If you know me, you know I love anthologies. Ones that surround Halloween are always the best. 10/31 is just that: five tales that will chill your bones.
As with many anthologies, we have a surrounding wrap-around story to link everything together. Malvolia (the Queen of Screams) is an Elvira-esque television figure that treats us to our stories for the night:
- The Old Hag: filmmakers stay in a haunted house and find the monster that hides there.
- Trespassers: a date goes awry when a couple visits a farm of local legend.
- Killing the Dance: murder on a roller-rink.
- Halloween Blizzard of ’91: little monsters come to visit when trick-or-treaters get snowed in.
- The Samhain Slasher: a teen Halloween party is stopped by a crazed killer.
As anthologies usually are, there are variances in writing (duh), effects, and overall scariness. My favorite was The Old Hag. Two filmmakers are haunted by a goblin-like woman at an old bed and breakfast. Sure, the hag is a little too prosthetic-y and the story is nothing new, but I feel this was a good start to the movie as a whole. It was wrapped up nicely and would easily keep an audience watching.
Trespassers was fun. I like anything with scarecrows and farmland. If you’ve seen a lot of horror movies, you might guess the “don’t free the monster, it’s actually a MONSTER” plotline: local rumor is a family man went insane and killed everyone, but he was right all along. I especially liked the soundtrack and almost store-bought look to the scarecrow demon.
Killing the Dance made me laugh; there’s a character in a cowboy costume with a crazy mustache. Other than that, it’s a little whatever. I liked the setting, but the ending was too much; I won’t spoil it, but they sort of had two twists when only one was needed.
Blizzard can be thought of as low-budget Krampus. Doesn’t do much for me — I came for jack-o-lanterns, not Jolly old St. Nick!
Finally we have The Samhain Slasher. Partying teens start dying at a house function when the infamous slasher pays them a visit. Acting isn’t the best, but sometimes that’s OK! Horror can be goofy and still be good… plus, a cornfield, yay! Also, being a slasher, there’s some blood here, which I appreciated.
There’s a certain quality to 10/31 where it feels independently made — and I really like that. As I get older and watch more horror, I definitely stray towards this kind of stuff. No movie is perfect, and that’s clear here. But what 10/31 does right is in its Halloween spirit. While I had very few of these experiences shown in the movie, it felt like they would fit right in with my childhood: staying in a creepy hotel, going roller skating, having a Halloween party. 10/31 is an excellent starter anthology that doesn’t take itself too seriously while still giving viewers a great time.
What did you think of 10/31? Let us know in the comments!
10/31, Part 1 is available to stream on Amazon Prime via Screambox.
