VOD Review: All Hallows' Eve 2 (2015)

The thing that you need to know about All Hallows' Eve 2, is that it's not really a genuine sequel to 2013's All Hallows' Eve (review HERE), and it's not even a "traditional" movie at all.

What this "movie" really is, is a gathering of 8 previously released Horror Shorts, with a wraparound story that loosely ties them together.

As non-traditional as it may be, All Hallows' Eve 2 is a far more enjoyable watch than its predecessor was. At least they didn't bring back Mr. Jingles, or whatever the fuck that stupid clown's name from the first one was.

Here are the shorts, listed from best to worst. We're going to keep things short and sweet, so as not to spoil too much.

DESCENT (2004)

"A woman is trapped in an elevator with the man she witnessed murder her best friend."

This is the best of the bunch. The first half of this one was pretty intense, and it sucked us in from the get-go. The twist at the end was pretty cool too.

JACK ATTACK (2013)

"Jack's favorite babysitter Elizabeth introduces him to the art of pumpkin carving on Halloween night. Nothing will ever be the same."

Jack Attack gave us a twist that we did not anticipate, and it was a wickedly fun entry.

ALEXIA (2013)

"Although Alexia, Franco's ex-girlfriend, has been deceased for some time, Franco still has her as a contact on his social network. When he decides to delete her and move on, something strange starts to manifest through his computer."

This Argentinian Short was pretty solid. We'd definitely watch a longer version of this one.

MR. TRICKER'S TREAT (2011)

"Every October, Mr. Tricker has the best Halloween decorations in town. While setting up his annual display, a quirky neighbor gets too close to figuring out why his decor is so lifelike."

This one is probably the most disturbing Short, as right from the start, we knew we were in for something nasty. It had a good sense of black humor about it too.

THE LAST HALLOWEEN (2013)

"Four young trick-or-treaters set out on a door-to-door adventure - making their way from house to house, collecting strange treats as they go - that could very well end up being... the Last Halloween!"

There's nothing wrong with this Short, but it just didn't do anything for us. I'm honestly not sure why. The costumes were great.

THE OFFERING (2013)

"A father and son travel deep into the woods to make an offering to a mysterious force. When they realize a key element is missing, they must improvise before time runs out."

Short, to the point, and pretty good, even if it was really predictable.

THE WRAPAROUND

"A woman finds a VHS tape on her doorstep that shows a series of gruesome tales that could be real. But the true danger is the pumpkin-faced killer that's using the tape to find his next victim."

The synopsis above is for the entire All Hallows' Eve 2 movie, so maybe that's the title of this Short, but who knows. This was a pretty creepy entry, but it didn't really seem to work as a wraparound. It really exists only to allow the other Shorts to be viewed, which is fine, but (assuming) seeing as this was the only part of the movie that the producers actually had to create for themselves, couldn't they have put some more into it? "Watch this VHS tape, and then I'll kill you?" Does anyone even have a VCR ready to go like that anymore?

They also could have expanded this one a bit at the end.

A BOY'S LIFE (2011)

"Through his father's military absence, a withdrawn and imaginative boy attempts to prove to his coping mother that the monster beneath his bed is real."

Decent story, decent acting, but it was not scary at all. Meh.

M IS FOR MASOCHIST (2013)

"Three young men find themselves in a sidestreet carnival. Here, a man is pinned to the board and they have every weapon imaginable at their disposal. Now, they must make the man bleed, at the bequest of a strange carnie."

At only 3-minutes (or so) long, this one didn't get a chance to do much. Interesting concept, but it felt more like a commercial than it did a Short Film. Blah.

LOOKING UP AT EACH ENTRY, SKELLY SKELETON AGREES WITH OUR ASSESSMENTS.

We actually really like the idea of someone gathering a bunch of Horror Shorts together, and releasing them as one movie; there are a lot of great Shorts out there, most of which never see the light of day. Some of the Shorts in this movie are selling for $12.99 on Amazon, which is ridiculous. Who would pay that much to watch one 10-minute Short Film? Honestly?

So kudos for the producers of this one for bringing a bunch of them together under one banner, and offering people a chance to see them for one much lower price.

All Hallows' Eve 2 isn't a bad effort overall, but it is like most Horror Anthologies in that some of it is good, some of it is bad, and some of it just should have been cut out completely. We're glad we watched it, as we loved Descent, Jack Attack, and Alexia, but everything else felt a bit like filler. Maybe it wasn't all "bad" filler, but it was filler, nonetheless.

YOU KNEW THIS WAS COMING, RIGHT?

This is not a "great" Horror Anthology, but it is a decent one in places. It is great though, how someone brought a bunch of random, pre-existing Horror Shorts together and released them in one movie for people to see, so we do have to give the overall "movie" some props.

If you're a fan of short-form fiction, then All Hallows' Eve 2 might be for you. In our opinion, it's worth seeing for Descent alone. Just know that this is strictly middle-of-the-road fare.

C

All Hallows' Eve 2 is available now on VOD.

Here are some of the lovely ladies of All Hallows' Eve 2.