Review by Golden State Haunts and Events
Last night we were going to watch a supposedly ultraviolent found footage film called the "Pigman Murders", but we opted for much lighter fare so we decided to pop in Caesar and Otto's Paranormal Halloween, a horror/comedy. We never had heard of this Laurel and Hardy type duo, but they had made a few previous films.
Paranormal Halloween is one of those movies where after about fifteen to twenty minutes you don't know if you should keep it on or turn it off. We decided to keep watching and before we knew it the movie was over, which to us is a sign that we actually enjoyed it. We don't know if it was the hot women or all the cameo appearances, but it was able to keep our attention. Is it a quality movie? No. In fact, we would rate it only a few levels above films made by Troma. Of course Troma is known for making super low budget and extremely campy movies. The special effects in Paranormal activity are mostly CGI and very low-tech and the few scenes of gore are extremely over-the-top. This definitely isn't a movie that will appeal to hardcore horror fans unless they're looking for a cheap version of a film like "Scary Movie". Should or review be taken negatively? No. In fact we would recommend the movie if you're looking for a horror/comedy.
Half-brothers Caesar (Dave Campfield) and Otto (Paul Chomicki) are homeless and living in a car with their father. Caesar has been dressing up as a woman so that he could earn money as a babysitter. While babysitting at one house they see a news report about a escaped mental patient named Michael Miles who is an obvious knock-off of Michael Myers who has killed some guards. He returns to his home which is where Caesar and Otto are staying. After nearly getting murdered by the killer, Caesar and Otto's dad accidentally runs over Miles killing him.
The governor sees them as heroes and give them a key to the city which is actually a key to his summer home. Needing a place to stay, Caesar ignores the stories of tragic events that happened in the past in the home and he along with Otto and their father decided to be caretakers for the house. Weird things start happening such as objects levitating with activity increasing the closer it gets to Halloween. Otto believes that his mother, whom his father told him killed herself is actually alive and goes on a search for her. This leads all three on a paranormal adventure that takes different directions and has several subplots.
The movie is funny at times, but at others it's obvious they tried so hard to get laughs which actually seems to backfire. The three main characters, Campfield, Chomicki, and Scott Aguilar have a good on screen chemistry which leads to mostly laughs, but there are some scenes which seem somewhat awkward. All the cameos gave a solid performance, but there weren't any there were specifically noteworthy.
The movie parodies everything from Halloween and Insidious to the Shining and Paranormal Activity. Once you get into the movie you'll find it enjoyable unless you're looking for something especially scary or violent.
