A Halloween Feast: When Shock Value Overpowers Substance

In the crowded landscape of horror cinema, A Halloween Feast attempts to carve out its own space with a mix of psychological tension, dark humor, and shocking twists. However, while the film shows glimpses of promise, particularly through Lynn Lowry’s standout performance as the disturbed Angela Long, it ultimately stumbles under the weight of its ambitions. What could have been a tightly woven tale of terror is instead marred by an overzealous need to shock and a series of subplots that detract from the core narrative. As the film careens from one extreme to another, it becomes clear that A Halloween Feast is a dish best served with tempered expectations.

A Halloween Feast revolves around Angela Long, who, after retiring from her teaching job, slowly begins to descend into madness, including torturing and killing small animals. Six months after retiring, her steep decline comes to a boiling point when one night during a family dinner, she decides to cut her husband Richard’s finger off after he criticizes her cooking.

For her actions, Angela is sent to a mental hospital and it’s there where she meets Dr. Roger Park and quickly seduces the good doctor, resulting in the pair developing an inappropriate love affair.   

After only a couple of months in the hospital, Dr. Park convinces Richard that Angela is ready to return home. Wanting to get his family back together, Richard agrees with Dr. Park’s assessment, with the added assurance that Dr. Park will continue to meet and supervise Angela’s continued recovery.

This of course is a ruse for Angela and Dr. Park to continue their torrid affair, which falls in jeopardy after Dr. Park’s fiancée catches the pair in the act and steals a tape of the two of them engaging in BDSM. After learning of her intention to blackmail Dr. Park, Angela decides to take the matter into her own hands and begins eliminating everyone in her way to get the tape back and keep her secret.

At the same time, Karen, the eldest daughter of Richard and Angela, meets Mark, a children’s birthday entertainer, after he almost runs her over in the street. After their unlikely meeting, Karen starts falling for Mark, and it isn’t long before the two begin to have romantic feelings for one another.

As the days count down to Halloween, Angela tells her family that she wants to throw a special gathering, a glorious feast, to bring them together again.  But unbeknownst to the Long family, this Halloween family gathering will be the feast from hell. One that will come with shocking reveals and instead of turkey, murder is on the menu.   

A Halloween Feast serves up a platter of horror that fails to satisfy the palate. While the film aims to shock and awe, it often stumbles into the realm of absurdity, leaving viewers more bewildered than terrified.

The highlight of the film is Lynn Lowry’s portrayal of Angela. She is a force of nature, embodying a woman teetering on the edge of sanity. Angela’s relentless pursuit to recover the stolen videotape is where the movie finds its most gripping moments. Her hell-hath-no-fury rampage is both terrifying and enthralling, showcasing Lowry’s ability to command the screen.  

However, the film falters when it shifts focus away from Angela and turns its attention to Dr. Park, While his character is meant to serve as a catalyst for Angela’s journey, the additional layers added to Dr. Park—his cocaine habit, his dealings with an absurdly inept drug dealer, and his overall incompetence—become distractions rather than enriching the story. These elements likely intended to inject dark humor into the plot, instead detract from Angela’s arc, making it difficult to stay invested in her story.

The film’s attempt at humor is further represented through the character of Cudjoe, the bumbling drug dealer who also happens to own the bar where Karen works. Cudjoe is loud, obnoxious, and more of a caricature than a credible threat. His scenes, which seem designed to elicit laughs, often feel out of place, clashing with the movie’s darker tones. Rather than adding a layer of dark comedy, his arc feels pointless, contributing little to the overall narrative besides a few cheap laughs that quickly wear thin.

Parallel to Angela’s story is the subplot involving Karen and Mark, a man trying to make ends meet by dressing up as a dinosaur at children’s parties. This storyline, though initially intriguing, is marred by the film’s over-reliance on shock value. The meeting of Karen and Mark, which seems like a mere coincidence at first, develops into something more complex and, ultimately, more disturbing. Their story, while captivating in parts, is undermined by the film’s need to deliver one shocking twist after another.

When the film reaches its climax—the much-anticipated Halloween night dinner party—there is a brief moment where everything seems to come together. Angela’s unraveling reaches its peak, and for a fleeting moment, the film captures the chaos and dread it has been building toward. But just as quickly as it finds its footing, the film loses its way again. The twists that are revealed at the dinner, particularly involving Mark, derail the narrative, taking what could have been a poignant moment of horror and turning it into something absurd and unbelievable. Mark’s transformation from a likable, if somewhat tragic, character into a psychopath feels forced and unnecessary, stripping away any emotional connection the audience may have had with him.

The film’s final act is where it truly goes off the rails. What starts as a psychological horror film with potential devolves into a chaotic mess, with twists and reveals that serve only to shock rather than to enhance the story. The ending, meant to be a crescendo of terror, instead feels like a mishmash of ideas thrown together without much thought to coherence or impact. By the time the credits roll, it’s hard not to feel disappointed at what could have been.

In the end, A Halloween Feast is a film that tries to do too much and ends up achieving too little. Despite a strong performance from Lynn Lowry and a few moments of genuine tension, the film is bogged down by unnecessary subplots, out-of-place humor, and an over-reliance on shock value, including cannibalism, incest, and BDSM. The potential for a compelling horror story is there, but it’s buried beneath layers of absurdity that ultimately detract from the experience.

For those looking to see Lynn Lowry in a role that allows her to fully embrace her talent for playing unhinged characters, A Halloween Feast might be worth a watch. But for those seeking a cohesive and impactful horror film, this one might leave you wanting more than it delivers.