MR HALLOWEEN

MR HALLOWEEN

In the opening pre-credits scene, a couple of youths pull a roadside prank that ends with them falling foul of a mysterious dude dressed in Michael Myers-style black overalls.

After the credits, we're introduced to the small American town of Sauquoit where, a female newscaster's voiceover informs us, teenagers have been going missing - presumed kidnapped. The latest is Katie, last seen walking home from a local football game.

One teen who takes a particular interest in this TV news article concerning the mounting disappearances is dour Jill (Shannon Eastman), disturbed by the fact that she didn't give Katie a lift home on that fateful night.

Fortunately, Jill hangs out with two scruffy lads Jack (Justin Loomis) and Jason (Cody Wolf) who are quick to distract her with knob gags and cheap horror videos.

Their main concern, which also becomes Jill's, is how to persuade their parents to let them out after dark on the impending Halloween night. Their aim is to pay a visit to a local house that's meant to be haunted, you see.

While local Sheriff Conrad (Jack Bell) and his cool deputy Dale (Bryan Briggs) are busy scratching their heads, stumbling over a distinct lack of clues relating to their mounting missing persons cases, the kids continue to plan a night to remember for Halloween.

However, local parent Romero (Kim Hubbard) starts to investigate the kidnappings himself when his own child is abducted. He quickly comes up with a clue that the cops were somehow incapable of noticing, and rings Conrad to bring him up to speed. Unfortunately Romero is soon killed by an off-screen assailant before he can share his knowledge.

Crumbs. Who is this mysterious, Halloween-obsessed killer? Are they responsible for the ongoing spate of missing kids and, if so, why?

Director Andrew Wolf doesn't wait too long before revealing his villain: Mr Halloween (Bill Loomis). He lives in the 'haunted' house in the dead of the woods, which is where he drags his victims so he can chop them up into pieces.

If you want to find out why, you'll need to stick around for quite some time: Wolf's got a few false shocks, red herrings, dubious suspects and occasional murders of dumb teenagers to stage first - not to mention some curiously tame sub-HOSTEL torture sequences.

All of which is set to a dated electronic score, a'la THE BOOGEYMAN.

Finally, Jill and co find their way to the house and unwittingly into the hands of Mr Halloween. With the braindead cops certain to turn up at some point, the script really has nowhere to go by this point. But the film manages to plod on for another hour regardless ...

Yes, this shot-on-digital film goes on forever. Actually, it goes on for 111 minutes but it feels a lot longer. Most scenes are shot in a static manner, with a total lack of imagination or verve. The result is a plodding, ugly film that feels almost purposely devoid of energy or style.

The script is pure hokum, hackneyed and incredibly dumb. If you seen any horror film with teenaged protagonists/victims, ever, then you are sure to laugh at the inept cast's delivery of one clichéd line of dialogue after the last. It really is that familiar - only, executed so clumsily that it simply reminds us how even more mediocre slasher films are so much better made than this mess.

Wolf's editing shows for the umpteenth time why a director should never be allowed to edit his own film. Almost every scene is dragged out to a silly length, rendering the storyline - and even the supposed "scares" - as totally beyond the limits of endurance.

With crappy FX, cheap artificial lighting for "atmosphere" and a baddie who looks like your favourite uncle, MR HALLOWEEN is actually quite funny for a while ... but gets boring far before it's finally crawled to an end.

It isn't even particularly bloody ...

The film is presented uncut in a letterboxed 1.85:1 ratio and is not enhanced for 16x9 TV sets. Colours are bright and the overall image is clear and light, while details are relatively sharp.

The English 2.0 audio is a fair proposition, offering decent balance throughout.

Static menus include a scene-selection menu allowing access to the main feature via 6 chapters.

The only film-related extra on offer is a trailer that runs for one-and-a-half minutes in letterboxed widescreen. Also on the disc are trailers for five more horror titles from MVM Entertainment: DR CHOPPER, BACKWOODS BLOODBATH, ZOMBEAK, RAZOR'S RING and THE HAUNTING OF MARSTON MANOR.

MR HALLOWEEN is almost too poor for words. But I've found a couple that sum it up quite well: Shit. Crap. Turd.

Still, it didn't go unnoticed that Mr Halloween is played by someone called Bill Loomis. Hmm. Wonder if that's his real name?

Review by Stu Willis


 
Released by MVM
Region 2 - PAL
Rated 18
Extras :
see main review
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