A Halloween Feast

A Halloween Feast might be more of a comedy for sickos than it is a horror film, and that's perfectly fine with me! While it's clearly low budget and narratively chaotic (the latter seems intentional), it is competently crafted and makes the most of what it has to work with, ultimately serving up a spooky-flavored John Waters-esque campfest. Well, I'm not sure if even Mr. Waters could have come up with a twist quite as, um, depraved as the final revelation of Feast, but I'm sure it would meet with his approval!

At its best, this is hilarious in both its outrageous, gory set pieces and in its more lowkey jokes- I'm not a gorehound, so a major LOL for me was when the main character tells a drunk Nietzche-quoting man who wears a dinosaur costume for a living that "it's nice to meet someone so normal"- the dating pool is rough, ladies. But then there's Lynn Lowry's absolutely unhinged lead performance, which is honestly iconic, and when she's front-and-center the movie really sings (not unlike Kathleen Turner's work in Serial Mom). "THESE FEET HAVE DANCED AROUND THE WORLD" is destined to become a popular quote in the cult horror movie crowd.

If you're down for indie horror and you get a kick out of Waters and co's brand of camp, or if you're an appreciator of the pitch-black humor amidst the spurting blood in Leone's Terrifier films (you freaky weirdo), you'll probably vibe with this one. Maybe don't watch it with your family, though.

Looks like Angela Long is acting strange, she retires from teaching - but was formerly a dancer) and suddenly starts to kill pets. (trigger warning). Her family deals with it the best they can until on a family dinner Angela cuts off her husbands finger and feeds it down his throat. This is within the first 5 minutes folks.

It goes from there to worse. A psychiatrist is hired to oversee her release back home (why? Why? Why?) played by the brilliant Lou D'Amato as Dr. Park and soon it's blatantly obvious it's a huge mistake.

I could keep going, but this film is the most unpredictable film I have ever seen. ... It's definitely not as good as Bonafide Hollywood movies (looks like this had a real low budget) - but I really enjoyed this a bit more than "Serial Mom", the 1994 Kathleen Turner starrer, because the story has so many layers. I could keep going but...

I'd say give this a shot!

I went to see this movie even though it was way out of my comfort zone. The cast was excellent and played off each other well. It was like a bunch of talented friends got together and created a "feast for viewing." The use of comic relief in the midst of tragedy was brilliant. Shakespeare himself would have been proud of the writers for scenes such as the one where three tough guys had to take a city bus to go rough up someone who owed them money. And if you like irony, Mark, the character who spouts Nietzsche hoping to help others find fulfillment, experiences what it is really like to live in a world where "God is dead."

The Halloween Feast is what happens when someone throws a party, forgets the food, but serves chaos on silver platters. It's stylish, self-aware, and surprisingly fun - even when it's tripping over its own atmosphere like a final girl in platform boots.

Visually? A treat. The lighting team deserves a raise.

Narratively? A little undercooked. Some characters feel like horror archetypes fresh out the shrink wrap - disposable, dramatic, and conveniently dumb.

The kills? Creative. The pacing? Snappy enough to hide the soft spots.

But the real MVP is the tone: somewhere between Clue, Goosebumps after dark, and your weird cousin's haunted house party that actually slaps.

It's not reinventing horror - but it is confidently crashing the genre buffet and licking all the knives.

Rating: 7 out of 10 bloodstained party favors.

Don't be mid. Bring a sharper script next time.

It was a wild and crazy ride watching this movie. The ending is a COMPLETE surprise! REALKY liked the goth girl character and the Grandmother. My family is crazy and so is this one. I was very impressed with the musical soundtrack. It's a great movie to watch in a dark Saturday night with friends... everyone will have feedback! The family relationships are complicated, generationally crazed family members and throw in a psychiatrist who gets involved and you begin to wonder if the whole world is weird. Not sure I will ever look at a family dinner the same way again and may keep this on the back of my mind when they cut the turkey but Holiday dinners should be full of Surprises!