Happy Halloweenの配信情報・視聴方法・感想

This isn't Halloween. This isn't Scream. It's also not a handful of other better horror movies that it desperately tries to emulate. It even tries to imitate the musical sting made by Carpenter for the Halloween movies. It is, however, not a very good movie. It has halting casting, the directing is definitely not up to par, And the effects are, of course, very low budget. It is not a good time. It is not engaging. It's not scary or tense. It's worth giving a miss.

***There’s a killer on the loose during Halloween in small town America***

This is a micro-budget indie slasher that utilized grassroots efforts to apprehend funds for the production, such as local bake sales and community support. The town in the story is celebrating its 300th birthday, which means it must be located somewhere in the East pertaining to the 12 colonies that existed in 1722. Yet the flick was shot in the Ozarks of southwest Missouri, which is fine for me since it’s a quality substitute.

The colorful Halloween ambiance is great with corn mazes, costumes, Jack-o'-lanterns, gravestones and such. Petite blonde Emma Reinagel works well as the troubled high school protagonist, Hadley, as does fun-spirited Aline O'Neill as her bestie, Payton. Hedley’s beau is regrettably miscast though. He’s supposed to be the quarterback but looks like a lineman. Hadley’s mother describes him as “handsome,” as if he’s the school heartthrob, yet that’s hardly the case. For one thing, he needed to lose at least 30 lbs.

The story is a tad convoluted wherein certain things aren’t made clear, but you eventually figure them out, sort of. For instance, we know Hadley experienced serious trauma a year earlier during Halloween, but is the opening cornfield sequence a flashback to this occasion, which I assumed, or is it happening in the present? Turns out, the latter (I think). Later on, there are flashbacks to what happened to Hadley a year prior. I’m all for movies challenging the viewer to figure things out, like the effective “I know Who Killed Me,” but why make the audience unnecessarily rack their brain?

On top of this, there are details in the story that are questionable and needed worked out, such as the absent father who’s mentioned, but never shows up. In short, the script needed refined. The good bits could’ve been milked for more entertainment, not to mention the runtime should’ve been tightened up to eliminate tedious bits.

Nevertheless, it’s certainly watchable if you’re in the mood for a Halloween flick and can roll with low-budget indies. It borrows from “Jaws,” the “Halloween” films, “I Know What You Did Last Summer” and “Scream.”   

It runs 1h 36m and was shot in the fall of 2022 around Springfield and Aurora, Missouri, the latter of which is located about 30 miles southwest of the city. The corn maze is located about a mile northeast of Aurora.

GRADE: C-/C