– (1991) – A geek is coaxed into entering a haunted house attraction that contains an escaped killer. The concept holds promise, but the execution has no idea whether it wants to provide thrills or comedy, and ends up featuring neither. Taking place on Halloween helps, but nothing that occurs holds any weight.
– (2016) – A group of friends tread upon a forbidden barn on Halloween and face the dire consequences. Allegedly takes place in 1989, but aside from some lingo this looks pretty modern. Has some okay gore, but anything dealing with character drama is awful.
– (1985) – A high school student looking to lose his virginity is bitten by a female vampire who won’t leave him alone. Moves incredibly fast and has plenty of outlandish moments, but the humor is rather stale and the plot too flimsy to worry about. Shows signs of Jim Carrey’s bright future, but here he’s as underplayed as all the other characters.
– (2015) – Anthology of eight stories that focus on pumpkin seeds, doomsday, a meat sacrifice, a wrongful death, a carnival game, a frightened kid, a chubby murderer, and an online ghost. Very few stories have any Halloween atmosphere, and most every tale has no direction or purpose. Woefully acted, nonsensical, and horribly constructed.
– (1988) – Castle inhabitants plan to falsely haunt their domain until discovering the place is actually haunted. A sloppily told and noisily concocted story of many characters (most of whom are never fleshed out) dealing with love on earthly and unearthly planes. The atmosphere is strong, but despite many attempts at zany comedy few laughs are had.
– (2015) – A creature of roots and embers attacks three screaming sisters in its wooded domain. Common and drab from a story perspective, but skirts by on some good atmosphere and unintentional hilarity. Needn’t take 112-minutes for such thin material, but most of the padding is the fault of actresses who slowly speak ev-ery syl-la-ble.
– (2014) – A comrade visits the family of a deceased solider over matters of consolation, but such matters gradually go awry. Slowly builds itself into an odd-yet-absorbing story of a stranger who does as he pleases, but goes a little too bananas toward the end. Full of surprises, as well as implausibility, and always provides segments of intrigue. The synth score is especially top notch.
– (2015) – Anthology of ten stories that focus on multiple aspects of Halloween, from killer humans to killer pumpkins. The tales range from barely okay to outright idiotic, despite thriving for holiday themes. The F/X are utterly awful, but somehow the acting is worse.
– (2004) – The descendant of Ichabod Crane faces the return of the Headless Horseman. The Halloween atmosphere is welcoming, but the character stories are corny and trite. Sex talk runs rampant, but this is still light teen fare.
– (2015) – Survivors of the original take on “Pitchfork” within a hospital and beyond. Expands on a legend nobody asked for, and can’t avoid every cliche in the book. More competent than the previous entry, but still serves no purpose.
