Some movies have a lot of promise and squander it before the final credits roll. Halloween Party might be the first that takes a dump literally the last moment before them.
Grace is new to Whatever University and is hanging out with her friend Zoe. They are chatting about Zoe’s recent trip to Thailand and about school and boys and whatnot when a strange website shows up on Zoe’s computer asking Grace what her biggest fear is. Zoe tells her that there is a story going around that if you don’t fill it out before the timer runs out whatever actually IS your biggest fear will come and get you. Zoe fills her’s out and the screen says “You’re Safe”. However, the screen then shows up on Zoe’s cellphone asking the same thing this time of Zoe. She doesn’t fill it out in time because she wants to show Grace the dumb witch that shows up after the timer expires. Not satisfied though, Grace asks what Zoe’s biggest fear actually is. “Pig People” she says and then tells her a story of her childhood and why it has always been her fear. Zoe goes on about her night and shows up to work for an evening of inventory, only to find out she isn’t alone, and her fears have become real.
I never go into a movie expecting to be “wowed” by any part of it. That makes it easier for me to honestly be able to enjoy the little things that some movies do so well. Halloween Party does several things very well for a movie that doesn’t have a 100m dollar budget. It’s shot very well, the acting is decent, and it does a lot with a little. The scenes that very easily could have been ridiculously over-the-top were subtle and quick. The deaths are never played up for the camera and as such, carry more weight.
Not everything in this movie is bubblegum and rainbows though. Starting with the plot. It’s essentially a reimagining of Ringu/The Ring. Nothing really super creative there. Get the thing, do the thing, or die. There’s a lot of plot holes too or at the very least a bunch of rules, the movie makes and then immediately breaks. Then… there’s the ending. It’s a wet fart when you least expect it or want it. Seriously, I was basically on board with everything it was laying out until everything came to a screeching end that made me laugh so hard it contradicted the first hour and thirty minutes of the movie.
I guess that I can and would recommend this movie if for no other reason than the ending, honestly. It just perpetuates the idea that I have that the Ring series is a comedy.
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