Rating: 4/5
Hoop-Tober | 2/31 | Decades 2/10 | 2000s
It’s Halloween night and the kids are out. Dressed as a robot, Emma blows out their jack-o’-lantern, ready to call it. Henry. dressed as a 50s sci-fi spaceman, warns her against it, reminding her that it’s supposed to stay lit until after midnight. But it’s too late.
Thus, the anthology sets up its theme: respect the Halloween traditions, or Sam will have to punish you. Who is Sam? The credits introduce us to him in his orange footie costume and a burlap sack over his head.
Unlike most anthologies, this film interlaces the four stories, letting them develop in tandem. When tensions are building, the film will focus on one story to let it conclude.
The credits suggest that these stories come from a fictitious comic book a la Creepshow, with the comic aesthetic continuing in the interstitials.
This film’s greatest strength is that it tells fairly conventional Halloween stories, not trying to break new ground or subvert troupes. It’s short, simple, and entertaining — a low benchmark, yet one horror rarely crosses these days.