Hack-O-Lantern

Hack-O-Lantern (1988)

** (out of 4)

Extremely bizarre horror film about a Grandpa (Hy Pyke) who is the leader of a Satanic cult and who wants his oldest grandson Tommy (Gregory Scott Cummins) to take over.

HACK-L-LANTERN has a terrific title but sadly it's not really a holiday classic. It's certainly not in the same league as HALLOWEEN or even TRICK OR TREAT for that matter but the film has enough strange moments to make it worth viewing and especially if you're a fan of the 80's low-budget horrors.

Director Jag Mundhra had made OPEN HOUSE the year before and there's no question that this here is a major step up. The film lacks any real money but I will give the director a lot of credit because the film looks very professional and it certainly looks like a "real" film unlike so many of the low-budget movies from this period. Another major plus is that the death scenes are rather gory. There aren't too many of them but when they happen they are impressive and fun. Finally, the biggest benefit is that just about all of the ladies are willing to get naked so there's a lot of T&A scattered throughout the picture.

As far as the problems go, there's certainly a major issue with the pacing. I'd also argue that the setting just didn't seem right as it really didn't make me feel as if it was really Halloween. With the lack of a good setting it also caused the film to have any sort of atmosphere. Some of the performances were really, really bad and some of the dialogue was even worse. The main sister's boyfriend is especially bad.

With all of that said, if you're a fan of low-budget horror movies then HACK-O-LANTERN is worth watching but it's certainly not a good picture.

A grandpa (Hy Pyke) tries to lure his grandson Tommy (Gregory Scott Cummins) into his group of Satanic worshippers.

Forget Hereditary (2018): Hack-o-lantern is a lot more fun.

Instead of confusing slow-burn horror, we get cheesy '80s goodness that moves at a fair lick.

Instead of drab, washed out cinematography, we get a vibrant Halloween setting.

Instead of miserable characters, we get a colourful collection of likeable fashion disasters.

Sure, the acting is less than perfect, and the direction by Jag Mundhra (the man responsible for forgettable slasher Open House) is basic, but the film more than makes up for this with some bloody killings, more than its fair share of gratuitous female nudity (the three Bs... boobs, butts and bush), and several 'WTF?' moments guaranteed to bring on the giggles.

Pick your jaw up off the floor as dirty ol' grandpa fondles his own daughter's tits on her wedding day.

Witness Tommy popping on his headphones to listen to some metal on his weather-proof Walkman. As he closes his eyes, we are privy to his thoughts: an MTV-style music video nightmare in which a band plays heavy rock while a woman fires laser bolts from her eyes and severs Tommy's head. Hilarious.

Wonder what the hell is going on as a woman strips naked at a Halloween party while a man outside breaks into an impromptu stand-up comedy routine.

And don't forget to play my Hack-o-lantern drinking game: a shot for every time someone throws the 'devil horns' hand gesture.

\m/ ( - - ) \m/

The particular copy of this movie that I saw was under the moniker "Hack-O-Lantern". In terms of pure gore, the movie didn't exactly live up to the name. It was, however, charming in a typically 80's horror fashion, i.e., just about every chick in the movie gets naked. The plot is nothing new, but it is rendered fairly well. In one particular scene, the movieturns into a music video by the heavy metal band D.C. La Croix. If you like old-school metal like Wasp and Venom you will like the song they have in the movie.

Bottom line, the movie needs more gore and a higher body count.

There are a few positives to this film when the budget is taken into account. However budget doesn't have to effect writing and that is generally terrible, both in the dialogue and the twists that make things unnecessarily complicated.

Don't get me wrong, a good twist can make a movie, but these were clearly all done just for the sake of it and make little to no sense. When they come they go against a lot of pre-established character traits and defy human logical actions.

Overall there is more depth to this low budget horror than most, but the twists throw a lot of that good will out the window. On the plus side you could say at a reach that this movie may have inspired Hereditary, although that's pretty unlikely.

This is the best cheezy 80's horror film ever made. Jag mundrah is a directing prodigy, HY Pyke is a hollywood A-lister, and gregory scott cummins has a creepy, unusaully thick mid-section. tommy drindle has one line in this movie that is very oscar worthy, when he grabs veras boyfriend, Brian and says "NEXT TIME YOU'RE DEAD!!!" And you cant forget about Roger Drindle and his ridiculous comic relief that is not even funny.My favorite line from Grandpa is "Tommy was never yaws, he belongs to sumthin' greater than you could ever imagine." And what about D.C. lacroix, that stupid cliche' metal band with the hit single "Devil's Son." Also Tommys fat pig disgusting girlfriend, Norah Bennington, I loved it when she got the pitchfork in her fat, new-wave hairdo.Does anyone remember the party comedian that looks just like Howie Mandel, man I bet that scene jump-started his Hollywood career. I have a question for anyone, is there really a pop-punk-new-wave band called the Mercanaries?