TALES OF HALLOWEEN

The list

1. 01

   Sweet Tooth

   Dave Parker; new Halloween urban legend; gory dark humor; Grunberg/Kramer cameo.

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2. 02

   The Night Billy Raised Hell

   Darren Lynn Bousman; carnage and cartoony FX; Barry Bostwick as bad-influence suburbanite.

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3. 03

   Trick

   Adam Gierasch; senseless butchery reveals ironic motivation of young attackers.

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4. 04

   The Weak and the Wicked

   Paul Solet; Western themes reveal wages of childhood sin.

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5. 05

   Ding Dong

   Lucky McKee; berserk Hansel and Gretel riff; Pollyanna McIntosh unhinged.

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6. 06

   Grim Grinning Ghost

   Axelle Carolyn; Halloween partier Alexandra Essoe meets ghost; Barbara Crampton reunion.

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7. 07

   Friday the 31st

   Mike Mendez; hysterical slasher-franchise riff with holiday twist; adapted DEAD STUFF opening.

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8. 08

   This Means War

   Andrew Kasch and John Skipp; deadly rivalry; setup stronger than follow-through.

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9. 09

   The Ransom of Rusty Rex

   Ryan Schifrin; horrific O. Henry spin; John Landis cameo.

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10. 10

    Bad Seed

    Neil Marshall; deadly Halloween icon vs. Kristina Klebe; sets up sequel hook.

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Facts from the original

• TALES OF HALLOWEEN is an anthology feature showcasing independent horror directors.
• It had a world premiere at Montreal's Fantasia festival and was set for release October 16.
• HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH was meant to launch a series of unconnected Halloween sequels before commercial concerns brought back Michael Myers.
• TALES OF HALLOWEEN suggests what that planned franchise might have looked like in miniature.
• John Carpenter's influence is explicit.
• Adrienne Barbeau introduces the film, essentially reprising her radio-DJ role from THE FOG.
• Ashley Thorpe animated the opening-credits sequence.
• Lalo Schifrin composed a lushly spooky musical track, coaxed out of retirement with help from his son Ryan, one of the anthology's contributors.
• Dave Parker's "Sweet Tooth" invents a new nasty Halloween urban legend and targets an unfortunate teenage couple.
• Parker delivers a great scare with dark humor, blood, and gore, encapsulating the feature's tone.
• Most stories aim for shivery fun, though a few go for serious creeps.
• Darren Lynn Bousman's "The Night Billy Raised Hell" balances carnage and cartoony sound FX.
• Barry Bostwick plays a cranky suburbanite who is a bad influence on a neighborhood boy.
• Kids behaving badly is a recurring theme.
• Adam Gierasch's "Trick" has a string of apparently senseless butchery with an ironic revelation about the young attackers' motivation.
• Paul Solet's "The Weak and the Wicked" uses Western-cinema themes to show the wages of childhood and teenhood sin.
• Lucky McKee's "Ding Dong" is completely yet coherently berserk, a riff on Hansel and Gretel.
• Pollyanna McIntosh (THE WOMAN) goes completely around the bend with infectious enthusiasm in "Ding Dong."
• Axelle Carolyn's initial inspiration launched the project.
• In "Grim Grinning Ghost," a Halloween-night partier played by Alexandra Essoe (STARRY EYES) encounters a ghost.
• Mike Mendez's "Friday the 31st" is a hysterical riff on a different slasher franchise.
• "Friday the 31st" incorporates the holiday theme in an unforeseen way and may cause incredulous laughter.
• Mendez adapted the opening scene of an unproduced script called DEAD STUFF for "Friday the 31st."
• Andrew Kasch and John Skipp collaborated on "This Means War," a story of deadly rivalry whose setup lands stronger than its follow-through.
• Ryan Schifrin's "The Ransom of Rusty Rex" is a horrific spin on a classic O. Henry story.
• John Landis appears in one of the most conspicuous cameos in "The Ransom of Rusty Rex."
• Neil Marshall's "Bad Seed" turns a Halloween icon deadly, pitting a cool creature against Kristina Klebe.
• "Bad Seed" ends with the most explicit hook for a follow-up.
• The film is well-produced on a modest budget.
• It has consistently strong makeup FX from numerous artists.
• The segments use a variety of visual schemes so they do not run together, even though they all take place during the same night.
• Supporting characters occasionally cross over between segments.
• The film is full of familiar faces in key and blink-and-you'll-miss-'em roles.
• Additional cast includes Caroline Williams, Marc Senter, Noah Segan, Trent Haaga, Tiffany Shepis, John Savage, Graham Skipper, Mick Garris, Greg McLean, and Adam Green, among many others.
• Greg Grunberg and Clare Kramer briefly reprise their BIG ASS SPIDER! roles in "Sweet Tooth."
• Barbara Crampton reunites with RE-ANIMATOR director Stuart Gordon and WE ARE STILL HERE co-star Lisa Marie in "Grim Grinning Ghost."
• Spotting horror regulars and the TALES directors themselves may drive repeat viewings.
• The movie may become a Halloweentime perennial.