Everyone involved in HALLOWS EVE: SLAUGHTER ON SECOND STREET was obviously full of affection for their project, from the director to the actors right down to the local musicians who provided the film’s soundtrack. I wanted to feel that love too—I really did—but I didn’t. I just didn’t.
We meet the first set of victims as they prepare for the opening of Slaughter on Second Street, their town’s answer to Scream in the Dark, Theatre of Blood, or whatever Halloween attraction makes its way to your town every October. One by one, these klutzy dumb-asses fall prey to death by power tools, leaving only one of their herd, alive but bloody-eyed, to be found by a security guard. Well, word of the “tragedy” makes its way around the town, and soon enough, the attraction is shut down until further notice. Not one to take losing a buck or two lying down, the faux haunted house’s manager, Buck Masters (Todd Reynolds), hires a group of paranormal investigators with weed and snacks to investigate any supernatural activity. Then, somehow, before the night even gets started, Buck, the investigators, and some random leftover workers who were straggling behind and cleaning out their lockers or something get locked in. Killing happens.
Now, I understand the limitations of budget, casting, and effects on the independent filmmaker. Those are all glaringly evident here, but not in an excusable, “Oh, they had no budget” way. The worst of those elements, though, is the casting. I get that these people weren’t paid, that they were doing it for fun and exposure, but really? Really? This was the best Owensboro had to offer in the form of drama students and camera hogs? It doesn’t help that the dialogue is mostly ridiculous, but some of it could’ve been pulled off had it not been delivered in a “reading it off a note card” monotone. Or, there’s the other end of that spectrum—which may have been what they were going for all along—the over-the-top cheeseball end. Some of the words coming out of some of the mouths are SO bad that it’s almost as if that’s the point, like they filmmakers are making a conscious effort to pay homage to genre predecessors (even if the predecessors are Scooby Doo. Seriously, we get it—Alma’s in an orange shirt and glasses. The two stoners are always lighting up and bring their own snacks. “I would’ve gotten away with it …” ah, you get the picture). There’s some FINAL DESTINATION in there too, with even a bit of CLUE. Plus, there’s an obvious Tarantino-esque tribute in the opening scene, right down to the choice of music, but gore and quirky songs don’t make you PULP FICTION.
There are entire lengthy scenes of exposition that could have easily been cut down to a few minutes (the scene between Buck and his “brother” early on is bad enough as it is, but throw in the fact that it goes on for an interminable amount of precious seconds we’ll never get back and you’ll understand the overall feel of the film). Plus, for me, bad dialogue and effects—and even the awkward and/or perplexing camera angle decisions and jarring shifts between comedy and attempted horror might have been not quite as unforgivable if the story had been better. Here’s the thing—a good story can make you forget a low budget. And a good story doesn’t leave you pointing out plot holes. Why would a group of so-called ghost seekers lock all their belongings and forms of communication in their car? How can a group of people that contains several average-sized adult men not be able to get out of a locked building? And … why are the killings happening? I mean, it’s explained, in its way, at the end, but it’s still vague and anti-climactic.
For the gore-hound, there’s some here, but again, it’s all cheaply done—and it looks it. Maybe I’m just biased, having just watched the Making Of featurette on my EVIL DEAD II DVD, but a lot can be done for very little money if you’re creative. The blood looked like it was being shot out of a bloodgun, the actors looked like they’d taken a shower in some Kool-Aid, and most of the kills were underscored by a jarring lack of sound and reaction. Plus, there were absolutely no shocks, not one scare that didn’t feel rote or routine.
So, now I feel a little bad. I mean, I’m a huge supporter of independent film, and I go into every one with a lot more of an open mind than when I go to see, say, something like FRIDAY THE 13TH that has a comparatively huge budget and a whole studio full of promotion behind it. But when you get that open mind, you the filmmaker also have a responsibility not to make me regret it. HALLOWS EVE made me regret, not because it was low budget, but because it’s a mishmash of cliché, bad acting, unbalanced story, lazy effects, and pointless scenes that go on too damn long. It’s all bad on Second Street, I’m afraid, and not in the way I was hoping for.
– Amber Goddard
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
