HARVEST OF THE DEAD: HALLOWEEN NIGHT *** UK 2020 Dirs: Peter Goddard, Terence Elliott. 72 mins
Preparing for a Halloween party, Sally Burns (Dani Thompson) grows impatient waiting for her friends to get back from their camping trip, unaware they’ve been killed by The Plague Doctor (Terence Elliott) and The Creature (Gemma Wilks), his partner-in-crime. When her guests Tia (Abby Wareham), Laurie (Rebecca Jean), Ben (Matt Brackstone), and Josh (Nicholas Pearce) do start to show up for the party, they carry on having fun which makes them unaware that they have crashed the party and killing them off one-by-one. As a pair of police detectives Faust (Kevin Hallett) and Bava (Dean Jovi) begin closing in on the crimes and realize where the two are heading, they race to stop the killers from carrying out a potentially apocalyptic means to their rampage.
On the whole, this is a fun follow-up that has a lot going for it. The straightforward approach of this one over the original, which means it’s not bogged down by inserting side stories from the anthology tales being told in favor of a fun dual-pronged storyline of the guests arriving at the party and the police investigation into the previous days’ events is far more enjoyable. The film is bogged down by padding and a somewhat under-explained finale that seems to be far too grand for what’s been going on but it’s all fun enough with the various indie-style ambush tactics and graphic bloodshed featured in the kill scenes which are all quite fun to see play out. Centered around the distraction of the party, it comes off enjoyable as the stalking and ambush tactics are well-handled and put in just right to keep interesting going with all sorts of various elements brought into play here. It’s got enough to like with these factors and the brisk pace that the few flaws here aren’t that bad.
Review by Don Anelli