Cuentos de Halloween

Divided in ten segments by ten different directors, "Tales of Halloween" is an entertaining horror–comedy film in the style of "Tales from the Crypt" with the theme of Halloween.

1st) "Sweet Tooth": A boy collects candies in the Halloween, and his babysitter and her boyfriend tells the legend of an evil being that has sweet tooth and kills those who do not share candies with him. They eat the boy's candies and discover the truth about the legend. This tale is funny and gore. My vote is six.

2nd) "The Night Billy Raised Hell": a boy dressed like a devil is forced by his sister and her boyfriend to throw an egg at the house of a secluded man. However the man is the devil and he teaches how to create havoc in the Halloween night. This tale is also funny because of the devil's tricks and has a surprising end. My vote is seven.

3rd) "Trick": a group of drugged and drunken friends are attacked by kids that ring the bell and break in their house. Why are they under attack? This gory tale has an intriguing screenplay with a surprising end. My vote is six.

4th) "The Weak and the Wicked": a gang led by a teenage girl bullies a teenager and he summons a demon. The three bullies hunt him down and he run to the place where his house and his parents had been burned to ashes by the gang. This dark tale of revenge is too short and could be a little longer, but with a surprising end. My vote is five.

5th) "Grim Grinning Ghost": a young woman goes to a Halloween party at her mother's home that tells a story of a fiend. When she goes home, her car breaks and she has to walk home. She startles with footsteps and a laugh behind her on the street. Could it be the evil spirit? This tale has a creepy atmosphere and a scary conclusion. My vote is six.

6th) "This Means War": a man discovers that his wife is a witch that likes to eat children. This tale is silly and one of the weakest of this anthology. My vote is five.

7th) "This Means War": a man is proud of his Halloween decoration that attracts many viewers. However his new neighbor with his friends dispute with him the best decoration and they begin a war. This tale is a tragic comedy with a stupid situation. My vote is five.

8th) "Friday the 31st": a disfigured serial-killer confronts an alien that possesses the body of one of his victims. This silly tale is a parody of Friday the 13th but the fight between Jason and the alien does not work well. My vote is five.

9th) "The Ransom of Rusty Rex": two thieves abduct the son of a wealthy man o ask for ransom. However the man refuses to pay and the men have a surprise. This tale is certainly the best one with a great twist. My vote is eight.

10th) "Bad Seed": a man carves a pumpkin that eats him. A skeptic detective has to hunt down the pumpkin and finds where it was produced. This tale is also great with a trash story. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

I really do feel like it could have been something along the vein of Trick r Treat. As it is, the stories seem sort of dull, sort of charming, sort of funny, sort of entertaining... They don't really inspire too much passion, and they don't really stand apart from each other too much either. I definitely wish that I had liked it more, I found it merely okay. It's definitely not bad though, it deserves a watch definitely. And the halloween atmosphere is definitely there. I do think there was potential for more. The stories are mostly not really scary, and they do seem to go for gross outs more than horror, which is fine. Overall, definitely a decent way to sort of spend the time with friends.

Let's get right to it- this movie is OK at best. If you are very forgiving when it comes to bad special effects, mediocre acting, and not-so-clever nods (rip offs) to other horror movies (Halloween, Friday the 13th, The Exorcist, for starters...), then you will probably be entertained. It's not the worst, but I had hoped for a little bit better, a specially with some of the names attached. It has the feel of some of those straight-to- video horror movies of the 80's, so, if that's your thing, try this one out. I watched this on pay per view, so now I'm feeling a sense of loss (the 5.99 I paid to watch this flick). To summarize: if you don't have anything to do, you're easily entertained, and you are not a horror snob, this movie will probably be watchable.

Why are people so serious about everything? This is a great movie. It's entertaining and fun.

It's nearly that time of year again, so what better way to pass the time than to settle down with Tales of Halloween, a seasonal anthology from ten of today's hottest horror directors that features cameos from some of the genre's giants.

As is often the case with anthologies (especially one with so many stories, like this), it's a very mixed bag—some parts work very well, other's are less effective—but for my money, this is still more fun than that other Halloween anthology of late, Trick 'r Treat, which I found frustratingly mediocre all the way through.

'80s scream Queen Adrienne Barbeau introduces the tales, starting with 'Sweet Tooth', by director Dave Parker (The Hills Run Red). An enjoyable way to kick things off, this sets the tone perfectly with a Halloween legend coming true for a young trick or treater with gory results. This is followed by 'The Night Billy Raised Hell', from Darren Lynn Bousman (Repo: The Genetic Opera), who introduces a bit of dark comedy into the mix with his amusing story of a boy who meets a demon (Barry Bostwick) that shows him the secrets of extreme pranking.

Segments 3 and 4—Adam Gierasch 's 'Trick' and Paul Solet's 'The Weak and the Wicked' are passable fare, revolving around vengeful killer kids and the summoning of a demon; Axelle Carolyn's 'Grimm Grinning Ghost' starts off promisingly, but winds up being little more than a weak attempt at providing a cheap jump scare (which I fully expected). Lucky McKee's 'Ding Dong', is without doubt the weirdest of the ten tales (and my least favourite), featuring a childless woman who turns into a witch when emotional.

'This Means War' from Andrew Kasch is kinda forgettable, although at least there's fun to be had from trying to spot numerous cameos, but things get much better with the next story 'Friday the 31st' (by Mike Mendez), which is totally bonkers and extremely gory: a deformed killer gets a taste of his own medicine after a tiny trick or treating alien possesses the body of sexy victim Dorothy, who returns from the dead to turn the tables on her attacker. The plot might not make much sense, but this one is so gleefully insane and incredibly bloody that I couldn't help but love it.

'The Ransom of Rusty Rex' is also very enjoyable: directed by Ryan Schifrin (son of movie composer Lalo, who provides the score for Tales of Halloween), it follows a pair of unfortunate kidnappers whose victim turns out to be a hideous little demon whose 'father' is only too happy to be rid of. This is followed by Bad Seed, from Neil Marshall (The Descent), which features a fun premise—a man-eating pumpkin on the rampage—but sadly ends proceedings on a rather weak note.

6.5/10, happily rounded up to 7 for that adorable Halloween-lovin' extraterrestrial.