Release Date - 2013
Genre - Horror/Comedy
Tagline - "He's back for a second helping of human pie"
Format - BluRay (Personal Collection)
Rating (out of 5):
Lately I started seriously collecting the films of Chris Seaver. Seaver is a man that has been making movies since the early 90s. His career has spawned three different production companies. His first, Low Budget Productions, saw the release of Filthy McNasty, Mulva: Zombie Ass Kicker, and Quest for the Egg Salad. The second, Warlock Home Video, was a departure from LBP. These films tried to capture that S.O.V. feel and played on the lost S.O.V. angle with each segment being hosted by the Warlock. Warlock is known for Death O'Lantern, The Dingleberries, and my personal favorite, Die-B-Q. His newest production company, Midnight Kids Productions, is currently working hard on their first release, The Weirdsies. For Halloween 2013 I reviewed Warlock's Death O'Lantern. The film was worth a view but it was cheesy as hell and extremely campy. Right around the time I reviewed the film. Seaver released a sequel that I forgot about. After some time had passed I decided it was time to check it out. I reached out to Seaver and he told me that he was releasing both Death O'Lanterns on a double feature blu. I grabbed a copy and the rest is history. 
The film picks up now, where the original was set in the 80s, where the survivor of the Stingy Jack murders is running a school for those that are haunted by Halloween. A journalist joins the home pretending to be troubled by Halloween and befriends the lone survivor and several other wacky characters. Unbeknownst to them, a witch has resurrected Stingy Jack and plans on using him to bring about bloodshed all over town. Now, the school for troubled youths, along with someone for their past, must team together to stop the pumpkinheaded freak.
You can say a lot about director Chris Seaver and his films but one thing that can always be said is that they are fun regardless if you like the film or not. A Seaver film is a guaranteed laugh. The acting in this one is like most of the other films from Seaver. The cast does not try to deliver amazing performances. Instead, they get into wacky characters that do not exist in the real world and they have fun. Some are able to craft fun characters that deserve all their screen time while others can not die fast enough. The story for this one is one we have seen so many times before. In fact, it reminds me a lot of the last film that I just reviewed, Jack-O. The film follows a group of survivors that deal with a witch who awakens a masked evil. Jack-O followed a family fighting an evil masked evil who just happens to be a wizard. What this film lacks in originality, it makes up for with humor and cheese (not cheesy) dialogue. Humor is this film's strength. Finally, the film does have a few on screen kills but they are not as fun as the first film. The kills are funny and fit with the film but we don't get many kills that are throwbacks to the S.O.V. era like the candle in the eye gag. The practical effects for the kills we do get are cheap and do very little to make it convincing. Overall, Death O'Lantern is a no budget trip through years long gone. The film embodies what it means to make movies in your back yard. If you like no budget S.O.V. flicks then this one will be a fun watch for you. Check it out.
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