Summary
Helloween is the perfect watch for scary season with Carl Cane a potential new horror icon and a decent cast who are clearly enjoying themselves.
Plot: During 2016’s “killer clown” craze, Dr. Marks and journalist Parker trace the source to jailed serial killer Cane recruiting followers for an anarchist movement. When Cane escapes, they race to stop his murderous Halloween scheme.
Review: I’ve always been a sucker for a movie that contains killer clowns, so I’ve been looking forward to Helloween which stars Ronan Summers as Carl Cane who’s kind of a cross between Michael Myers, Art the Clown and The Joker. This is his show, and he steals every scene with his over the top and yet threatening theatrics. It never quite matches Terrifier in terms of gore so hopefully they up the bloodshed for the inevitable sequel.
Performances are solid all round with Jeanine Nerissa Sothcott well cast as Carl’s doctor Ellen Marks who may have her own secrets. Michael Paré plays John Parker who thinks Carl is planning something big for Halloween as there have been disturbing clown sightings all around the country. He teams up with Ellen to try and find out the truth but Carl’s not revealing anything without a few tricks up his sleeve.
I think Helloween is Shogun Films’ best film yet as it may not have a huge budget but it didn’t need one as it manages to be suitably creepy and unpredictable. It’s well paced and doesn’t waste any time getting going with an opening scene which feels like a tribute to John Carpenter’s seminal classic.
Also, what was up with that whole clown craze back in the day? Was it just marketing for IT? Either way I’m glad it’s done…
Overall, if you like killer clown movies then Helloween will be right up your ward with a potential new horror icon in Carl Cane, some decent kills and a creepy atmosphere. It needs more gore for the sequel but that’s because I’m a sicko.