by Kyle Laugh
Director:
Writer:
Stars:
Christine James Walker, Chris Banks, Kevin Daigneault
A VHS homage to Slasher Films, Drive-in Movie Culture and Halloween Public Service Announcements, in Picture Show Format.
Once upon a time, drive-in movie theaters ran rampant across North America. It was the perfect place to take your date to see the newest and most popular movies, all from the comfort and semi-privacy of your own automobile.
If you or your partner became a little bit famished from the "extracurriculars" possible taking place within the confines of your vehicle, you could take a quick walk over to the concession stand to order from a variety of menu options. It was essentially a one-stop-shop for anything one would be craving through a cinematic showing.
Nowadays, we have an entirely different way of taking in our films. Sure, the basic movie theatre is still around but most of them now offer multiple ways to enhance your viewing pleasure with the addition of recliner seats, 3D, 4D, and even the ability to throw gaming parties on some of their screens. Not to mention all the available options for your home viewing pleasure as well!
Director Anthony Ashmore uses "The Trick or Treat Picture Show" to bring us back to a simpler time of life.
As I do with all of my reviews, I'm going to leave this one spoiler-free, to give you, as a reader, the opportunity to experience it for yourselves.
Throughout all the shorts, I was able to experience a full film experience thanks to Ashmore's ability to take typical horror style tropes and truncating them to fit a smaller cinematic scale without letting them cause confusion within the stories.
The acting was much better than I was initially expecting it to be. Considering the experience of most of the cast, films of this nature typically seem to get weighed down by inexperienced performers, but clearly, the casting process really helped in picking up some great performers which, in unison with the use of 35mm and 16mm film style cinematography certainly makes for a grand viewing experience.
The music used was also delightful as it really picked up that 80's movie feel and mixed it with some familiar sounds bits, which aided in making the tunes catchy and enjoyable.
While the shorts offer great feelings of nostalgia which are visibly fueled by a variety of the 80's slashers we've all seen, loved and have been influenced by over the years, the unfortunate deal-breaker for the film is the overabundant use of commercials, ads and repetitive spots used to advertise the drive-in movie concession stands which lead viewers from the sudden onset of hunger to annoyance in a matter of moments.
I'm understanding of the struggles of putting together a feature-length film and how irritating the process could be. Many directors I've spoken too over the years have expressed their personal hardships with needing their films to be extended in order to land a deal with a distributor, get into a festival or anything that would require the creators to expand their films by adding in a seemingly pointless or oddly placed scene to reach their goal of expanding the films runtime. In this specific scenario, the created infomercials and public domain ads throw the horror feeling out the window.
Had Ashmore been able to provide another short (possibly two depending on their length), it could have easily eliminated a good portion of these otherwise distracting cut scenes.
My displeasure of the aforementioned "desire in no way a cut against the actual work presented in the varying scenes. Each short was entertaining and some even compelling in their own ways, with his love for the genre and it's nostalgic effects shining brightly through each respective scene.
The shorts together are an easy 8 out of 10, but with the unfortunate disruption caused by the ads and commercials, I have to sadly drop the score down to a 6.5 out of 10.
Some people may enjoy these pieces more than I was able to, adding to their viewing experience in combination with the great shorts and suggest you give this one a shot when the opportunity to do so arrives.
The Trick Or Treat Pictures Show (2019) Will be coming to Amazon in the Month of October. There is no exact date at this time, but be on the look out for it soon.
Trailer:
Have you listened to our HORROR Podcast? This week on Beyond The Void Horror Podcast. We took on a few 90’s Lucio Fulci films! One that was written & Directed by him called Voices From Beyond (1991) and another that was a collaborative movie made with Dario Argento (and Lucio Fulci) called The Wax Mask (1997) Check it out! Listen on iTunes Here or on Spotify here!