All Hallows’ Eve 2 (2015)
Matt Boiselle
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Starring Landon Ackerman, April Adamson, Ali Adatia
Directed by Jesse Baget, Elias Benavidez, 9 other credits
The best possible remedy to completely screwing up a prior anthology is to correct all of the wrongs that were previously on display and make amends for said screw-ups, thereby making people somewhat forget about the previous debacle they’ve unfortunately laid eyes upon. In the case of All Hallows’ Eve 2, the act of correction was successfully achieved… but not by much.
Directed by a multitude of lensmen, the film abandons the prior “killer clown” centerpiece and opts for a more sanitary lunatic called “The Trickster” – he wears a giant pumpkin mask and terrorizes his female lead in an admirable wraparound story. So tighten up your masks, make sure that those store-bought vinyl costumes aren’t riding too high in your crotch area, and listen up, as I’ll be breaking down all 8 shorts in no particular order – some are memorable, some need to be flushed home, but in any event, they all add up to a fairly decent assemblage of spooky tales that will fit nicely in your Halloween movie marathon – here we go!
M Is for Masochist: A super quick glimpse of a sideshow carnival game that relies on the sadism of men who are torturing some poor soul strapped to a spinning wheel, all the while being directed by a barking carny – odd, not too terribly appealing, and WAY too quick to invest any time in the characters on display.
The Offering: Another flash-burst about a father-son duo who travel to the woods to make a sacrifice, only to find out that a key component has gone missing – predictable, but fun nonetheless.
Mr. Tricker’s Treat: The local Halloween fanatic has simply the best decorations in town… but upon close inspection, we learn what makes his displays so incredibly lifelike – fairly demented, and mildly funny to boot.
The Last Halloween: Following the house-to-house exploits of four trick-or-treaters… yeah, this one bored me to tears.
A Boy’s Life: A very imaginative young boy goes to great lengths to prove to his mom that the creature living under his bed isn’t just a story he’s been telling – this one will put you to sleep faster than a Jack Daniels and NyQuil shooter.
Alexia: A grieving man decides it’s time to pull the plug on his infatuation with his dead girlfriend’s social media page… only problem is SOMETHING won’t let him hit the delete button – surprisingly sharp and moderately creepy – one of the movie’s best quickies.
Jack Attack: The art of pumpkin-carving is a delicate one, and you’ve got to wonder if the pumpkins really feel any pain, and if so, would they relish the chance to exact revenge? – gory little short, and one that will make you think twice about cutting up one of these decorative gourds and eating the innards.
Descent: A woman ends up stuck in an elevator with the escaped killer who murdered her best friend a while back – without a doubt, the gem of the entire presentation – it’ll hook you and not let go.
Combined with the wraparound story, All Hallows’ Eve 2 serves as a standalone pic from its predecessor and is at least worth a one-time-watch to kill a bit of space between some of the more prominent seasonal flicks on parade this time of year. Give it a spin if it finds its way into your goodie bag.
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Film
Categorized:Reviews
