Possibly the sickest screams available on streaming is the truly astounding indie bloodbath, A Halloween Feast, directed by Guile Branco from the script by Branco and Arthur McClen. Something’s wrong with loving mother and former dancer Angela Long (Lynn Lowry), and the rest of the family is noticing, with maybe the exception of Grandma (Mary O. Bremier), who doesn’t notice much of anything.
Maybe what tipped them off was when Angela found out at the dinner table that her poet husband, Richard (James Griggs), had been smoking reefer against her wishes. So she cuts his index finger off in front of their grown kids Karen (Julia Coulter) and Stuart (Jackson Leighton). Blood sprays all over the food, though Grandma just keeps eating.
So Angela had to go away for awhile, but her psychiatrist, Dr. Roger Park (Lou D’Amato) says she is now well enough to return home. Richard is hopeful but frustrated Stuart, who still shares a room with Grandma, thinks it is a terrible idea. Karen doesn’t live at the house anymore, as she has a goth girl roommate, Susan (Asia Lynn Pitts) and a job as a bartender at the dive owned by the sleazy coke dealer Cudjoe (Pancho Moler).
As dreary as her life is, things start sparking up when she meets Mark (Guile Branco), who is from Brazil and dresses as a dinosaur for kid’s parties. Everything at the family home starts sliding upside down when Angela gets back, as she is acting so peculiarly and always goes out on unnamed errands. Then Angela announces she is going to throw a huge feast on Halloween, and she expects everyone to be there, either at or on the table…
“Angela announces she is going to throw a huge feast on Halloween, and she expects everyone to be there, either at or on the table…”
John Waters coined the distinction between good bad taste and bad bad taste, and with A Halloween Feast, the bad taste found here is completely delicious. Technically, Branco has given us a horror comedy, but the horror is not diluted by the tee-hees here. If anything, the horror level is intensified by how skin-crawling the basis of a lot of the humor is. This movie is so dark it offers ultraviolet protection for the viewer’s eyes before it rips them out.
The thrills to be had are just like the gore effects: cheap and plentiful. Branco also knows how sickening surreal touches can be, especially when done wearing a dinosaur costume. There are a couple of twists, but overall you know what you may be in for, especially if you check out the poster. Knowing what may happen though will not prepare you for the intensity of style that is applied to each major move.
The editing by Ryan Kelly maintains a beat and rhythm in the imagery that sharpens the film’s fangs that will sink in and not let go. This is kind of crazy that would send shivers through the grindhouses back in the day.
Above all else, A Halloween Feast is a tremendous vehicle for cult superstar Lowry. Having worked with Romero, Metzger and Cronenberg in the 70s, Lowry has been busy with a late career horror boom. While this move puts her in the company of other great actresses like Davis and Crawford, Lowry takes us out even further into a realm of wonder.
This lead is the biggest role I have seen her handle since Score, and she is wonderful. It is also the first time I have seen her getting evil. I can tell you I was not prepared for how sick Lowry could go, which is totally sick as f**k, using that word with the meaning the young people have for it.
A special spotlight must be given to the late Bremier, who turned in the killer turn as Grandma in her only film role at the age of 95. Bremier was a sport and was not afraid to find the hilarity in dementia, which I did not know could be hilarious.
A Halloween Feast is the kind of inappropriate entertainment that used to be dangerous to go see in public. That you can indulge in the gruesome fun behind closed doors in your home is even better. A truly magnificent horror show and a must see for its star performance.
"…I was not prepared for how sick Lowry could go, which is totally sick as f**k..."
