The Curse of Halloween Jack

source: The Curse of Halloween Jack

I like the character of Halloween Jack, although I do feel that Jack should be a whole lot dirty and tattered. He doesn't come off as that frightening when it looks like the rope and burlap just came from the nearby farm supply store. The acting was so-so. A number of the kills are off screen or unimpressive. The fact that the grizzled old man who has been after Jack knows about the Druids doesn't know how to say Samhain comes off as amateurish. The correct pronunciation is "Sow-win." Although the listing here states that the budget on the movie was an estimated $1 million dollars, I just don't see it. Apparently, a million dollars doesn't go as far as it used to.

Could have been good. It has a good plot/storyline for a slasher. However the subpar acting and murder scenes really cheapens the movie. Not all the actors were bad though but the hunter guy was the worst of them all. I wonder if they'll make a part 2.

This film was slightly better than other low budget movies. The acting was a little dodgy but some of them were ok. Also the mask the killer wears was actually pretty good and if given a bigger budget it could really have been extra scary. The kills were good but there were pieces of dialog that didn't really go anywhere.

Andrew Jones follows up the turd that was Legend of Halloween Jack with another turd, only this one is very slightly more polished! Despite making movies in South Wales he is obsessed with including American characters but sadly he has yet to find one that can do an authentic sounding accent. This only drags his bad films down even further. One of these "American" characters is Duke, obviously "inspired" by Kurt Russell's "Snake" from Escape from New York. Jack looks laughable and his kills are largely bloodless and lame, for example one victim has a mobile phone shoved into her mouth. And what's with a guy handing out dollar notes to his daughter despite being obviously filmed in the UK!? One of the better scenes has some mildly amusing banter between a gay and a straight man. Final Girl Danielle (Tiffany Ceri) looks stunning but shows a complete lack of emotion, she also looks older than the 19 year old that she is playing. Marginally better than the first movie but I only scored that trash 1/10. Rubbish.

American or English? I don't know if the film makers or actors knew. This felt like someone was trying to make a feature length version of a Goosebumps episode. Terrible, but I have seen worse.

As 'soon as I saw this was a British production I was ready to turn it off, we are notoriously bad at the horror genre, however I decided to give it a bit of time and see what happened. I was actually quite surprised. Yes there is dodgy acting, awful costume for 'Jack' and predictable storyline, but it was generally well made and fun. To be honest I've seen far worse in Dr Who and that gets a worldwide following. Enjoy a bit of tongue in cheek fun and watch/listen for the references to John Carpenters "Halloween".

Even Sharknado is less trash. Srsly I thought it could be a good movie or at least mediocre but it's probably the trashiest "Horror"-Movie I've ever seen.

I thought this was actually quite a bit of fun, I have seen the original, but week to remember needing the fast forward button. The story was a bit of fun, nothing to serious,of course it makes absolutely no sense, but then you haven't come to watch a movie called The Curse of Halloween Jack for a tightly woven plot have you? The acting is ok, the quality of performance does very it's fair to say, but for the budget they do a decent job. I think Jack looks particularly good, an imaginative, decent looking figure. Good music, and some pretty well realised scenes. Plenty of atmosphere, we of course get the cliched dark and stormy night setting. Don't take it too seriously, it's a bit of fun, beats the first. 6/10.

I'm really at a crossroads with this, the latest film from Andrew Jones' prolific North Bank Entertainment company. This sequel to 2018's 'Legend of Halloween Jack', this production is a similar mix of the good and the not-so-good. The problem is, after so many projects, the not-so-good elements should be better than what we have here. It is a step up from the previous instalment, however; Halloween Jack's appearance has had a few tweaks, and his glowing scarecrow appearance looks pretty good in an eccentric kind of way. Any sound issues prevalent in previous films are absent, and the acting is all pretty decent. However, we do get the usual mix of accents, which makes it difficult to pinpoint where the gruesome action is supposed to be located. Cockneys, RP, Welsh and American accents all rub shoulders together. The Americans in particular sound unconvincing to this UK ear, and must give genuine United Statesians toothache. The location is listed as Dunwich in Massechusetts, bit it might as well be Suffolk. Halloween Jack's motive seems to be to kill as many people as possible. The kills are spectacularly under-produced, with cap guns and a distinct lack of gore. I wondered if this film was supposed to be a family friendly horror, but the frequent profanities would indicate otherwise. There's a massacre at a Halloween party, where a handful of people we've been made familiar with are knifed. The other partygoers respond by running around the living room and screaming, but make no attempt to leave the house. It is a masterpiece of understatement, and it gives the impression that no attempt has been made to create any tension at all. After a brief chat to bearded weirdo Duke Tanner (Peter Cosgrove), Danielle (Tiffany Ceri) - whose previous most daring exploit was to defy her father and attend the afore-mentioned Halloween party - suddenly becomes what we are invited to imagine is a gun toting bass ass. Despite the prolific Ceri's best efforts, it is a lukewarm transformation. I like that North Bank Entertainment exists, and I am glad they have reached a level of success that allows them to make a growing number of UK/Welsh horror productions. But it frustrates me a little that they don't progress artistically a little more. Their best film, in my view, remains their very early 'Theatre of Fear (2014)'. My score is 6 out of 10.