Label: Massacre Video
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 88 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Jag Mundha
Cast: Hy Pyke, Gregory Scott Cummins, Katina Garner, Carla Baron, Jeff Brown, Michael Potts, Larry Coven
In the 80's devil-slasher Hack-O-Lantern (1988) (a.k.a. Halloween Night) we have creepy kid Tommy, who has an even creepier grandpa (Hy Pyke, Slithis), who has been grooming the kid from an early age to take his place as the high priest of a Satanic cult, which he appears to host from a barn in his back yard. When Tommy is about ten years old gramps gives him a pumpkin and a magic amulet on Halloween, apparently the kids parents don't like the weirdo grandfather hanging around the kids, and when they find out he was around Tommy's father goes to confront him in his barn, there he discovers grandpa doing Satanic stuff with his robed followers. Gramps doesn't take too kindly be scolded by his son-in-law and has the kid's dad murdered, hiding the crime by placing the corpse in his car and setting it on fire, making it look like an accident - which is exactly what happened in the devil-cult film Enter The Devil (1972) which I just reviewed today, and which was also released by Massacre Video.
Years later the kid is now a teen played by Tommy Gregory Scott Cummins (Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge), an anti-social teenager weirdo who lays around his basement bedroom daydreaming of playing guitar in Seattle-based 80's metal band DC LaCroix, he even daydreams a pretty cool music video for their song "The Devil's Son", which would not have been out of place on the Headbanger's Ball circa 1989!
Creepy Satanic grandpa is still grooming the teen to be his heir in the cult, to that end he tells Tommy he must remain "pure" until his indoctrination ceremony into the cult on Halloween night, meaning no sex with his short coiffed blonde girlfriend Nora (porn star Jeanna Fine, New Wave Hookers III) who has a pentagram branded onto her ass, so hot!
Tommy's younger sister Vera (Carla Brown, Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama) seems to be your average horny teenager, having to contend with her brother's violent ways when he catches her asshole boyfriend about to pop her cherry. His brother Roger (Jeff Brown, Lady Avenger) is now a local cop who does not approve of his devil-obsessed brother's ways. Meanwhile the mom Amanda (Katina Garner, Cannibal Hookers) is trying to keep the family together and away from her father's satanic influence, all of this happening on the anniversary of her husband's death, Halloween night.
While all this is happening a devil masked-killer is murdering teenagers around town with a variety of everyday gardening tools, offering some fun, bloody deaths by way of a shovel to the head and a long handled claw- rake. So who's the killer? Well that's the mystery at hand here, and it's answered in a ridiculous sort of way with a multiple shock ending scenario that's as preposterous as it is fun!
Hack-O-Lantern is a silly 80's slasher that brings all the greatest hits of the genre you've come to love, we have horny teens, plenty of nudity, a satanic cult, 80's hair metal and even some disturbing incest implications to spice things up, but the real star here is Hy Pyke as the sinister yet ridiculous satanic grandpa, he really made the film for me.
Audio/Video: Hack-O-Lantern (1988) arrives on Blu-ray from Massacre Video in 1080p HD framed in 1.78:1 widescreen. Sourced from the original camera negative this has a nice layer of grain that looks heavy but natural, colors are surprisingly vivid, with good depth and clarity, with only a few emulsion scratches to detract from it. There's some soft focus cinematography used throughout, but this is generally and very crisp and robust looking transfer of the film.
Audio comes by way of lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 with the option to watch it in the original mono or a restored stereo mix, with optional English subtitles. The lossy audio handles the sound well, it lacks fidelity and depth, there's some soft hiss throughout, but not too shabby all things considered. There's also an option to watch the film with just the isolated synth score, large portions of the film have no score to it's a sparse watch.
Extras kick-off with an audio commentary from Producer Raj Mehrotra, the track tends to go silent for large swaths but does convey some good info along the way. There's also a brand new 11-min making of retrospective featuring Gregory Scott Cummins and Katina Garner. Cummings speak about doing the film for free as an acting credit, the audition, the long hours making the film, and how the director spoke no English, and as there was no interpreter to translate it proved to be a challenge, and shooting large portions of the film without the director being present. Garner speaks about working with Jag, how he fell into an open grave and broke his leg during the shoot in a cemetery, with him having to direct a large portion of the film from a wheelchair!
We also get a bizarre public access interview - is there any other kind? - with director Mundhra, plus stars Katina Garner, and actress Mayra Grant, hosted by an offbeat senior citizen named Georgette. It's a bit of a career highlight interview with clips of various projects, sourced from a VHS source from the looks of it.
Extras are finished up with an image gallery of behind-the-scenes photos with score accompaniment, and a selection of Massacre Video trailers that includes Nurse Jill, Black Past, Fantom Killer and Ostermontag.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Producer Raj Mehrotra
- Isolated Soundtrack Option
- The Power is in the Blood: Interviews with stars Gregory Scott Cummings and Katrina Garner (11 min) HD
- Public Access Interview (28 min)
- Behind the Scene Photos (5 min)
- Massacre Video Trailers: Nurse Jill (2 min), Black Past (2 min), Fantom Killer (1 min), Ostermontag (2 min)
Hack-O-Lantern (1988) is a damn fun time, the kills are goofy and there's no real scares or suspense, but the film is loaded with wacky characters and lots of big 80's hair, and I promise that you will never grow tired of that demented evil grandpa throwing up the devil horns! This movie is a just a lot of goofy 80's Halloween fun, I can definitely see this one being a Halloween tradition going forward, a top-notch release from Massacre Video.
