Tales of Halloween (2015) User Reviews

Ten Entertaining Tales of Halloween

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 19 November 2016]

Divided in ten segments by ten different directors, "Tales of Halloween" is an entertaining horror–comedy film in the style of "Tales from the Crypt" with the theme of Halloween.

1st) "Sweet Tooth": A boy collects candies in the Halloween, and his babysitter and her boyfriend tells the legend of an evil being that has sweet tooth and kills those who do not share candies with him. They eat the boy's candies and discover the truth about the legend. This tale is funny and gore. My vote is six.

2nd) "The Night Billy Raised Hell": a boy dressed like a devil is forced by his sister and her boyfriend to throw an egg at the house of a secluded man. However the man is the devil and he teaches how to create havoc in the Halloween night. This tale is also funny because of the devil's tricks and has a surprising end. My vote is seven.

3rd) "Trick": a group of drugged and drunken friends are attacked by kids that ring the bell and break in their house. Why are they under attack? This gory tale has an intriguing screenplay with a surprising end. My vote is six.

4th) "The Weak and the Wicked": a gang led by a teenage girl bullies a teenager and he summons a demon. The three bullies hunt him down and he run to the place where his house and his parents had been burned to ashes by the gang. This dark tale of revenge is too short and could be a little longer, but with a surprising end. My vote is five.

5th) "Grim Grinning Ghost": a young woman goes to a Halloween party at her mother's home that tells a story of a fiend. When she goes home, her car breaks and she has to walk home. She startles with footsteps and a laugh behind her on the street. Could it be the evil spirit? This tale has a creepy atmosphere and a scary conclusion. My vote is six.

6th) "This Means War": a man discovers that his wife is a witch that likes to eat children. This tale is silly and one of the weakest of this anthology. My vote is five.

7th) "This Means War": a man is proud of his Halloween decoration that attracts many viewers. However his new neighbor with his friends dispute with him the best decoration and they begin a war. This tale is a tragic comedy with a stupid situation. My vote is five.

8th) "Friday the 31st": a disfigured serial-killer confronts an alien that possesses the body of one of his victims. This silly tale is a parody of Friday the 13th but the fight between Jason and the alien does not work well. My vote is five.

9th) "The Ransom of Rusty Rex": two thieves abduct the son of a wealthy man o ask for ransom. However the man refuses to pay and the men have a surprise. This tale is certainly the best one with a great twist. My vote is eight.

10th) "Bad Seed": a man carves a pumpkin that eats him. A skeptic detective has to hunt down the pumpkin and finds where it was produced. This tale is also great with a trash story. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Like a standard Halloween candy haul.

[horrorinpureform · 6/10 · 16 October 2015]

Tales of Halloween perfectly emulates a trick-or-treater's haul in their Halloween candy bag. There are a few pieces of chocolate and candy which you want to scarf down right away, more which you eat hesitantly when you run out of the better stuff, and some which you flat out throw into the trash. The quality of the assortment of shorts follows that general pattern.

On the delicious side, I enjoyed the opening short (Sweet Tooth), because it presented a funny and entertaining Halloween legend, with some pretty excellent gore. It was funny and over the top but it still remembered to throw some actual horror in there (like a very effective jump scare that pays homage to Exorcist III). Another good one is Lucky Mckee's entry "Ding Dong", which stars the most active current horror queen (Pollyanna Mcintosh) who does a fantastic, hilarious job acting out her insane character. It is over the top and ridiculous while exposing sad, deep-rooted feelings.

In the middle of the pack (the hard candy and stale gumballs) are most of the entries. There are some that are almost successful - The Night Billy Raised Hell was hilarious but mostly due to the amazing performance of the devil neighbor, he was great; Trick had a very fun concept which was unpredictable compared to the rest of the film, but very poor execution (rushed, convoluted, self- inconsistent, and poorly acted); Grimm Grinning Ghost had exceptional acting with some familiar horror faces (the girl from Starry Eyes, the psychic from Insidious) but it felt like a creepypasta come to life (had shades of The Smiling Man) and existed mostly for the purpose of a very effective jump scare at its culmination. There are others in the middle of the pack which aren't even close to successful but are not unwatchable either - The Ransom of Rusty Rex is "cute" at best and very generic (I saw an identical short film just a year ago); Bad Seed has two or three funny lines but is a MAJOR letdown from a director like Neil Marshall (a CSI parody where the killer is a pumpkin, which would make a good low budget you-tube or Key & Peele sketch but feels unfit for a feature and for the running time it got).

