Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2019
Images from the Internet
10/31
Compiled by Rocky Gray; directed by Brett DeJager, Rocky
Gray, Zane Hershberger, Johnny Holt, Justin M. Seaman
MVD Entertainment
93 minutes, 2015 / 2019
If you are like me,
Halloween is in your heart no matter what the time of year. While the film is
dated for the last day of October, even in the deep of the Xmas season, horror
will prevail.
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| Malvolia: The Queen of Screams |
It’s nice to cozy up
to the player and watch an anthology film as the snow flies and the temps drop.
This particular comp of shorts deal with that hap-happiest time of the year,
when the pumpkins are showing, and ghosts will be roving all filled with good
scares. Okay, I’m getting away with myself.
The wraparound story,
which is only briefly at the beginning and the end, is presented by real web
horror hostess Malvolia: the Queen of Screams (Jennifer Nagle) with her “Malvolia’s
Halloween Monster Marathon.” Warning, cleavage abounds.
The first story is “The
Old Hag,” directed by Justin M. Seaman, which
is based on the Urban Legend that mixes the horror of an old crone out to steal
your life essence, and the psychology of Night Paralysis, where you are unable
to move in the middle of the night, even though you are conscious of what is
happening around you. For this tale of nocturnal terror, two newbie filmmakers
are commissioned to make a commercial for Montgomery Mansion, a great gothic Bed
& Breakfast whose address could be 1313 Mockingbird Lane – I want to live
there. The first hint that something is amiss is when the owner informs our two
unsuspecting guys that locals refer to it as “the gingerbread house.” Soon, one
of them starts seeing things, such as an old woman in white, that the others do
not. There are some really decent jump scares here and there, and also a
healthy sense of dark humor throughout. You’ll know the outcome, but the ride
there and the aftermath is worth waiting to see.
Next up is “Trespassers,”
directed by Zane Hershberger, which
mixes a couple of different genres in ways that I did not expect (bonus!). A
couple are out on their first date on, yes, Halloween. After a horror film at a
local cinema, she aggressively decides what’s next. He’s as nerdy as she is
outrageous, as is posited by her blue hair (shades of 1986’s Something Wild).
She takes him to a deserted farm where a family in the 1950s came to a bloody
end, and there is a scarecrow left behind. Our girl decides to figure out – as the
Cramps sang about so long ago – what’s behind the mask. We are presented mysterious
shadows and a conclusion that you may not see coming, though I have to say that
this couple has zero chemistry and obviously could never last, as if that were an
option. There is an added element at the end was worth the wait. There is also
a nice nod to George A. Romero in one of the names, but I ain’t a-gonna tell
ya, because it would ruin the surprise.
The third story, by John Holt, is “Killing the Dance,” a throwback
to 1980s slashers that, if I read the signs right, actually takes place at that
time. A young woman is given care of her young nephew on her last day at work
at a roller disco (what a senseless fad that rightfully disappeared pretty damn
quick). She’s in the process of breaking up with her douche of a boyfriend
though he doesn’t know it yet, and now someone has brought a razor onto the
disco floor. This short is very stylistically shot, with lots of literal smoke
and literary mirrors. It’s not hard to tell who the killer is about halfway
through, and yet there are some aspects the viewer may not see ahead of time. I
wish the ending was explained a bit more (I’ll give no more detail than that),
but it’s conclusion is brutal and abrupt. It’s fun, but at times intentionally
silly in the way slashers could be in the ‘80s.
Then there’s Brett DeJager’s “The Halloween Blizzard of 1991.” It’s
the strangest so far of all the stories and so different than the others. While
taking place on Halloween, there is also a Christmas element to it that is
beyond creepy. There’s evil elfin children trick or treating, Santa himself making
an appearance, and some nice slice-and-dice to add it all up. I didn’t know
what the fuck was going on half the time, but enjoyed it nonetheless; go
figure. The acting in this one is wooden at best, and the visual tone is filtered
towards ecru and almost looks like it was shot in 1991 with a VHS. It’s
successful in many ways, even if I’m scratching my head about some aspects. It
almost seems like the revenge of 12/25 over the popularity of 10/31.
“The Samhain Slasher” by Rocky Gray is up for
the last short. It’s a bit of a mash-up, but the main focus is on said slasher,
out to release some red on… do I need to say it at this point? There is a bit
of possession, Ouija spiritualism, dream sequences and so much more thrown in
if a guy (guys?) with a machete roaming around a-hackin’ and a-slashin’ isn’t
enough for you. Gray has a nice way of telling a tale; because there are so
many variations going on, it makes sense that scenes would sway into others,
rather than the standard cut of shot to shot. The gore is prolific and looks good,
though not overly done, and the different genres definitely keep the viewer off
one’s feet of expectations. A really good short.
There are no extras and there is a truly
annoying synth soundtrack that runs throughout most of these, but the stories
are well written and shot, and that is the meat of the matter, innit? Each of
the shorts is about the same length, so that divides the time quite well, and
it’s also time worth spent.
