‘Get haunted’
Halloween Party is a 2019 Canadian horror film about an internet meme curse that preys upon its victims worst fears.
Written and directed by Jay Dahl (There Are Monsters), the Northeast Films production stars Amy Groening, T. Thomason, Shelley Thompson, Marletta Laan and Bradley Bailey.
Plot:
They were known as the ‘Halloween Party’, a group of five badly disfigured children who made a pact to take revenge on a world who couldn’t look at them. Unwittingly released from their closet grave via a Halloween-themed computer meme, they now take malevolent joy in terrorising college students with their worst fears.
Can the unlikely pair of bereaved Grace (Amy Groening) and hacker nerd Spencer (T. Thomason) stop the virus spreading before its too late? Or will your worst fears – spiders, alcoholic parents, pigs, the Tall Man, exorcists – come to get you too?
Reviews [click links to read more]:
“The film plays a lot tongue in cheek but it has quite a solid heart with some dark subject matter on display, it certainly helps with investing in the characters and a good bunch we have here, lead Amy Groening is particularly likeable and is extremely easy to root for.” Coles 84
“Packed with effective scares and two very strong lead performances […] Dahl is obviously a big horror fan and Halloween Party unravels like a love letter to the jump-scare horrors that dominated the 80s. I had an absolute ball watching it and I can’t recommend it highly enough.” Entertainment Focus
“As the film progresses, the rules of the big bad seem to change around a lot, which gets rather confusing, and the film descends into some generic silliness. It’s a shame, as up until this moment, Halloween Party had a lot going for it: some great dialogue, insane ideas (vagina spiders folks), and some genuinely likeable lead characters.” The Hollywood News
“Halloween Party is a charming little movie that deserves seeking out. The silly premise leads to creative scares, a smart backstory, and an ambitious and surprisingly effective finale.” Killer Horror Critic
“This campus-set horror movie pairs up a couple of well-worn themes – an internet meme curse and worst fears coming to life – but then brings on a much more interesting rationale for the gory goings-on … with the clever stroke that characters who start out with fairly conventional fears (bears, spiders, pig-men) eventually shift to find out that there’s something out there that scares them much more.” The Kim Newman Web Site
“With its characters who, after encountering a strange meme, must race the clock against their own impending doom, Halloween Party marries the fatalistic tensions of Hideo Nakata’s Ring (1998) to the amiable student banter that Dahl had already honed in his previous feature There Are Monsters (2013). All this is funny and creepy in equal measure.” Projected Figures
“Halloween Party cements Jay Dahl as one of the best up-and-coming scriptwriters working in our favorite genre. His attention to detail and ability to craft a believable history are, frankly, outstanding for someone with only two films under his belt. Halloween Party is a fun, demonic romp with great dialog and excellent casting.” The Scariest Things
“Has plenty of awkward moments, and the VFX stink, but all told this features a credible mystery, although Halloween atmosphere is light and the conclusion completely rips off The Ring.” Splatter Critic
Choice dialogue:
Grace [Amy Groening]: “Seriously, people were basically animals before Netflix.”
Release:
In the USA, Halloween Party opens theatrically in select venues and on VOD on October 2nd 2020 via Red Hound Films.
Cast and characters:
Amy Groening … Grace
T. Thomason … Spencer
Shelley Thompson … Barbara MaCail
Marletta Laan … Zoe
Bradley Bailey … Pigman
Scott Bailey … Court
Jason Daley … Sam
Zach Faye … Bubbles
Lisa Hackett … Charlotte
Jason Morley … Jimmy
Thomas Niles
Taylor Olson … Mike
Geneviève Steele … Librarian
Devon Taylor … O’Brian
Filming locations:
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Technical details:
92 minutes
