A handful of mean teenagers pull a nasty Halloween prank on a girl with a stutter that results in the poor lass being facially and emotionally scarred for life. Ten years later the folks responsible for this terrible incident receive a brutal comeuppance on Hallows' Eve. While director Sean McGarry delivers oodles of graphic gore and a satisfying smidgen of tasty gratuitous female nudity (gorgeous brunette Katie Griffith as the abrasive Susan bares her exquisitely bountiful breasts while masturbating in a bathtub and some mystery babe pops up for a totally ridiculous and unnecessary dream scene), McGarry alas crucially fails to generate much in the way of tension or spooky atmosphere. Worse yet, Raymond Mamrak's sloppy script suffers from an appalling lack of focus and cohesion: It's not only impossible to figure out who's supposed to be who amongst the guilty, but also the wonky timeline likewise is totally off (kids who were in their teens in the past look like they're pushing thirty in the present!). Moreover, the tin-eared profanity-ridden dialogue drops the f-bomb way too much and the irritating and obnoxious villains of the piece don't get bumped off fast enough. On the plus side, several cast members manage to do commendable work: Veteran scream queens Danielle Harris as the sweet Nicole Bates and Tiffany Shepis as the feisty Sarah contribute typically solid pro turns, Courtney Baxter makes a favorable impression as the fragile and vulnerable Eve Bates, and Ashley C. Williams of "The Human Centipede" bitches it up well as the snarky Ashley. In addition, the Halloween hayride setting gets put to pretty good use. Joseph Hennigan's passable cinematography unfortunately uses annoying fades at the end of a handful of scenes, but overall does the trick. However, Dan Dixon's redundant shivery score proves to be sheer torture on the ears. A disappointing slice'n'dicer.
Review of Hallows' Eve
