Director – Christopher M. Carter (Dark Chronicles, Devil)
Starring – Jessica Morgan (The System, Storage), Casey Norman (Overwatch, Them), and Rachel Netherton (Revenge of Zoe, The Tiny House Horror)
Release Date – 2017
Rating – 3/5
Halloween is just a few weeks away so I’m trying to focus a little more on Halloween films rather than the normal horror flicks that I typically watch all year round. I wanted to dig into something that I had never seen before and when I was looking over my review pile I decided to go with a few indie horror flicks. I had two from Wild Eye Releasing looking at me in the stack so these were my choices. The first is the 2017 Halloween anthology One Night in October. Thank you Wild Eye for sending this one my way.
**Spoiler Alert** The film consists of three stories intertwining. The first follows a group of twenty-somethings who trespass onto a corn field before they are confronted by the owner. They go to leave and their car will not start and soon find themselves being hunted by a living scarecrow.
The second story follows a young woman who just moved into a new house and a few of her neighbors notice some of the nice things she is bringing in. That night they break in and tie her up so they can look for cash but they don’t know exactly who she really is. The third tale follows a broken couple who are madly in love but life is preventing them from being together. To make matters worse, one of them is not exactly as they appear. **Spoiler Alert**
One Night in October is not a bad flick but there is several things that could have been done differently to make it a hell of a lot better. The movie has some fun and entertaining moments but those were strung out far and few in between. Honestly, if the film went the more traditional route instead of attempting to capture that Trick r’ Treat style anthology it would have been way more entertaining.
The acting in this one is actually very impressive. Each segment is very well acted and the characters take those typical horror cliches and makes them fun. They don’t try to be something they are not. Instead, they embrace the cliched horror character and make them fun.
The stories for this one are rather clever and extremely fun. However, the way they approached this anthology makes it feel run together and slightly messy. The film Trick r’ Treat took a horror anthology and changed it up. Instead of having a segment bookend the film they had the stories mesh together and intertwine. It worked for that film but it did not work that well for One Night in October. The stories were piss poorly connected. A wraparound segment would have made this one so much more fun.
Finally, the film does have some blood and a lot of cheap practical effects but it added to the charm. They were fun but showed the size of the film budget. Overall, One Night in October is something solid if you are looking for something you had never seen before. However, if you are looking for something to add to your Halloween rotation I would highly suggest skipping it. It was a solid movie but the Halloween aesthetic was just not there. The decorations used looked cool but the movie was unable to capture the Halloween spirit.