Then there are the dental floss, apples, and raisins of the pack. To me personally they had no redeeming value and I did not enjoy any part of them, from acting to script to visuals. The Weak and the Wicked is an emotionally uninvolving tale with poor storytelling and severely miscast actors (the "street thugs" looked like Hot Topic employees). Friday the 31st, about a Jason-like killer having the tables turn on him, is the kind of cheesy one-joke short that someone new to After Effects would make as practice. And finally, the worst of the bunch, the razorblade inside a piece of candy, is "This Means War", about two neighbors competing over their Halloween decorations. Both the concept and execution were amateurish and I don't know how it wasn't axed at any point.

Tales of Halloween is not a great film but at least it is temporarily entertaining while it lasts (most of it anyway) and is much, much better than other recent attempts at anthology films (ABCs of Death 1/2, V/H/S 1/2/3, etc). I don't think it is worth seeing in theaters but I can see it being fun as a Halloween night movie with friends and beers (for those who are bored of the better holiday offerings, like Trick'r'Treat).

Ten very different stories, told with a wide-ranging degree of success, but never boring: that's Tales of Halloween.

[BA_Harrison · 7/10 · 18 October 2015]

It's nearly that time of year again, so what better way to pass the time than to settle down with Tales of Halloween, a seasonal anthology from ten of today's hottest horror directors that features cameos from some of the genre's giants.

As is often the case with anthologies (especially one with so many stories, like this), it's a very mixed bag—some parts work very well, other's are less effective—but for my money, this is still more fun than that other Halloween anthology of late, Trick 'r Treat, which I found frustratingly mediocre all the way through.

'80s scream Queen Adrienne Barbeau introduces the tales, starting with 'Sweet Tooth', by director Dave Parker (The Hills Run Red). An enjoyable way to kick things off, this sets the tone perfectly with a Halloween legend coming true for a young trick or treater with gory results. This is followed by 'The Night Billy Raised Hell', from Darren Lynn Bousman (Repo: The Genetic Opera), who introduces a bit of dark comedy into the mix with his amusing story of a boy who meets a demon (Barry Bostwick) that shows him the secrets of extreme pranking.

Segments 3 and 4—Adam Gierasch 's 'Trick' and Paul Solet's 'The Weak and the Wicked' are passable fare, revolving around vengeful killer kids and the summoning of a demon; Axelle Carolyn's 'Grimm Grinning Ghost' starts off promisingly, but winds up being little more than a weak attempt at providing a cheap jump scare (which I fully expected). Lucky McKee's 'Ding Dong', is without doubt the weirdest of the ten tales (and my least favourite), featuring a childless woman who turns into a witch when emotional.

'This Means War' from Andrew Kasch is kinda forgettable, although at least there's fun to be had from trying to spot numerous cameos, but things get much better with the next story 'Friday the 31st' (by Mike Mendez), which is totally bonkers and extremely gory: a deformed killer gets a taste of his own medicine after a tiny trick or treating alien possesses the body of sexy victim Dorothy, who returns from the dead to turn the tables on her attacker. The plot might not make much sense, but this one is so gleefully insane and incredibly bloody that I couldn't help but love it.

'The Ransom of Rusty Rex' is also very enjoyable: directed by Ryan Schifrin (son of movie composer Lalo, who provides the score for Tales of Halloween), it follows a pair of unfortunate kidnappers whose victim turns out to be a hideous little demon whose 'father' is only too happy to be rid of. This is followed by Bad Seed, from Neil Marshall (The Descent), which features a fun premise—a man-eating pumpkin on the rampage—but sadly ends proceedings on a rather weak note.

6.5/10, happily rounded up to 7 for that adorable Halloween-lovin' extraterrestrial.

Not to be taken too seriously.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 5/10 · 23 October 2020]

It's not a bad movie, in the tradition of horror movies told in segments. For those of you that love the hard hitting, serious horror movies, this is one to pass by, as it's quite whimsical and light, horror for young teens.

