I’ve been a little out of the loop on the forum lately so I didn’t hear about the Fan Film Festival until the films had already been picked.
Aw well, but no sweat this is a project I’ve been planning to do for quite a while and it wasn’t meant for a festival anyway (My apologies go out to those who worked hard for the festival though, sorry there won’t be an official competition).
Anyway I’m happy to announce HALLOWEEN: Trick or Treat!
It’s not quite finished, but it should be out within the week. I believe there was a Halloween comic book called Trick or Treat, but if there’s a Fan Film that already has the byline ‘Trick or Treat’ (Somehow I don’t think there is) please tell me so it can be changed before the final edit.
This is easily one of the more effective fan films. The minimalist approach of no dialogue truly is clever. Too many fan films drown themselves in excessive dialogue & overbearing drama, so this is a refreshing change.
The sense of timing with each scene and is not too much or too little, there’s no “fat” to be trimmed. There is no convoluted plot to be dragged through or motives to follow; it is simple, brief and without explanation and it works. I loved how the microwave became the pace behind the kills.
The second kill is notable in the fact the audience is about to anticipate a cliché “Rob Zombie overkill” beyond the second stab but pleasantly, it does not go there; keepin’ it classy.
Overall, I feel this fan film is one of the only ones (I’ve seen) to faithfully nod their head towards the simplicity of the original film. Camera angles were varied & well placed, another positive, and provided a dash of homage e.g. quick POV sequence, disappearing in the kitchen, etc.
The ending touch of humor was well played & hit the nail on the head for the choice of title; Michael’s trick is rewarded with a treat, very slick. Overall, excellent job & quite an entertaining 5 minutes!
I have to agree with Loogs’ review on this one. Your fan film was definitely one of the better ones for its simplicity. The actors being (or at least LOOKING) so young almost threw me off, but the composition, direction, and action pretty much drowned that criticism out. You guys are very talented, and I’m pleased that you were able to pull off such an effective flick.
Also, as stated before – I loved the ending. Gag as it might be, I don’t really think it is out of character for Michael; one of the awesome things about him is he’s so unpredictable, we can’t possibly know what is truly out of character for him. Great work, guys, I’d love to see more from you!
Inspired or not, I felt it was very reminiscent of the original “Bob’s ghost” sequence. As you said, we don’t know what is out of character for Michael and why he would perform said action. These types of scenes provide a welcomed comic relief, letting off steam bottled up from the intensity of previous events.
Speaking of inspiration, I think this fan film is enough to draw inspiration from to start scripting my own short
Every point you two brought up was a concern while making the film and I’m glad it struck the correct chords with you! The idea of the ending was like you said, after Michael tricks, he gets some treats, but I wasn’t sure how that would play with the hardcore fans, goofy/or refreshing after 4 minutes of dead pan acting (although there was no dialogue lol). The relation to the “Bob’s Ghost” scene from H1 as a previous example of Michael’s playfulness was good, something I had not thought of while filming, but it does make me feel a little more confident that it was within his character. Besides, I thought Michael just walking out at the end would have been boring and given the movie no conclusion.
Not a problem, man. Good to see more Michael Myers fan films in the vein of the original. I might just have drawn some inspiration from this one myself! Keep on keepin’ on!
Hey everybody! This month is the One Year Anniversary of my Fan Film Halloween: Trick or Treat! Give it a watch if you haven’t yet, we are very close to cracking 2K views! I’ve made a poster just to celebrate the Anniversary:
-great job!
