lsaucier-76885 This is my first time reviewing a movie on this site. I disliked this film so much, I feel the need to warn others to stay away. As a disclaimer: I am a fan of classic horror films, as well as more modern horror films and bad b-movie type of movies. There is nothing charming about this set of short films. They are not scary, they are not funny. They are not creative or even very interesting. Despite there being 10 short films to watch, only a handful of times did I find myself actually engaged with the characters and story lines. Here is a run down of events as best I can remember them (keeping in mind I watched this movie just 3 hours ago.) Sweet Tooth - Two uninteresting teens tell a slasher ghost story to a little boy. The story (for the first time ever, apparently, despite this story being a "rite of passage" and town legend) comes true. Characters make bad choices, and the viewer is left more confused than entertained. The Night Billy Raised Hell - A neighbor plays a prank of Halloween night. This segment was meant to be funny, but all of the sound effects and horny devils came across as more cringe inducing and bizarre than actually hilarious. Also there is a strange and inexplicable cameo from America's Next Top Model Adrien Curry.Trick - Seemingly chill adults are terrorized on Halloween Night. This one left me yelling at my television set as adults try to hide in very small corners and fall drunkenly into pools. I feel this would have been better done if the attackers were the main characters. Again, I was left more confused overall because even though I could see what the director was trying to say, it wasn't done effectively. The Weak and The Wicked - Western styled. Arsonists. Cool costume design. One of the more engaging films of the series, but still eye-roll inducing. Grim Grinning Ghost - After hearing a ghost story, a woman is afraid to travel home alone at night. I appreciated this one. Things were set up nicely, and almost every set up had a pay off. Solid premise, if more classic story telling. Ding Dong - This one was ... interesting. A woman wants to have a baby. Oh boy, does she REALLY want to have a baby. The husband grapples with his wife's desires. Ovens are involved. And silly blonde wigs. The overall premise was enjoyable and I liked the costume work and creepy imagery. Unfortunately again, this one was a muddled attempt that ultimately felt under-done. Maybe if given more time overall (and less screen time devoted to flashes of red face paint) it could have been stronger. This Means War - I liked this one. Simple premise, reliable narrative, engaging ending. Friday The 31st - This segment made me and my watching partner very, very angry. While the other short films had so far been mostly boring, confusing or underwhelming, this one was so stupid it made my blood boil. No logic here. Just cheap callbacks to beloved horror movies like The Evil Dead, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, etc. poorly done and thrown together for kicks. This was a joke between friends that was taken too far and allowed onto the screen. The Ransom Of Rusty Rex - Plot twists and kidnappings. Enjoyable, amusing, somewhat gross. One of the better segments, well acted compared to other bits. Bad Seed - Ugh. Spare me! By this point I was just waiting for the movie to be over. I'd come too far to really stop now. The effects were cool, and the premise was a strong one, but I was emotionally drained and stupefied by and hour and a half of horrible Halloween "fun".I would highly suggest saving your money and your sanity and choosing to watch literally ANY other film this Halloween. Seriously. Anything else.

jtindahouse I ended up enjoying enjoying 'Tales of Halloween' more than I expected to - sort of at least. I had low expectations going in, then I didn't enjoy the first segment and was really dreading sitting through nine more of these things. Then things picked up. Then they went down hill again, and then back up. It really was a roller coaster ride in terms of quality. Breaking each of the ten segments down into simply good, average or bad would go a little something like this:Sweet Tooth: badThe Night Billy Raised Hell: goodTrick: averageThe Weak and the Wicked: goodDing Dong: badGrim Grinning Ghost: averageThis Means War: badFriday the 31st: average (terrible story, but had the most effective scare of the whole film)The Ransom of Rusty Rex: badBad Seed: badSo half of them were bad, three were average and two were good. If you'd told me that would be the breakdown going in I probably would've taken it. Not happily, but it's certainly better than all ten of them being shocking. My advice would be to give it a miss though. Even in the terrible world of modern horror there are better things out there than this.

