Though I was lucky to catch The 9th Circle on YouTube long before it made its way into this movie, and before Art the Clown become a widely-renowned horror icon. I had nearly forgotten all about it until I watched All Hallows' Eve several years later. I was taken aback by just how truly creepy he is.
Slashers are a dime a dozen. Many of them are just rehashes of Michael, Jason, or Leatherface with just a vague amount of personality added. Not Art. While he shares Freddy's sadism and the way he toys with his victims and Michael's holiday of choice, he's still very much his own villain.
Truth be told, Art is the main reason to watch All Hallows' Eve. The characters are nothing to write home about, the acting isn't great, the plot is generic, and the second segment - which Damien Leone has admitted is only in there as filler - is totally out of place. There are some moments where Leone does a decent attempt at making the audience connect with his characters, like when Sarah is trying to reassure Tia in her bedroom, but otherwise, nobody's particularly interesting in my opinion.
The movie's strongest point besides its maniacal mime is its atmosphere, helped by the fact it's often underscored by an eerie soundtrack courtesy of Noir Deco. Even when nothing blatantly scary is happening, there's always the fear that something is ABOUT to go down. One particular exchange stands out to me:
"I want the both of you to go to bed."
"Maybe we could if you'd stop checking in on us every five minutes."
"What are you talking about?"
Unfortunately, it kind of loses its creep factor when Sarah tells the children to go back to bed instead of grabbing them and fleeing the house like a sensible person would. Granted, many characters in horror movies are the furthest from sensible, but I expected better. Nonetheless, even when Art is not on the screen, you get the feeling - more often than not - that something terrifying (no pun intended) is about to happen.
Besides The 9th Circle, the third segment, the original short film Terrifier - after which two new movies were named - also stood out. It's here that we first get to witness Art in all his vile, sadistic glory as he chases down a young woman unfortunate enough to witness one of his murders, mutilating and killing everyone else he comes across before slicing her up and carving some... let's say nasty words into her that IMDb isn't gonna let me use, but keeping her alive while he laughs at her. Leone has said that he wants to try and top that scene, and while the two Terrifier movies do have some pretty nasty and over-the-top killings, you really can't get any worse than that.
The ending of the movie is flat out haunting, as Art takes notice of Sarah and menaces her before trying to kill her, ultimately leaving her with a gruesome surprise for her in the children's bedroom. It cemented him as one of the most outright EVIL slashers since Freddy. So many attempts to get the next horror icon off the ground have failed. Chromeskull and the Collector had potential, but their respective franchises were cancelled before anything could become of them. If there is anyone deserving of that title, it's Art.
While the movie itself doesn't bring much in the way of uniqueness to the table, it's worth seeing the genesis of a truly worthy and iconic horror villain. Special mention goes to the fact that Art is not played by an actor, but by a friend of Leone's who was doing it as a favor to him. And he pulled it off to unsettling effect. Showed that silent slashers can still be scary as hell.
Slashers are a dime a dozen. Many of them are just rehashes of Michael, Jason, or Leatherface with just a vague amount of personality added. Not Art. While he shares Freddy's sadism and the way he toys with his victims and Michael's holiday of choice, he's still very much his own villain.
Truth be told, Art is the main reason to watch All Hallows' Eve. The characters are nothing to write home about, the acting isn't great, the plot is generic, and the second segment - which Damien Leone has admitted is only in there as filler - is totally out of place. There are some moments where Leone does a decent attempt at making the audience connect with his characters, like when Sarah is trying to reassure Tia in her bedroom, but otherwise, nobody's particularly interesting in my opinion.
The movie's strongest point besides its maniacal mime is its atmosphere, helped by the fact it's often underscored by an eerie soundtrack courtesy of Noir Deco. Even when nothing blatantly scary is happening, there's always the fear that something is ABOUT to go down. One particular exchange stands out to me:
"I want the both of you to go to bed."
"Maybe we could if you'd stop checking in on us every five minutes."
"What are you talking about?"
Unfortunately, it kind of loses its creep factor when Sarah tells the children to go back to bed instead of grabbing them and fleeing the house like a sensible person would. Granted, many characters in horror movies are the furthest from sensible, but I expected better. Nonetheless, even when Art is not on the screen, you get the feeling - more often than not - that something terrifying (no pun intended) is about to happen.
Besides The 9th Circle, the third segment, the original short film Terrifier - after which two new movies were named - also stood out. It's here that we first get to witness Art in all his vile, sadistic glory as he chases down a young woman unfortunate enough to witness one of his murders, mutilating and killing everyone else he comes across before slicing her up and carving some... let's say nasty words into her that IMDb isn't gonna let me use, but keeping her alive while he laughs at her. Leone has said that he wants to try and top that scene, and while the two Terrifier movies do have some pretty nasty and over-the-top killings, you really can't get any worse than that.
The ending of the movie is flat out haunting, as Art takes notice of Sarah and menaces her before trying to kill her, ultimately leaving her with a gruesome surprise for her in the children's bedroom. It cemented him as one of the most outright EVIL slashers since Freddy. So many attempts to get the next horror icon off the ground have failed. Chromeskull and the Collector had potential, but their respective franchises were cancelled before anything could become of them. If there is anyone deserving of that title, it's Art.
While the movie itself doesn't bring much in the way of uniqueness to the table, it's worth seeing the genesis of a truly worthy and iconic horror villain. Special mention goes to the fact that Art is not played by an actor, but by a friend of Leone's who was doing it as a favor to him. And he pulled it off to unsettling effect. Showed that silent slashers can still be scary as hell.