Sunday, February 7, 2016

Popcorn & Coffee: All Hallows' Eve 2



91 mins; Not Rated; Buy Link: Amazon
You would think that a Halloween-themed horror flick would do better if it's released before Halloween, but that isn't case for All Hallows' Eve 2, which was released on February 2nd.

Honestly, I've never seen the first film, so I have no clue what it was about. All Hallows' Eve 2 is an anthology from RLJ Entertainment, featuring shorts from directors Elias Benavidez (A Boy's Life), Mike Kochansky (Mr. Tricker's Treat), Andres Borghi (Alexia), Bryan Norton (Seven Hells), Antonio Padovan (Once Upon a Time, Inc.), Marc Rouseel (The Last Halloween), Ryan Patch (If I Give My Soul), Jay Holben (Hunger) and The Kondelik Borthers (Airplane VS Volcano).

The film opens up with a woman watching an old VHS tape. Trapped inside the VHS is the serial killer "The Trickster," who will be released from his prison after the she finishes watching all the shorts. Does this make any sense?

Some of the shorts have a Halloween-theme, while others have nothing to do with the holiday. The first story happens to the best. "Jack Attack" is a blood-tale about a young woman teaching a boy how to carve a pumpkin and roast pumpkin seeds. It's very short, but terrifying. And it has a few throwbacks to John Carpenter's Halloween.


"Mr. Tricker’s Treat," "The Last Halloween," "Alexia," "Descent," "The Offering," and "M Is for Masochistare" all below average stories with hardly any scares. I hate to admit it, but I fell asleep several times during these shorts.


The only other short that I actually liked from the anthology is called "A Boy's Life," which is centered on a young boy who is afraid of the monster that comes for him at night. His mother tries to convince him that there are no such things as monsters, so the boy must rely on his imagination in order to set a trap for the monster.


Final Thoughts: Horror anthologies can be great (Tales From the Crypt, Creepshow I &II and Trick 'r Treat comes to mind), but there are many others that just plain suck. Besides from two shorts ("Jack Attack," "A Boy's Life"), the All Hallows' Eve 2 falls into the latter territory. The film isn't a complete waste of time, for a low-budget movie the acting is above average and the cinematography for all the shorts is pretty decent. The directing isn't bad either, but I only wished the writing was better. The wraparound story with "The Trickster" bored me to death. Shockingly, I going to give the flick three out of five; one extra rating than what it deserves, all because I liked "Jack Attack" a little too much.


*Disclaimer - I received a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

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