Some of the segments are poor, some are ok, the last two are perhaps the best of all. The acting varies from poor to decent, and the special effects, they are as you'd expect from a low budget horror.

You will see the odd dead body twitching, but who cares, it's a fun watch for Old Hallow's Eve. 5/10.

Consistent quality, wide spectrum

[begob · 6/10 · 18 October 2015]

Well produced anthology, with high values on direction, camera, acting, editing and sound.

The first half seems more coherent, with a scarier vibe and what looks like an editorial rule of having screen shots of Romero's classic in each one. There's a definite theme of Grimm's fairy tales running through it, as kids get sucked into the weird world of Halloween. My favourite was Ding Dong, about a child-craving woman, mostly because it has Pollyanna Macintosh. But the Lin Shaye story, although stylish, seemed a bit unpolished. The first story has a pretty good take on the Exorcist III jump scare, this time running from right to left.

The second half goes more campy head-banger with loads of blood. Eventually the tongue is pushed so hard into the cheek that a little bit comes out the other side.

There's no wraparound, just a silky female DJ voice with a few nods to The Fog.

Overall, enjoyable and something for everyone - but I prefer creeps over chuckles, and felt in the end this was pitched at the Budweiser crowd. Rice beer is such a downer.

Huge Mixed Bag!

[DarkSpotOn · 5/10 · 1 June 2023]

This is one of these films like V/H/S and ABCs of Death. Well, some of the stories just like in V/HS are amazing, and some suck. Most of these stories should have gotten their full-length films instead of these short segments. Also, I have to say: All women in these short films look beautiful.

1st Story - This story was okay. It isn't anything special but it would have been cool to have more depth in here...

2nd Story: - Okay as well. I enjoyed how the main character with his mate just went out of his way to create crazy stuff. It's not anything ultra, but it's still sort of cool.

3rd Story: - This story was terrible. I just did not care at all. These kids aren't just fun in any way just attacking two couples, why? Boring not good at all in my opinion, typical random slasher stuff.

4th Story -I LOVED THIS ONE. This segment deserves its film! The badass good-looking chick with her two buddies, goes out of their way to bully this young guy, and then the guy gets his revenge, for them taking the lives of his family, with this awesome demon creature, this segment rules. (Would love a full-length film of this).

5th Story - A bad re-creation of the 1st story. Copy and paste boring stuff, your typical Conjuring stuff. No good at all.

6th Story - Weird, not boring but just weird and sort of cool. This couple that are upset cuz they can not have a child. The lady is trying her best to get a child to take care of... So she is trying to entertain the kids for Halloween... It is a cool weird story honestly.

7th Story - The two guys fighting to the death, this was pretty fun to watch too... You can see two sides of Halloween: The regular side, and the extreme side, and then they fight it off. It was sort of cool.

8th Story - The worst story of all. I hated this. First off i do not like Friday the 13th Franchise, i think it is an overrated boring film, and just like any slasher, I was just bored and it was just dull and bad.

9th Story - Goofy. I can't say anything else, these two guys kidnapping this kid that turns out to be a goblin and then tortures them. Nothing special.

10th Story - 2nd BEST STORY: Pumpkin that is alive that is going on a rampage. I enjoyed this story and I'd watch a full version of this too!

AMAZING STORIES: 4th and 10th Story

Decent Stories: 1st Story, 2nd Story, 6th Story, 7th Story,

Terrible Stories: 3rd Story, 5th Story, 8th Story, 9th Story

This movie just like VHS is a big mixed bag. It would be cool to see the 4th and 10th stories in full length films!

It's Entertaining and Fun, but Not Winning Any Creativity Awards

[TheRedDeath30 · 6/10 · 22 August 2016]

It seems that I review more and more horror anthologies all the time. Open up the reviews section in your favorite horror mag, scroll through the options on a site like Netflix or just surf through social media and it feels like the indie horror world is inundated with anthologies right now. Though this format has long existed, I look to the success of the V/H/S franchise mostly as the impetus in the modern boom. It makes perfect sense when you consider the restrictions of indie horror. After all, these movies offer young film makers a perfect chance to get their name out there, work on a short film and be seen by a sort of wide audience, without having to worry about the burdens of character development and script enhancement.

