jew_59

Not the scariest horror movie, but I thought it was pretty entertaining. As you see from other comments, this is an anthology movie with four stories happening on a particular Hallowe'en Night in small town Ohio. Unlike other anthologies, the stories are interrelated, and the entire action happens in one evening, with the basic moral, don't mess with Hallowe'en. Everybody that does, comes to a bad end.

I found all four stories pretty fun to watch. If you like gore, it's not for you. If you like edge of your seat suspense, again it's not for you.

On the other hand, it did have some pretty effective chills, and I really enjoyed it. I recommend this, I guess it didn't preview so well, so it went straight to video. I think had they released it theatrically, they would have made money on it, but they still will.

Break out the popcorn, turn out the light and put it on.

When I picked it up at the video store, I didn't have much hope that this would be watchable. In fact, I only got it because one of the leads, Ric Walker, is a relative. (OK he's my brother, and I thought I could riff on him for doing this picture) So I took it home and put it in the DVD player.

What I got was a very watchable, in fact, a pretty good horror picture. Sure, there are a few problems, some sound and continuity errors, the actors are a little theatrical, but over all I really enjoyed myself.

The less is more theory of movie-making was evident. There was no on-screen gore, and the creature was shown in shadow rather than let the audience see a cheesy thing that would probably be laughable, given the obvious budget constraints, and the focus was on suspense and the characters dealing with an unbelievable circumstance.

Rather than seeing the latest big budget gore-fest I think 'The Promise Keeper' would make a nice substitute if you want to get the "willies." Check it out!!

While this one came out around the same time as other 'Body Swap' movies, and is usually blown off by most people as an inferior product. I just want to defend this flick for a bit.

Yes, it's a bit predictable, the script isn't the best out there, and it will never be considered a great classic, but the performances of Messrs. Reinhold and Savage are completely believable. In fact, I thought Reinhold's work in this one got overlooked. I'm not complaining about Tom Hanks' job in 'Big,' but I thought that since Hanks was playing an adolescent boy in a man's body, he played it a bit young. Reinhold, on the other hand, was playing a 9 or 10 year old boy, therefore his portrayal was easier to buy into.

Fred Savage does a very good job as the thirty-something man trapped in the body of a boy. The real selling points of these portrayals is in the details. Watch as Savage gives his 'son' encouragement, or Reinhold's uncertainty in dealing with the world.

As I said, a classic? Nah, but a fun afternoon of family entertainment? You bet!