A Halloween Feast

Every now and then, a horror-comedy comes along that feels like a potluck party: it's got a little of everything, some hits and some misses, but overall, you're glad you showed up. A Halloween Feast, directed by Guile Branco, is exactly that. It blends campy scares with quirky humor, dishes out nostalgia with every frame, and tops it all off with seasoned performances from genre veterans like Lynn Lowry. It's not the scariest horror-comedy you'll ever see, but it's certainly a tasty treat worth savoring.

What begins as a Halloween dinner soon turns into a nightmare, with blood, laughs, and an otherworldly twist. The movie is self-aware without being too meta, relying on horror tropes but giving them a lighthearted twist.

Branco seems to understand that the magic of horror-comedies lies in striking the right balance between absurdity and genuine tension. He leans into the absurd, which helps A Halloween Feast stand out. Instead of pushing too heavy on the jump scares, he plays with audience expectations, keeping things just unpredictable enough to be engaging. It's more "creepy chuckles" than "scream-your-face-off" horror, but that's exactly where the movie shines.

The Main Course: Performances that Hit the Spot

One of the film's main ingredients for success is its cast, with Lynn Lowry delivering a standout performance. For those who remember her iconic roles in 70s horror cult classics (Shivers, The Crazies), she brings a delicious mix of menace and charm. Lowry is fully in her element here, her expressive eyes and icy calm making even the most ludicrous lines feel grounded in something real. She knows how to play the dark humor, expertly walking the line between creepy and campy.

The rest of the cast, in contrast, brings a more straightforward comedic energy, caught in increasingly bizarre situations. The timing is sharp, and the chemistry off-kilter that keeps the movie moving.

Side Dishes: Humor and Horror in Unequal Measure

The film's humor is its strongest asset, the comedic elements are hit!

A Halloween Feast might be more of a comedy for sickos than it is a horror film, and that's perfectly fine with me! While it's clearly low budget and narratively chaotic (the latter seems intentional), it is competently crafted and makes the most of what it has to work with, ultimately serving up a spooky-flavored John Waters-esque campfest. Well, I'm not sure if even Mr. Waters could have come up with a twist quite as, um, depraved as the final revelation of Feast, but I'm sure it would meet with his approval!

At its best, this is hilarious in both its outrageous, gory set pieces and in its more lowkey jokes- I'm not a gorehound, so a major LOL for me was when the main character tells a drunk Nietzche-quoting man who wears a dinosaur costume for a living that "it's nice to meet someone so normal"- the dating pool is rough, ladies. But then there's Lynn Lowry's absolutely unhinged lead performance, which is honestly iconic, and when she's front-and-center the movie really sings (not unlike Kathleen Turner's work in Serial Mom). "THESE FEET HAVE DANCED AROUND THE WORLD" is destined to become a popular quote in the cult horror movie crowd.

If you're down for indie horror and you get a kick out of Waters and co's brand of camp, or if you're an appreciator of the pitch-black humor amidst the spurting blood in Leone's Terrifier films (you freaky weirdo), you'll probably vibe with this one. Maybe don't watch it with your family, though.

Looks like Angela Long is acting strange, she retires from teaching - but was formerly a dancer) and suddenly starts to kill pets. (trigger warning). Her family deals with it the best they can until on a family dinner Angela cuts off her husbands finger and feeds it down his throat. This is within the first 5 minutes folks.

It goes from there to worse. A psychiatrist is hired to oversee her release back home (why? Why? Why?) played by the brilliant Lou D'Amato as Dr. Park and soon it's blatantly obvious it's a huge mistake.

I could keep going, but this film is the most unpredictable film I have ever seen. ... It's definitely not as good as Bonafide Hollywood movies (looks like this had a real low budget) - but I really enjoyed this a bit more than "Serial Mom", the 1994 Kathleen Turner starrer, because the story has so many layers. I could keep going but...

I'd say give this a shot!

It was a wild and crazy ride watching this movie. The ending is a COMPLETE surprise! REALKY liked the goth girl character and the Grandmother. My family is crazy and so is this one. I was very impressed with the musical soundtrack. It's a great movie to watch in a dark Saturday night with friends... everyone will have feedback! The family relationships are complicated, generationally crazed family members and throw in a psychiatrist who gets involved and you begin to wonder if the whole world is weird. Not sure I will ever look at a family dinner the same way again and may keep this on the back of my mind when they cut the turkey but Holiday dinners should be full of Surprises!

That was twisted... definitely not a 10, or a 9. I was going to give this title a 7 (entertaining, campy, fun, weird, strange, imperfect, out there .... but after the big final twist revelation at the end, which I will not reveal here, I decided to up to an 8 just because of that. Holy darn I have never seen such inappropriate situation in any movie ever -- and because of my "holy Sh***" moment I had to up it a bit and I know it's higher than most horror type movies you see out there who are far better technically with better production -- but darn that ending had me not being able to sleep at night (which is good for a movie like this) wholly molly folks.