Halloween Party (2019)

Directed by: Jay Dahl | 92 minutes | horror | Actors: Amy Groening, T. Thomason, Marietta Laan, Shelley Thompson, Jeremy Akerman, Zach Faye, Scott Bailey, Taylor Olson, Murlane Carew, Geneviève Steele, Jamie Bradley, Catherine Richardson, Jackson Meisner

Horror is often seen by budding filmmakers as an easy way to put themselves on the map. After all, how hard can it be to watch a horror movie? Quite a bit of blood, beautiful young people and a masked creep: that’s all you need, right? At first glance you would think so – films like ‘Friday The 13th’ were made for an apple and an egg and scored well at the box office – but apart from the luck factor, several things play a role. The right time and place and an own identity, for example. ‘Halloween Party’ clearly doesn’t have these factors…

When a student dies under mysterious circumstances, her friend Grace (Amy Groening) decides to investigate. What happened? She enlists the help of IT expert Spencer (T. Thomason), because she suspects that a strange website and app are related to the death of the student. Gradually, the duo discovers that their student house has a gruesome past. A deadly history.

If the above synopsis seems interesting, the undersigned apologizes. That is not the intention. There isn’t much interesting to say about this failed film. ‘Halloween Party’ is a weak copy of the excruciatingly bad ‘Countdown’. Annoying youngsters look for a way to stop a deadly app and that results in a flat display without tension. Director Jay Dahl had a meager budget and an amateur cast. Traditionally, the actors who are supposed to play teenagers are far too old for their roles. The massacres are fairly adequately portrayed, but don’t expect shocking things.

‘Halloween Party’ is proof that making a good horror film requires craftsmanship. And creativity and a good cast. Canning a film that terrifies people or confronts them with their fears is something that few people can do. Dahl has not yet mastered this art. With better developed characters, a strong script and more remarkable killers, this could have been a decent movie. Now this is one of countless anonymous slashers with no identity. A boring genre film.