Halloween at Aunt Ethel's (2014) - Trying too hard

When I first switched this film it actually seemed like it had a lot of promise.  It's a kind of slasher/horror film where an old woman (Aunt Ethel, in case you hadn't guessed) in an American town is thought to abduct and kill kids while they trick or treat on Halloween.  A reasonable enough plot for a low budget horror movie (unless you think too hard about how this woman can operate while everyone knows and no law enforcement agency has thought to look into how dozens of children disappear forever on the same night every year for decades when around the same house).

It's self-aware stylishly shot, but the script just isn't as funny as it thinks it is.  The cast aren't recognisable and they're trying their best with what they're given, but they just come across as overacting in every scene.  Maybe if the script was better you can ignore the scenery-chewing element, but while neither is strong it's actually quite hard to watch.

Plus it seems a lot longer than it actually is.  It's only about an hour and ten minutes, but you get long scenes of characters texting each other and s3x scenes which are just there because the actors clearly didn't mind (or were paid well enough!) to indulge in.

Perhaps the worst acting (and make-up!) come from 'Aunt Ethel' herself.  I get how villains can be 'larger than life' in their sadistic kills (ala Freddy, from the 'Nightmare' franchise), but she overacts more than the rest of the cast put together and she's not funny, intimidating or even horrific in appearance. 

Not much happens in the first half of the film and the humour is pretty low-brow.  If it has one high point it's the 'milf' who actually made me laugh when she was on screen.  It may be short, but it feels long.  There are a million better movies to watch on Halloween.

4/10 You can watch this film while you're doing the ironing (you'll still get the general gist of it)