13 Days of Halloween: Horror Movie Review: All Hallows’ Eve: The Reaping (2015)

A sequel to the 2013 horror anthology All Hallows’ Eve that introduced the world to Art the Clown, All Hallows’ Eve: The Reaping aka All Hallows’ Eve 2 is a disappointing sequel but does feature some quality shorts.

Boasting a hefty number of writers, directors and cast members, the first notable thing about All Hallows’ Eve: The Reaping is that Art the Clown is completely absent from the movie. Instead, here we have the tenuous link of the Trickster, a person in a crappy pumpkin mask. To say it’s a downgrade is to underplay just how forgettable this character is.

Along with a forgettable and disappointing wrap-around that basically repeats the one from the first film. An old VHS tape, a young woman, an unwelcome visitor… the lack of originality here is startling and stupid.

Of course, she decides to watch the VHS and it’s what is on the tape that serves as the stories, eight in total. The first and one of the best, and goriest, is Jack Attack and simply plays around with the urban legend of eating watermelon seeds. Swapping them out for pumpkin seeds. It’s delightfully twisted and captures the spirit of Halloween nicely.

Next, it’s The Last Halloween. A short that needed a little more substance to be really good. That being said, it’s one you won’t want spoiled as the ‘twist’ is pretty damn good. Let’s just say in this story, opening the door to trick or treaters may have deadly consequences.

The Offering is a visually impressive short but again, needs more detail to be more memorable. Focusing on a father and son driving deep into the woods on a cold winter night to leave an offering for something inhuman that lives there. There’s just one problem… they forgot the meat.

As far as tension goes, Descent might be the best story in the anthology. A woman goes to visit her friend, only to find her dead at the hands of a killer. She manages to hide from him and escape but a week later ends up in a broken-down elevator with him. He didn’t see her though, so will she be able to keep her cool and survive?

It would be tough to follow that but Masochist doesn’t even try. Around three minutes of pointless violence that sees a group of boys playing a deadly carnival game.

The course is righted with A Boy’s Life as a familiar story of monsters under the bed is done with such a degree of professionalism, you might think you’re watching a trimmed down Hollywood flick. This is also the short with the best acting across all 8 of them.

From one of the best to one of the worst, Mr. Tricker’s Treat tries to go for a tongue in cheek approach but fails. The bland story of a man who likes to use real people as his Halloween decorations. It’s a short that looks and feels very cheap.

The anthology then wraps up with Alexia, arguably the film’s most frightening and obviously supernatural horror of them all. One that uses online presences and social media to good effect.

All Hallows’ Eve: The Reaping might feature some great shorts but those are shorts you can watch on their own. You don’t have to subject yourself to the bad ones, nor the poor and pointless wrap-around. While it’s not the first to do this, coming off the back of the original that really connected everything up nicely, it’s very disappointing. Check out the good shorts, avoid the rest.