Epic Pictures, out now

Tales of HalloweenTen interconnected stories of the season…

Fans of John Carpenter’s The Fog will appreciate the start of this movie, as Adrienne Barbeau – to all intents and purposes – reprises one of her best roles as the DJ, sending out messages to the town on a night when ghosts, goblins and much much else stalks the town.

There’s a lot of neat ideas scattered through this movie, which crams 10 stories into its 90 minute running time, meaning that you never get the chance to get bored of any one concept because another one’ll be along in a minute. Each segment is helmed by a different director, linked through their location (slightly incredibly, in the same small town) with some names more recognisable than others. Neil Marshall and Darren Lyn Bousman are among the brighter luminaries – but that doesn’t necessarily mean their segments are the strongest (the credits give a title and director for each tale).

Of the ten, the strongest are the opener – Sweet Tooth, directed by Dave Parker – and The Ransom of Rusty Rex, directed by Ryan Schifrin, son of Lalo, who provides the terrific main title theme. There are a couple of duds but overall the hit rate is pretty high. It’s not aiming at a hardcore horror audience (or at least I hope it isn’t!) as the scares are definitely 15-certificate appropriate and the effects show the low-budget nature of the project from time to time, but think of this as an Amicus-level movie rather than Hammer at its finest, and you’re in for an enjoyable seasonal treat.

Verdict: An enjoyable horror compilation. 7/10

Paul Simpson