With fall in full swing, and pumpkins popping up everywhere, the inevitable deluge of horror movies are also ever present. Among them is a long-fraught film titled “Horrorween.” I write long-fraught because according to The Internet Movie Database, the project was “first announced on the Today Show by Katie Couric and Matt Lauer,” and it was “the last film of Dom DeLuise, who died during shooting…” Katie hasn’t been on the Today Show since 2006 and having anyone die at any workplace does not bode well for morale. I’m providing all this semantic background information because based on the trailer below, there is not much else I can write due to the fact that I have no idea what the film is about without looking it up.
It turns out “Horrorween,” which was directed by Joe Estevez, is about two brothers who strike it rich, their family then throws a party with their newfound wealth, and later realize it has lead to resentment from their neighbors. While this film is supposedly a horror-comedy that follows the trials and tribulations of a nouveau-riche Latino family, this is the first trailer I have ever seen that did not even attempt to cobble together a plot for viewers. After thirty seconds of title cards that did not list a single recognizable name (and no, Nancy Spielberg is not related to Steven) I expected at least the semblance of some plot points. Instead the trailer for “Horrorween“ is a sepia-toned mish-mash of scenes I can only assume are from the film, or from a silent film featuring a bunch of people in Halloween costumes. All that information aside, this particular time of year is not meant for films that enrich the spirit or challenge the mind, so if you’re looking to see something that you are completely unfamiliar with and want to see cameos from William Shatner and Jenna Jameson (in a non-adult film,) go see “Horrorween,” but you have been warned and informed.