The problem with most of this wave of anthologies is the consistency of quality. This movie, like most before it, have a few decent short surrounded by a bevy of forgettable moments, then a few outright duds thrown in as well. The thing that makes it so appealing is, also, its' downfall for the serious horror fan because the time constriction just doesn't allow for any development, especially in tone, which for me is so important in horror.

This is, also, pretty low budget, all things considered, which is not a negative for me, but probably will be for many others. You can expect painfully average acting, bad dialog and some elementary creature designs, but for me that's all part of the fun. I can go along for the ride and enjoy the ideas.

The "wraparound" framing in this movie is that it all takes place in the same town on a crazy Halloween night. Sound familiar? Yes, the biggest thing working against this movie is a comparison to the far superior TRICK R TREAT. Our host for the evening is Adrienne Barbeau, essentially, riffing off her famous role in THE FOG playing a radio DJ here who is hosting us for the evening.

One personal note. I attend a LOT of horror conventions and had a lot of fun seeing con regulars all over this feature. A good portion of these actors spend their weekends at fan conventions which made it feel like I was seeing old friends, which made it more favorable for me.

SWEET TOOTH is the first short, which sees some actors known for roles in WEIRD SCIENCE and TCM2. The movie does an admirable job of trying to create a new urban legend, based on a monster who just wants his share of the treats. It has some good indie horror gore, but is brought down by a terrible creature design.

THE NIGHT BILLY RAISED HELL sees Barry Bostwick as The Devil, enticing a young lad into his first evening of Halloween pranks. It's that sort of low budget comedic horror that just doesn't work for me.

TRICK sees a group of partying adults terrorized by trick or treaters. It goes for a typical TALES FROM THE CRYPT twist ending, that is a little too predictable. The acting is flat and the story is flatter.

THE WEAK AND THE WICKED is a revenge tale with a post-apocalyptic feel to it. It suffers from the brevity of the short as it isn't able to elicit the empathy the audience needs to have in any character for it to truly have impact, but it's not bad.

GRIM GRINNING GHOST is entirely forgettable. A woman hears a scary story, gets followed by a ghost, sees the ghost. The end. There is no attempt to flesh it out really to anything more than that. The only redeeming point is a cast of familiar horror faces.

DING DONG proves to me that Lucky McKee continues to be one of the most overrated directors in indie horror today. It's a tale of a couple dealing with the loss of their child. It tries so hard to mingle allusions to fairy tale mythology with some surrealist imagery, but just feels so forced and plays as annoying.

THIS MEANS WAR was one of the better shorts. It uses two neighbors warring over their Halloween decorations as a playful exploration of the clash between old school Gothic terror and new school gory horror. It's fun and never tries to be anything more than an amusing little short.

Friday THE 31st sees a cliché slasher killer coming up against an even bigger threat from another world. It features claymation and comedy to accomplish a short that is amusing.

THE RANSOM OF RUSTY REX has two guys (including a second-rate WALKING DEAD star) kidnap Meep from American HORROR STORY, believing him to be the rich son of John Landis. They end up getting far more than they bargained for when the kidnap victim turns out not to be your average kid. Again, it's a little more funny than horrific and doesn't completely work, but it knows what it is and stays within the limits of a 10 minute short to present a story.

Finally, Neil Marshall brings us BAD SEED, a riff on HALLOWEEN 3 (it would seem) that also features some cheesy good claymation effects, along with an appearance from Joe Dante. It's not one of the better shorts in the movie, but has an ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES feel to it.

The movie delivered exactly what I wanted, which was 90 minutes of fun entertainment, a lot of mindless gore and some laughs along the way. Given the format and the budget, I'd say that all did a good job. By no means an exceptional film, I will give it another spin come Halloween season.

No. Just no.

[snwlf1-7-939436 · 1/10 · 16 September 2020]

I like a good, strange movie occasionally, but this one made little sense most of the time.

I won't comment on the acting or effects, there are enough reviews that I have seen regarding those. And as a fan of the classic Universal monster, old Vincent Prince, Three Stooges and Abbott and Costello monster movies, I knkw that seldom does acting or effects determine my enjoyment of a spooky-season movie. Cohesive storytelling on the other hand, that is important. I can forgive a multitude of sins if the story makes sense.

