September 13, 2016

The Halloween season is literally right around the corner. And for a lot of us, it’s already begun ramping up. Hell, most of us celebrate all year around, but now is as good a time as any to get those decorations up, start pulling those horror titles off the shelf and start stocking up on candy and monster cereals!

Releasing today is a collector’s set you’ll probably want to add both to your movie collection, and viewing queue for this Halloween. Epic Pictures has unleashed their stellar 4 disc set for TALES OF HALLOWEEN, the epic horror movie anthology helmed by some of the genre’s greatest and most well respected fear makers. That includes: Neil Marshall, Darren Lynn Bousman, Dave Parker, Mike Mendez, Axelle Carolyn, Lucky McKee, Paul Solet, Adam Gierasch, Ryan Shifrin and directing duo Andrew Kasch & John Skipp.

This 4-disc collection is only available directly through Epic Pictures for $34.99 at this link. These suckers are limited to only 1000 pieces, but they are region-free and will play in any Blu-Ray/DVD set up. Let’s crack open the contents and have a look inside. Here’s 5 reasons you need to pick up TALES OF HALLOWEEN!

THE PACKAGING!

Look – I still collect physical media, so I’m a sucker for packaging that goes above and beyond your average sleeve. The outer cover pulls out and reveals a gatefold package that harbors all 4 discs, decorated by original creepy stills from the movie itself as you can see above! 2 collectible trading cards are also within. And the set has the feature length movie on Blu-Ray, DVD, a bonus disc for all the special features and a CD of the full soundtrack. There are literally hours of goodies to savor and enjoy!

SHORT FILMS GALORE!

On the bonus disc, you’ll find some of the familiar production video diaries that were teased out online prior to last year’s theatrical and VOD roll out. But the coolest thing on here are additional short films from a handful of the directors. Axelle Carolyn’s THE HALLOWEEN KID is a great pre-cursor to the anthology itself. Mike Mendez’s experimental THE EVIL tells a spooky story by using camera snapshots. For some laughs, you’ll definitely want to check out Andrew Kasch’s THIRSTY. But my fave of the bunch is Ryan Shifrin’s short film NO REST FOR THE WICKED: A BASIL & MOEBIUS ADVENTURE, which features Zachery Levi (CHUCK) and Ray Park (STAR WARS EPISODE 1) as the two title characters trying to infiltrate the penthouse of a mobster played by Malcolm McDowell! While the main feature has a group commentary, you’ll also find individual commentaries for some of the segments from the movie on this bonus disc.

THE SOUNDTRACK!

I love horror soundtracks, and this is one I was excited to get my hands (and ears) on! Because of the diverse group of directors involved in the final film, each of them used their preferred composer to score their section. So the TALES OF HALLOWEEN soundtrack is unique in the sense that it features original compositions by Joseph Bishara, Christopher Drake, Austin Wintory, Michael Sean Colin, Christian Henson, Bobby Johnston, Sean Spillane, Edwin Wendler and last but not least, the main title by the legendary Lalo Schifrin. The fact that this is included in this set to me is the icing on the pumpkin flavored cheesecake! Now all we need is a vinyl release!

THE MOVIE ITSELF!

The movie is great fun and features something for just about everyone! There’s laughs, there’s scares, there’s gore galore and more! And tons of recognizable faces everywhere you look across all segments. You’ll spot directors Adam Green and Greg McLean in acting roles. Cameos from Masters of Horror Joe Dante, Stuart Gordon and Mick Garris. The great Lin Shaye makes a memorable appearance, alongside Barbara Crampton & Lisa Marie! Adrianne Curry as herself! Greg Grunberg and Clare Kramer reprising their BIG ASS SPIDER roles. And Adrienne Barbeau as a radio host ala her character in THE FOG?! Between the people in front of the camera, as well as behind them, the enthusiasm for the Halloween holiday is evident and infectious.

Last but not least…

BECAUSE IT’S PERFECT FOR THE HALLOWEEN SEASON!

Plain and simple. We’ve got a handful of “Halloween” themed movies that are ideal for October. John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN, naturally. HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH has slowly but surely earned its cult status. And of course, Michael Dougherty’s TRICK ‘R TREAT is a regular stable for annual viewing. We can now add TALES OF HALLOWEEN to the yearly rotation because it’s ideal for parties and above all else, is just so much darned fun!

You can read our interviews with various directors, cast and crew from TALES OF HALLOWEEN below.

– Axelle Carolyn
– Neil Marshall
– Mike Mendez
– Adam Gierasch
– Actor Nick Principe
– FX artist Erik Porn
– Actor Graham Skipper

TALES OF HALLOWEEN: 4-disc collector’s set is now available through Epic Pictures.