Cast:
Dylan Baker (Steven), Rochelle Aytes (Maria), Quinn Lord (Sam / Peeping Tommy), Lauren Lee Smith (Danielle), Moneca Delain (Janet), Tahmoh Penikett (Henry), Brett Kelly (Charlie), Britt McKillip (Macy), Isabelle Deluce (Sara), Jean-Luc Bilodeau (Schrader), Alberto Ghisi (Chip), Samm Todd (Rhonda), Anna Paquin (Laurie), Brian Cox (Mr. Kreeg; Gerald Paetz as young Kreeg), Leslie Bibb (Emma) Written and Directed by Michael Dougherty (#1227 - Godzilla: King of the Monsters, #1309 - Krampus)
Review:
Originally, Michael Dougherty created the character of Sam with his senior thesis film at New York University in "Season's Greetings" in 1996, doing so with hand-drawn animation over the course of seven months, specifically because he wanted to create a mascot for Halloween (a holiday he felt made life more magical than Christmas as a kid), noting that there was plenty of imagery but not "the one" - he landed on basically a small being with a sack. Eventually, the Columbus native wrote a first draft with Sam in 2001 but studios were not particularly interested in "old-fashioned" stuff like vampire, werewolves, and zombies (one thing that was different was that a graveyard was the setting for a story rather than a quarry). In the meantime, Dougherty devoted time to scriptwriting, contributing to X2 (2003) and Superman Returns (2006), which both were directed by Bryan Singer, who served as a producer on the film that started production in late 2006 and was shot over a few months. Doughtery aimed to get certain age groups for each story, whether that involves carving a pumpkin as a kid, heading out to trick-or-treat as a teenager, or being with hormones in your twenties...or being in your twilight years. Rather than having a traditional structure where the stories were separate, it was felt that the movie fit better when the stories were mixed in together, which is basically being inspired by Pulp Fiction. To put it mildly, Warner Bros. screwed this movie (one that was made for $12 million, mind you) over in every shape and form. It was first publicly screened on the festival circuit in 2007 but didn't get a real theatrical release, instead being released on DVD in 2009. Dougherty never got a straight answer as to why his movie was screwed over the way it was, but he had no bitter feelings over the making of the film, noting that because horror fans "don't like being told no", managed to boost the awareness of the film that apparently made it slip into the mainstream. Plans for a sequel have floated around for years but nothing has actively been in development.
Sure, it may not be Creepshow (1982) type of fun with spooky anthology fun, but it is at least enjoyable for most of what it aims for in the holiday spirit with some chuckles. Sure, it may not be the great Halloween thing ever (Halloween (1978) has won the argument year after year in quality, regardless of its gore because if you can't handle gore, you don't deserve it), but the enthusiasm for the holiday is clearly on display from Dougherty. So you get four (maybe five if you count the opening with Penikett/Bibb) stories that weave in with each other for varying effect. What comes first (as a whole story, technically) is Baker and the ever-lingering story of trying to deal with an unwilling captured body that probably feels the most macabre of the stories to come ahead; it helps that Baker can balance the line of chilling and amusing. You then get to see the next story involve a quartet of kids (McKillip/Ghisi/Bilodeau/Deluce and Todd) engage with a possible legend and dealing with the power of belief within legends and, well, fiction. The third one, and by that I mean one that has been here-and-there between Paquin and the trio of girls (Smith/Aytes/Delain) playing dressup while doing a Halloween shindig that has hang-ups more notable than being without a mate for the fire. Kinda funny, particularly with how the last story ended, anyway. The final segment involves Cox and directly seeing that mascot Sam and the mischief that arises in curmudgeons meeting the devoted, although I don't really know if Sam is really as much of a creature of mischief with the mix of whimsy and darkness as he is just kind of there. Maybe it is just me, but I do wish it was a tiny bit longer than the 82-minute runtime. It doesn't exactly take itself too seriously, but there is a part of me that believes the film doesn't bare enough fangs (despite having an R rating, it mostly cuts away in the body count) to really be as effective as it needs to be. As a whole, the quibbles I have with the movie don't detract from the fact that there is fun to be had in reminding oneself of the mischief that can be had on Halloween. It can be filled with candy, it could be filled with watching horror movies, it could be spent with friends*, or one of all/none of the above. It is a nice little movie that achieves most of what it wants to do, and I suppose that is more than enough for October.
Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.
*Honestly, my one memory with a pumpkin is my dad putting some fireworks in one and exploding it on New Year's Eve 15+ years ago. Trick or treating was more of a thing I did with my mom with one exception in freshman year of high school. After that I pretty much gave up, but I argue horror movie marathons are just as fun.