Tales of Halloween is described as "the best horror anthology since Trick'r Treat". But where Trick'r Treat's connectivity was integrated into each story, (characters appearing in the background, Sam being present, past events influencing more than one story), this rancid pile of pumpkin gut's connections are tenuous at best. The only real connection is the radio DJ narrative and a couple times you do catch a glimpse of characters from other stories. Few of the stories make any sort of sense if any at all, and those that do have the potential to make decent spooky story, Trick and Grim Grinning Ghost for example, are so short they might as well have been left out altogether.

When you go back and read the blurb, these are supposed to be some of the top directors in horror. One would think, that an anthology created by top directors in a genre, would be more cohesive and fleshed out, but it feels more like they each just phoned it in.

If anything, this mess mocks Halloween in general, and not in a fun satirical way. It's more like a school yard bully vs the nerdy, Halloween-loving kid.

I would have preferred a return of Sam with new tales or even a return of The Crypt-keeper from the 90s.

For my Halloween entertainment I'll stick to Trick'r Treat and Tales from the Crypt.

Don't say the C word.....

[FlashCallahan · 7/10 · 11 October 2015]

Ghosts, ghouls, monsters, axe murderers, aliens, urban myths, and the devil delight in terrorising unsuspecting residents of a suburban neighbourhood on Halloween night......

Back in the seventies and early eighties, horror anthologies were something of a regular occurrence come Halloween, but they always starred Peter Cushing and featured some of the most recognisable faces from prime time TV (like Tom Baker or Windsor Davies.........ask your grandad).

Over the past few years, there has been a little resurgence in these anthology movies, the V/H/S series show how well they can be made, even using found footage, others like The ABC's of death show that too many in one feature can be a bad thing.

This however is a welcome anthology, and I haven't seen one as traditional since Trick 'r Treat.

But it does suffer with the over exhaustion of too many stories, and quite soon after viewing the movie, the average stories that are included in the film disappear like tears in rain.

But the standout movies are really interesting, and although the film or the stories featured are never in the slightest bit scary, they are enough fun to keep any Halloween party amused.

The narrative of the story is basically saying that on Halloween, all the evil and anger that the world has, comes out to play, particularly on one suburban street, hence The Night Of The Living Dead being played on every TV featured in the film.

Stand out stories include the story about 'sweet tooth', a Halloween decoration battle, some bizarre story about a women's time of the month, that turns her into a witch, a Bad Grandpa-esque trick or treat segment, and my favourite by Neil Marshall, the story of a kidnapping that turns the table on the captors.

But with the gems, there are a few frankly bizarre stories that are bewildering as to why they are included.

But there are more traditional Halloween stories here than not, and there is a wonderful reference to the The Fog during the film, as we have Adrienne Barbeau giving us a bit of Basil Exposition as to what is going on.

So all in all, it's a pretty solid anthology of fun stories, bookended by the best stories, but it's no surprises that there are a few changers in the film

Not the worst Halloween movie ever, but...

[irishmonster · 5/10 · 15 November 2015]

Let's get right to it- this movie is OK at best. If you are very forgiving when it comes to bad special effects, mediocre acting, and not-so-clever nods (rip offs) to other horror movies (Halloween, Friday the 13th, The Exorcist, for starters...), then you will probably be entertained. It's not the worst, but I had hoped for a little bit better, a specially with some of the names attached. It has the feel of some of those straight-to- video horror movies of the 80's, so, if that's your thing, try this one out. I watched this on pay per view, so now I'm feeling a sense of loss (the 5.99 I paid to watch this flick). To summarize: if you don't have anything to do, you're easily entertained, and you are not a horror snob, this movie will probably be watchable.

Halloween treat

[sharonhiginbotham-22015 · 8/10 · 13 October 2020]

Why are people so serious about everything? This is a great movie. It's entertaining and fun.

Could have been something truly special...

[Red_Identity · 16 October 2015]

I really do feel like it could have been something along the vein of Trick r Treat. As it is, the stories seem sort of dull, sort of charming, sort of funny, sort of entertaining... They don't really inspire too much passion, and they don't really stand apart from each other too much either. I definitely wish that I had liked it more, I found it merely okay. It's definitely not bad though, it deserves a watch definitely. And the halloween atmosphere is definitely there. I do think there was potential for more. The stories are mostly not really scary, and they do seem to go for gross outs more than horror, which is fine. Overall, definitely a decent way to sort of spend the time with friends.

