The Facts:

Synopsis: In this lost scene from Halloween 2018, a police officer, a trick-or-treater and three high school friends have a deadly encounter with THE SHAPE.

Stars: Vincente Disanti, Berlin Edmond, Landon Strain, Mark Gonzalez, George Champane, Jimmy Champane, Ryan Becker

Directors: Courtlan Gordon & Jimmy Champane

Running Length: 14 minutes

TMMM Score: (7/10)

Review: Up until yesterday, I had every intention of using today’s entry to look back at Rob Zombie’s 2007 remake of Halloween and the 2009 sequel that was very much his own vision of a follow-up.  I’d watched the films again after a number of years and gritted my teeth through Zombie’s unfortunate fixation on finding meaning behind Michael Myers actions and wanting to explain away the violence that tore through Haddonfield.  Frankly, Zombie just didn’t understand that what made John Carpenter’s original film and even the subsequent sequels so scary was that there was no motivation and the more the franchise tried to put a purpose on the perpetrator, the less frightening he became and the less it all made sense.  I can’t even begin to dissect the sequel which a cache of fans actually feel is better than the Zombie’s remake because it externalizes PTSD.  No thank you, and no more please.

Instead, I was pleased to get wind of a something I’ve yet to cover on 31 Days to Scare and it’s the legendary fan film phenomenon that’s been around for some time.  In between sequels that can cause long gaps between films, ardent followers of their favorite characters will either spend their time writing stories that spin the character off in another direction or continue the plot after the previous entry ended.  In this age where you can make a movie with your iPhone and simple editing software, aficionados are more likely to attempt a film to bridge that length of time…many to less that stellar results.  I’ve gone down a YouTube rabbit hole many times and spent anywhere from 20 seconds to 20 minutes watching projects that showed what happened after the shark exploded, after the priest fell down the steps, and even what went on before the counselors arrived at Camp Crystal Lake.

With the coronavirus bumping out Halloween Kills, the sequel to 2018’s Halloween, out an entire year, those longing for that middle part of the trilogy which hopefully laid the groundwork for a resolution of the Laurie Strode/Michael Myers story, were going to be left empty-handed come October 31^st.  Thankfully, fans Courtlan Gordon & Jimmy Champane had our best interest at heart and have released Happy Halloween: A Halloween Kills Fan Film, a fairly striking short film produced with no budget and is a true labor of love.  Supposedly a lost scene from the 2018 film, it’s brief and brutal and what it lacks in production value it more than makes up for in the type of gore and atmosphere showcased in the best entries of the series.

The structure is a bit odd and I won’t give away why but let’s just say that Michael Myers is doing his thing and doesn’t run into many obstacles along the way.  Gordon and Champane appear to only be concerned with seeing their friends get sliced and diced in gruesome ways and the effects are impressive considering this was touted as being produced with no funds.  I’d be interested to hear what the filmmakers of the official franchise think about this effort and wouldn’t be shocked to see the two directors get involved in some kind of low-budget horror film in the near future, they’ve clearly got an eye for the genre and how to stage a stalk and stab scene on a nickel and a dime.  It may only be a fun size bar of candy but Happy Halloween: A Halloween Kills Fan Film is exactly the kind of treat you’re looking for.

Here’s the film if you’re ready to watch it now: