Somehow I found four movies on Tubi that revolve around Black people going to a Halloween party, so I simply had to do a marathon and follow it up with a post. A majority of these are strictly comedies, not horror films, so let’s see if there were laughs or scare to be found.
STABBED (2023)
This 40-minute slasher takes place specifically in Jacksonville, Florida. I don’t see why there was even a need to flash that on the screen, but there you have it.
A group of friends gathers for Halloween, and for the first 20 minutes they just sit and talk (the script writer didn’t seem to have the motivation to write interesting dialogue or develop characters). A variety of people come to the door–an over age trick or treater, a pizza delivery person, a redneck neighbor. I guess they’re supposed to be red herring…
Once the killing starts in the final 20 minutes, the filmmakers show a knack for creating classic slasher vibes, including the music, the lighting, the editing, the masked killer, jump scares, and the brutally violent stabbings.
The funniest part of all this is that they’ve clearly used a Darth Vader breathing sample as that of the killer.
The downside of all this? We never learn who the killer is.
POOR HERMAN (2022)
In this 64-minute flick, four female friends of mixed races are walking to a Halloween party while arguing about oversensitivity, whiteness vs. blackness, and pop culture. For no apparent reason they sneak into a random house to use the bathroom.
Unfortunately, a big guy with a burned face and wearing overalls starts chasing them down to kill them. He’s kind of sexy.
Blue lighting sets the horror mood, but the girls bring a comedic edge to the action.
Meanwhile, there are also flashback scenes interspersed that show us how and why the killer became who he is, and it’s a pretty classic slasher trope.
The kills are just okay, but the music score and the ominous presence of the killer definitely give it that horror tone we would hope for. And the final few minutes are quite satisfying.
HALLOWEEN KICKBACK (2021)
This is a straight up Halloween comedy written by, directed by, and starring Nelson J. Davis.
He and his two friends are all college grads down on their luck and living mostly at home. They’re also all very cute.
Anyway, when one of them is asked to house sit, they see an opportunity to make money by throwing a Halloween party and charging at the door.
What unfolds is a comedy reminiscent of the days of movies like House Party and Barbershop. Thing is, there isn’t much in the way of plot. It’s more like little vignettes of minor situations and conversations happening at the house party with nothing to push a story forward.
Some of the humor is funny, and the actors handle the comedy with ease, but there just isn’t enough of it (or enough plot) to support even the short, 70-minute run time. Also, while there are continuous flashing lights in haunting colors, there are no Halloween decorations around the house and very little effort put into the costumes guests are wearing. The most Halloween spirit comes from a nosy neighbor’s house, where a horror movie marathon is playing on the television.
And speaking of guests, it seems like they didn’t have money for even extras, so aside from the main cast, we only ever see numerous clips of the same people dancing–but only from their bellies to their knees! There’s also one girl in a G-sting twerking with her ass in the camera every time there’s a shot of the people dancing.
Speaking of asses, we do get to see one of the cuties naked from the back when he has to change his clothes after getting puked on.
This is a perfect example of unseasoned writing. There’s the start of a funny thread in the movie with this guy getting puked on and having to change more than once. But…it’s only twice. This could have been a running joke that eventually had a punch line–like maybe his friends thinking he was scoring left and right because he was always running around naked or something–but the script just felt too underdeveloped to see the opportunities that were waiting to be expanded upon.
The highlight for me is that for once a filmmaker figured out how to make text messages easy to read for aging eyes like mine. Instead of those damn little bubbles popping up in one corner of the screen, the texts are ghosted over the shots of the people texting. Brilliant.
THE MICROCHIP THAT RUINED HALLOWEEN (2023)
If you’re going to call your movie The Microchip That Ruined Halloween, you need to actually deliver on the quirkiness of the title. This movie feels like a weak attempt by a college theater group to make a comedy…with a mostly Black cast…that struggles to land any jokes, fails to deliver any semblance of Black comic sensibilities, doesn’t ruin Halloween, and makes Halloween night a virtual afterthought.
There’s a plan to implant a microchip in a prison inmate to rehab him instantly so he can be released into society. Just getting to the point when the chip is implanted drags on for over half an hour.
Meanwhile, at a university the faculty is planning for a Halloween party and staging a performance of Macbeth. The criminal with the chip is brought in as a student to play Macbeth.
With all this going on, somehow nothing goes on. This movie just limps along. How do you write a movie about a criminal forced into a social setting at Halloween time and not indulge in the concept?
With 20 minutes left, the Halloween party starts.
With 15 minutes left, the criminal jailbreaks the chip and busts into the party with an axe…then immediately passes out. When he wakes up, the chip has done its job and he’s all better.
The end.
WTF? Seriously.