A Few Duds, But Overall Enjoyable

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 25 October 2015]

Ten stories are woven together by their shared theme of Halloween night in an American suburb, where ghouls, imps, aliens and axe murderers appear for one night only to terrorize unsuspecting residents.

Any anthology will have its ups and downs. Even classics like "Creepshow" have a strongest and weakest segment. This film may suffer a bit more than average because of the large amount (ten) of segments and different folks involved. But, overall, still really fun and it may be fair to say it is the best anthology since "Trick 'r Treat". (Films like "VHS" had a couple strong segments but were overall blah.) Sadly, for me, the weakest segment here was "Ding Dong", which came from Lucky McKee. That was a real bummer, given that McKee is one of the bigger names attached and generally has done some very fine work. "May" is an indisputable masterpiece. But I just did not care for his story here or its execution...

Zero stars should be an option

[dmmiller-12061 · 1/10 · 31 October 2019]

I have no idea how anyone could give this a halfway decent review. This is the Sharknado of horror anthologies. There is better acting in movies. I only watched because it was compared to Trick r Treat. That comparison is almost as asinine as comparing Howard the Duck to Scarface.

I guess it could be funny if you smoked a bunch of weed and just laughed your off at how bad everything is done. There's its one star.

Childish and Immature

[Cathex · 3/10 · 2 November 2015]

But not suitable for children so I guess that just leaves the immature.

Unfortunately this little collection of shorts mainly comprises of the same thing on repeat - trick or treaters followed by a large dose of ultra-violence followed by a predictable twist.

Well actually I can't say that's true for all of them because I must admit that I'd seen enough by story three. So if there are any good ones in this anthology then they certainly haven't decided to start with their best foot forward.

I just don't understand what a plot line that might as well have been dreamt up by a 13 year old boy with anger problems has to do with horror? Chuck in some guts hanging out and some eye-balls rolling around on the floor and somehow, someone thinks this is scary.

As a show-reel for aspiring directors I can understand why this movie exists. Short of that though it's utterly pointless.

With a bag of visceral gore, bizarre characters and unworldly tales, fans of the genre will find a treat here.

[quincytheodore · 7/10 · 17 October 2015]

There are not many horror anthologies out there, at least the good ones, so Tales of Halloween is a pleasant surprise. It's a series of many stories with one common theme, each spanning about five to ten minutes. They are relatively short and only have one good twist or shock in them, but most of them are well-crafted to maximize the surprise effect of the scare. Using good practical effect and occasional exaggerated acting, this is a fine collection of horror popcorn stories.

I rather not delve specifically to each story, since the runtime is short, it may divulge too much. However, majority of them are splendid little forays to creepy madness and ironic comedy. The practical effect is consistently good across the board. Expect tons of blood and limbs thrown together at almost every story.

It also produces quirky alternate to usual slasher theme. The make-up for characters is top notch, it may appear over-the-top yet it bizarrely fits the spirit of Halloween. At some more eccentric ones, it even uses comical animation or stop motion. The quirky nature is decent for ironic comedy horror, which the movie takes full advantage of and create unapologetically weird tales.

A few cameos from well-known stars like Lin Shaye is appreciated. As far as acting goes it gambles on the absurdity and for most parts it's a definite success. There's a lingering eerie feel on few particular characters. It also presents the usual looming threat and jump scares really well. The movie knows its audience and incorporates modern touch on its classic Halloween rendition, it resembles a mix of creepypasta from internet and campfire stories.

With a bag of visceral gore, bizarre characters and unworldly tales, fans of the genre will find a treat here.

Such a disappointment.

[jeff-brister · 2/10 · 20 October 2015]

For those of you hoping for another great Halloween flick like 2007's Trick 'r Treat will be sadly disappointed. This is not even close, this is a really, really bad movie. And I was looking forward to this too, horror anthology movies are so rare today.

I would say this was a film school project by students but then students would have put more passion and interest in making it. There is nothing original or scary about this. The writing and stories are laughably bad. Seriously, why they chose these stories I'll never know, they had an internet full of creepy scary stories to draw on and they failed completely.

