Halloween Party

Halloween Party is really mild in the horror department even for a TV14 rating.

Nothing I recall was very scary or gory.

I thought this was above average for a "supernatural teen slasher comedy" and I enjoyed it, but if I came in expecting a serious horror movie then I probably wouldn't have liked it. In the end I was torn between 5-6.

They had a lot of opportunity to do more, and it felt a little low budget at times, but the majority of it still looked pretty good.

This movie sort of rules. It's not a great movie by any stretch, but it does the best it can with what it has available (read: basically nothing) and I admire its ability to go for it.

A Halloween-themed computer virus spreads across a college campus via an internet meme wherein people are asked about their worst fears. Within 24 hours, those same people wind up dead, seemingly killed by whatever scared them the most. But who's really doing the killing, and why?

This movie channels a tiny sliver of old school Sam Raimi vibes. Not with his energy or slapstick, but in the tendency for his movies to embrace the inherent goofiness of their premise. This is a dumb movie, so dumb it can borderline on self-parody. Definitely dumb enough to be considered kind of trashy.

But then you get whiplash because it stops to take itself just seriously enough that you stay hooked. There's a delightfully weird spark this movie taps in to sometimes, and some decently tense moments. Rarely scary, mind you, but tense enough for a bit of mood. It works enough that I felt like I had a good time.

If this movie were a person, you'd tell it "You're a bad movie" and it would grin and reply, "I know, and that's why you love me."

And it'd be right. Dumb, trashy, bad, whatever you want to call it, but I had fun.

Considering the amount of terrible, schlocky, unfunny low budget horror out there, this one is actually pretty good. Original plot, good dialog, funny jokes and decent acting from a cast of unknowns make this eminently watchable. Effects were minimal and not great but didn't detract from the fun. Some great creepy moments too. You could do much worse.

This is a good creepy horror story for what it is. Not too serious. Just a fun movie for October. Sure, save the best horror films for the end of the month. But this one is fine. This is not a spoiler, but it is hugely important. One of the characters runs a nice relaxing hot bath, and proceeds to soak in the tub with the shower curtain INSIDE the tub. What kind of a monster does that?! What kind of director would allow that to be a thing?! That is the real question here and the very real horror of this story.

I started watching this with low expectations: a dvd with a lame non-specific Halloween'ish title and a ditto dull cover, promising a third-rate wannabe horror flick with bad acting, but hopefully good for some laughs. Well, to be honest I was pleasantly surprised. Sure, it's obviously a very low budget thing, it's on all cinematographic accounts small and non-pretentious, the very few special effects are extremely simple. But it still succeeded in entertaining me and keeping me on the edge of my chair for the whole 90 minutes!

This is due to a solid script, a good pace and effective direction and editing, making it in spite of the absence of expensive FX and CGI genuinely scary. Amy Groening and T. Thomason, playing the major characters, are attractive to watch and do a fine job, both acting very natural and easy. And the sober musical score in combination with tension-filled silences is exactly right to create the needed sinister and ominous atmosphere.

In short: in spite of its obvious limitations worthwhile and gladly recommended.