sunsphxsuns RECIPE: Into a large cauldron carefully separate 10 Tales. Add equal parts of creativity and passion from Directors and Writers Neil Marshall, Axelle Carolyn, Darren Lynn Bousman, Mike Mendez, Adam Gierasch, Adam Kasch, Paul Solet, Lucky McKeee, Dave Parker, Ryan Schifrin, and John Skip. Next, gently fold in the Cast, Grace Phipps, Noah Segan, Alex Essoe, Pat Healy, Lin Shaye, Sam Witwer, Ben Woolf, Booboo Stewart, Barry Bostwick, Keir Gilchrist, Joe Dante, and Marc Senter. Bake for about 97 minutes. RESULT: What you'll wind up with is a perfect anthology of entertaining stories called Tales of Halloween. Tales of Halloween has the ability to attract a wide target audience, like it was intentionally made for everybody's enjoyment. Yet ironically, it probably will not appeal to everyone. It's edgy material (think Quentin Tarantino rated very R). But it's sweet too in its own dark little way. The stories, filmed beautifully, include scary witches, spooky ghosts, nefarious demons, the devil himself, lots of goblins, a few serial killers and in one hilarious (and quite graphic episode) an unexpected alien encounter with a tiny Intergalactic Trick Or Treater! All of the Tales are profoundly entertaining and slick. My favorite was The Night Billy Raised Hell, a very funny story about what can happen on Halloween when you elect to "Trick" the Devil (who coincidentally happens to live in your neighborhood). It's a fiendishly hilarious story. But to be fair, all of the episodes are wonderful, the cast is perfect including an unexpected cameo from Director John Landis, and though each story is different, they seem to compliment each other visually. Even the sound track is hugely appealing. There are moments where surf music transports you back to The Endless Summer. But it's not a pier the characters are shooting. It's monsters and demons and flesh-eating pumpkins, and, occasionally, humans capping each other. Nevertheless the sound track is so unrestrained and clever it could stand on its own (which, incidentally, it does with a CD in the Tales of Halloween Collector's Set). Some of the stories absolutely ooze nostalgia, like something you'd remember from a 60's late night Creep Show on black and white television. There's also a very thoughtful thread of artistic homage throughout the Tales. For example, the opening sequence is reminiscent of Tim Burton's Ed Wood, allowing the viewer to get a peek at the running order of the upcoming episodes. Some of the tales appear to be filmed simply for the "scare factor," while others seem to appeal to a more dark and sardonic sense of humor. Yet they all fit nicely together to deliver ghoulishly delightful themes of pure Halloween Horror. I think Tales of Halloween pairs very well with Michael Dougherty's wonderful 2007 Trick 'r Treat in terms of slickness, visual quality, engaging cast, and beautiful photography. (Oh, please Michael, give us Trick 'r Treat 2 before you film anything else!). Tales of Halloween is perfect for a Halloween Viewing Party with friends or just to be watched alone. In the dark. By yourself. At your own risk. With nothing to protect you from the clutches of Incarnate Evil except a menacing bowl of buttered popcorn and a ridiculously heavy 36 ounce soft drink. Tales of Halloween Definitely Wants You To Have A Happy Halloween . . . but only if you dare.

utgard14 Terrible horror anthology...well, horror comedy anthology, I guess, since there's a lot of attempts at being funny in this. Almost all of the stories here fall flat. The best of the lot being the second story, "The Night Billy Raised Hell," with Barry Bostwick as a devil (or THE devil, I don't know which) who teaches a boy how to do proper pranks on Halloween. It's got a few good chuckles in it but it's nothing particularly special. The rest of the stories are borderline unwatchable. Others have compared this to kiddie things like R.L. Stine stories and I guess I can see that. I'm not sure if that was intentional on the part of the directors involved, most of whom have more straightforward horror creds in their resume. Anyway, perhaps there is a market for this and I'm just not in it. I thought it was really bad, both as horror and comedy.