The one bright spot of this movie is hearing Adrienne Barbeau's voice on the radio throughout the film. It brought back memories of Carpenter's The Fog.

You will find scarier stories listening to radio call in shows on Halloween night so don't waste your time with this.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

[Coventry · 7/10 · 3 November 2015]

Yes I do realize that the line in the subject header is irrevocably linked to the Christmas Holiday period, but to us – sick and twisted horror movie fanatics – it is, in fact, Halloween which is the most wonderful time of the year! Not necessarily because we like to wear silly costumes or go out trick or treating, but because this day provide us with the ideal excuse to watch a whole lot of horror movies during one long 24-hour marathon! This pretty cool anthology cleverly cashes in on the Halloween-hype by knitting together 10 demented little stories that supposedly all take place in the same typically American suburb on the night of the 31st of October. Like we've seen them appear regularly the last couple of years, for example also in "The ABC's of Death" or "Masters of Horror", this is the partnership project of ten prominent directors (some of them obviously more prominent than others…), and the most famous/acclaimed directors don't necessarily deliver the best segments. Most of the stories, however, are vastly entertaining and feature original concepts, crazily eccentric protagonists, loads of morbid humor and satisfying amounts of carnage & bloodshed! Allegedly the whole idea for the film was raised by the Belgian born writer/director Axelle Carolyn. She's married to the multi-talented British prodigy Neil Marshall ("The Descent", "Dog Soldiers"), so I guess it wasn't too difficult for this couple to get several other popular horror directors on board of the project, like Lucky McKee ("May", "The Woman"), Darren Lynn Bousman ("Saw II", "Repo: The Genetic Opera") and Adam Gierasch ("Night of the Demons", "Autopsy"). In the wraparound story, horror buffs will promptly recognize the voice of horror wench Adrienne Barbeau as a local radio DJ preparing us for a night full of monstrous encounters and ghastly situations. There aren't any brilliant or astoundingly innovative stories in "Tales of Halloween", but my favorites include Mike Mendez' story "Friday the 31st", Lucky McKee's "Ding Dong" and Neil Marshall's "Bad Seed". In the first of these, a maniacal killer sees his last female victim resurrected by a curious little alien that challenges him to a vicious duel. I very much liked the idea of this and this segment is definitely the goriest part of the whole film, with absurd over-the-top make up effects! "Ding Dong" is about a woman's unanswered child wish, but perhaps it's better like this, because only her oppressed husband sees what she really is, namely a horrible witch. "Bad Seed" is about a cheesy killer pumpkin-monster, but the added value that Marshall brings is that he single-handedly connects it to all the previous segments. That, and the fact this segment has an awesome and stereotypically '70s finale. Then there's also a number or above-average stories, like "Sweet Tooth" (the myth of candy-craving killer), "The Night Billie Raised Hell" (an elderly Halloween hater punishes the kids that always throw eggs at his house), "Trick" (atmospheric tale with psychopathic children but a lame climax) and "The Ransom of Rusty Rex" ("two amateur kidnappers don't realize they just abducted a little freak). The chapters that I personally found the weakest are Paul Sollet's "The Weak and the Wicked", Axelle Carolyn's "Grim Grinning Ghost" and John Skipp's "This Means War". These three segments are totally unsurprising, predictable and clichéd. "Tales of Halloween" has a long and impressive cast list full of legendary horror names, although it has to be said that most of these names only appear in extremely brief cameos. A couple of cameos are truly cool and significant, like those of John Landis and Joe Dante, but sadly most of them just quickly appear in front of the camera without saying anything, like Stuart Gordon or Mick Garris.

Bad acting, low budget effects, very disappointing

[jessicaf-28743 · 2/10 · 18 October 2015]

This movie was very disappointing for a movie with such good reviews. I feel like i wasted 2 hours of my life that I can never get back on a movie that easily could have been a syfy made for TV movie. This movie had the potential to be OK if some of the tales had been edited out, better actors had been cast, and the special effect budget had been bigger. The alien scene was so stupid that I felt embarrassed for everyone involved. And that was about the point I realized how mad I was that I had wasted hard earned money on such a garbage movie. Whoever said it was anywhere near as good as trick r treat flat out lied because it came no where near it in anyway whatsoever. Highly disappointed and i wish I hadn't wasted time and money. Seriously don't waste your time. If you're really dead set to watch a bad horror movie there are plenty on netflix that I'm sure would be better. I honestly can't believe this had 6 stars.

