ll see!). I’ve mentioned elsewhere how effective Axelle Carolyn’s Grimm Grinning Ghost segment is, and it’s by far the most traditionally scary of the film.
I’m actually looking forward to seeing Tales of Halloween a second time (at least), particularly as on first viewing it took me until quite far into the film to realise that characters were being shared (only in the background) between segments. I’m also looking forward to people I know seeing it, as one of the things I really do enjoy about anthology films is finding out the different segments that are favourites and stand-outs for other people.
It almost feels superfluous to say that Tales of Halloween is an ideal Halloween film: it is. If absolutely nothing else (and there is a lot else to enjoy in the film, which I hope I’ve outlined!), the production design on the film is an absolute indulgence of Halloween and the season. From autumnal pumpkins to elaborate decoration to almost everyone appearing in costume, it’s absolutely perfect viewing for Halloween night.
Verdict: Treat!
Tales of Halloween is out on VOD in the UK from tomorrow, 16th October, via Epic Pictures.