All Hallows' Eve

Given the overwhelming popularity of shockfests like Martyrs and the Saw series, the nearly universal disapproval of this film is itself shocking. It's strange how some films can make their mark for the very things that cause others to be rebuked. All Hallows' Eve is low budget and has its mistakes, but overall is a wonderful, very scary exploitation horror film with a memorable villain and surprisingly good production values.

All Hallows' Eve is an anthology film. Like most horror anthologies such as Tales From the Darkside: The Movie, Twilight Zone: The Movie, and Trick R' Treat, All Hallows' Eve has three main stories plus a wraparound story that ties them together. Director Damien Leone chose this format to showcase his pre-existing short films ("The 9th Circle" and "Terrifier"), so only the second story and the wraparound are totally new. The film opens with a woman babysitting two children on Halloween night and the discovery that someone has sneaked a VHS tape into one of the children's trick-or-treat bags. Reluctantly the babysitter plays the tape and the first of three stories begins.

With regard to reputation, there seem to be three primary complaints about the movie: 1) The director used previously created material, 2) The film is excessively gory, and 3) The acting is bad. Each of these is easily negated. First, most people have not seen the two short films, so the director seized his chance to have them viewed by a large audience. Completely understandable. Second, yes the film is graphic, but certainly no more than a hundred others released in the past decade, many of which were very popular. Third, the acting is actually pretty good. It's definitely strong enough to let the audience suspend their disbelief, which is after all the name of the game.

If there's one thing I've learned from reading reviews and posts on IMDb and elsewhere, it's that people will complain about anything. The truth is that All Hallows' Eve is a tense, entertaining horror film alive with creativity, realistic effects, and inspired direction. Its rating on IMDb (as of this writing) is unfortunate and unfair. If you want a polished horror film that's long on plot and every shot perfectly framed, see something else. If you want to have a good time and be scared, see this.

I just got done watching All Hallows' Eve and I have to say that even though it's not a great movie, I did enjoy it. The movie is a series of three short stories with a wrap-around story as its' tie-in. It's a low budget movie with mediocre acting and some decent gore effects but when it is over you'll be glad you watched it. I wont tell you what the stories are about. I'll let you find out as you watch it but what I WILL tell you is that you'll NEVER look at a clown the same way again!!! The first story is just okay, the second story is just plain awful but you'll LOVE the third story and the wrap-around story starts off slow but you'll LOVE it by its' end. Again, it's a low budget movie and most of the time they are painful to watch but there ARE exceptions and All Hallows' Eve is one of the exceptions...........and NO, I'm NOT associated in ANY way with this film. I am just a horror fan who enjoyed this movie.

The 4.6 rating seems a bit low, but this movie isn't a masterpiece. Actually it's pretty far from being a masterpiece, lol. The acting was really awkward at certain points and some of the material is really questionable, but that f***ing clown is freaky as hell. And I'm not one of those types that are "afraid of clowns." But... the awkwardness of it all actually sort of enhanced the feeling of creepiness, in a weird way?

Also, how they linked and wrapped up the story was really clever. It didn't help that something crashed outside my window when the movie was over.

I usually don't watch movies below a 6.0 rating and I would never watch a movie below 5.0 (yes, I'm that type of person), but I was bored and I thought the clown looked scary so I gave this movie a try. Really glad that I did.

I sat down to watch this movie, expecting the absolute worst, based on the 4.6 rating. What I found instead was actually a pretty decent movie, with a creepy atmosphere, an even creepier clown, and entertainment worth more than such a low rating.

I admit, along with everyone else who liked it, that the acting was somewhat stiff and awkward at times and some scenes seemed to drag on way too long, but the fun cheesiness of the movie far outweighed a little bad acting.

If you can enjoy a campy, low budget movie and/or are terrified of clowns, you shouldn't overlook this one. Just don't sit down with high expectations or you'll probably be disappointed.

If you're going to close your mind off to the fact that this is supposed to be a cheesy, low-budget creepfest with some silliness mixed in, then you aren't going to enjoy it.

However, if you want something twisted, demonic, and just flat out sick at times - I say you'll enjoy it. Do yourself a favor, unlike others, don't go into this thing with high expectations. It is supposed to make you cringe, be creeped out, and laugh all at the same time. It is not supposed to be taken seriously.

For an independent low-budget horror film, it did a solid job. Did I roll my eyes? Absolutely. Did the Carpenteresque score, isolated atmosphere, and one helluva creepy character balances this out? Yes. Give it a shot, especially around All Hallows' Eve. 7/10 on entertainment value alone.