Delightfully Weird and Quirky

[SCIFIshant · 7/10 · 31 July 2018]

Tales of Halloween is low budget and it is very aware of that which just gives the film charm. This film consists of 10 fast paced horror stories that are all messed up and weird in their own way. The first story had me thinking "What the heck?" for one hour straight, but I would rather not spoil it and leave it to you to watch. This film is filled with gore and blood gushes everywhere throughout each story. Every single story in this film is well written and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire 1 hr 30 minutes this film lasts. The music in the movie was actually really good and a pleasant surprise and the visuals while being mediocre are expected for such a low budget film and considering that I won't be too harsh on this flick. This film is also very similar to the Tales From The Crypt series which really made me want to watch the film in the first place because I personally adore that series. The stories were all short paced and kept the movie going at a constant pace never leaving a single dull moment. This is a MUST WATCH for horror fans.

Incoherent and pointless

[william_morris · 3/10 · 24 September 2023]

Let us look at the episode called "Trick." A group of children go on a murderous rampage. One victim is stabbed repeatedly. Another victim is hacked to death by a whole parcel of kids. One gets a cleaver to the forehead. All atrocities committed by the under-12 demographic.

Why? What demonic force has possessed the children? What haunts their Underroos and K-Mart elastic stringed plastic masks that inspires them to such violence?

We never know. It's just violence and blood for violence and blood's sake. There's no story. No tension. No suspense. No mystery...

No, I take that back. The mystery is that anyone would rate this higher than a 5, and a stretchy 5 at that. The makeup effects are pretty good and the acting isn't terrible (with a few exceptions), but if you're hoping for a scary movie, your hope is in vain. You won't find it here.

If all the scary movies would be like that one....

[jeanfrancois_croteau · 9/10 · 25 July 2015]

I watch a lot of scary movies, and i must confess that i'm often bored by them these days. If it's not a crappy remake, it's a "found footage" made with a lack of talent. Sometimes, we could have goods surprises, and that anthology is one of them. If you like scary movies, you probably like the Halloween, and if you like Halloween as much as i did, you'll enjoy every segments of TALES OF HALLOWEEN. We feel the passion for the genre, and the knowledge of it, by the creators. It's a movies for horror geeks, made by horror geeks, and that works pretty well, from the beginning till the end. TALES OF HALLOWEEN is the proof that horror is not dead. Every horrors fans will like the cameos, and at the end, we'll just hope for a sequel.

Awesome for 2015 Comedy/Horror

[Colonial-Oak · 7/10 · 22 October 2022]

I watched this looking for a decent pre Halloween horror flick. Not bad. Also reflects on the brain-dense liberals of California -- just too funny!

My favorite was the segment with "Billy" and him being mentored by the "neighbor" no one likes, who got even. Only to learn later Billy was mis-represented by an actual Demon, but Billy takes the fall -- double-cross's suck.

The "bad neighbor" sharpening his toothbrush to re-stab the ignorant Dentist was classic,

Worth a watch with a bowl of popcorn or plate of wings -- watch the ignorant Left die one after another, after getting so stoned they could not pass a driver's test.

Worthy the watch, I saw it on AmPrime.

Painful

[mjcherry66 · 1/10 · 15 February 2020]

Awful, poorly acted, stupid. Don't waste your time.

you're better off watching Trick R Treat

[rbartley-81971 · 4/10 · 16 October 2015]

I wanted to like this movie. I really did. I even went as far as not watching a trailer so not one minute of the film would be ruined... big mistake. What tries to be an anthology horror film turns into Goosebumps for grown-ups. The acting is lousy all around, a couple D-list actors make an appearance, like "hey, it's that guy from that thing no one remembers". I gave it a chance, but you would be better off watching anything else. This is a direct to Syfy movie (and that might appeal to some). But in reality. it's a failed attempt. The only way to enjoy this movie would be to smoke a lot of weed... or have low standards for what qualifies as a horror movie.