Starring - Joni Durian (Alone in the Ghost House), Haley Madison (CarousHELL), and Brandon Salkil (Kill That Bitch)
Release Date - 2016
Genre - Horror/Comedy
Format - Streaming
Rating (out of 5):
This year has been a pretty shitty year. We have lost so many amazing people that brought us joy. Dozens of musicians, artists, philanthropists, actors, and actresses lost their lives. In terms of loss, this has been the saddest year that I can remember. To make this year feel even more worse, some of my favorite filmmakers have yet to release a film which is something I tend to look forward to. Richard Griffin, Eamon Hardiman, and Dustin Mills have yet to release a new movie which is a bummer but that would change. Just a few days ago Dustin Mills partnered with YouTuber, actor, and director Dave Parker to release the Halloween anthology Halloween Spookies for free. This was welcomed news. I spoke with Dave some about it when we were hanging out at Cinema Wasteland but little info was given to me then. 
The film follows two witches who tell stories to a lost trick or treater. The first story, The Babysitter, follows a young babysitter who is watching two small children who have a fear of clowns after they say they see one wondering around their home but their parents have yet to see it. While she is alone she happens up on the clown and has to defend herself from the knife wielding maniac. The second story, The Messenger, we follow a struggling writer who finds a strange man in his home. When he confronts him he finds that the man is dead and is brought there to tell him that he is actually dead and will need to finish his novel before he can move over to the other side. The third and final tale, The Familiars, follows a young man who wants to join a gang but is tasked with performing a ritual in order to get in. His friend convinces him to use the book they gave him to raise a demon. They are successful in calling a demon...which is actually three demons. They second guess themselves and try to stop them before they kill everyone.
When I heard that Mills partnered with Parker to create a kid friendly Halloween film I had a boner. I real boner...in my pants. I love Mills work, Halloween, and kid friendly horror. Goosebumps, Hocus Pocus, Under Wraps, Halloweentown, and the Halloween Tree are some of my favorite Halloween watches so finding a Mills/Parker production ready for the holiday was damn near perfect. The acting in this one is great. Brandon Salkil is one of the best actors in the indie game. He always brings his characters to life on screen. His performance in Slimey Little Bastards will never be topped but he gave it a damn good shot in Halloween Spookies. We also get an unforgettable performance from co-director Dave Parker who kills it as an undead messenger. Dave was fucking fantastic and delivered one memorable performance. I would love to see this character return in another film or short. The film also has another great performance from DMP and Crumbleshack regulars Joni Durian and Haley Madison. They held all the stories together and were very enjoyable. The rest of the cast is great as well and really helped the story along. The stories for this anthology is fun and had roots in other Halloween classics of the past. They may not be original but by god they hit the right spots. The first tale, The Babysitter, is similar to most paranormal horror film that are centered around a babysitter but the supernatural aspect was replaced with a clown. The second tale, The Messenger, was great. It was a solid mash up of The Heavenly Kid and Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey. Dave Parker definitely modeled his character after William Sadler's character Death in Bill and Ted along with Bobby Fantana from The Heavenly Kid. I loved it and could see this character taking center stage in another movie. The third tale, The Familiars, is the cream of the crop. The story brings Dustin back to what made him popular in the indie horror community and put him smack dab in the middle of puppet mayhem. The whole demonic puppet angle was brilliant. The wrap around story is what brings the movie together. The witches telling stories was great and sold the film. Finally, those of you looking for gore will not find it here. There may be some blood, very little if any, but the film does not rely on death and gore. Instead, it takes the viewer to a time when Halloween movies were centered around the holiday and not the gore. Overall, Halloween Spookies is for the nostalgic horror fan. If you grew up watching Ernest Scared Stupid and The Willies then this movie is for you. It has some laughs and a lot of charm. Check it out. 
No comments:
Post a Comment