Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: HALLOWARRIOR [Tribeca Film Festival - New York, New York]
Playing a Halloween film as one of the Escape From Tribeca selections in June is an interesting movie but the take of "Hallowarrior" is fun and gory enough that it feel more like of a context of hope than just the flip and scare elements one might expect. The reason why is that the film follows Pumpkin (Milly Shapiro), a 16-year-old who loves Halloween but is now stuck in a house all by herself after a plague ended most of life on the planet. The fact that Shapiro starred in "Hereditary" as well gives it credence but that was not eben part of the idea when one was watching the film itself. What actually is an interesting balance is how specific Shapiro plays Pumpkin as really wanting to see the best in people. Then in comes a couple in Thalia and Roye (Shannyn Sossamon and AH Coven) while Coven plays the horror field with aplomb, Sossamon doesn’t do as much acting so the fact that she was here was hidden was interesting. This reviewer went in cold not knowing the full cast on purpose. There is almost an essence of Lena Heady as well in Sossamon (whom this reviewer met back in the day for "A Knight's Tale" and "Rules Of Attraction") and it shows that, like Winona Ryder, there is so much more space to have her come back in the fold with some bigger roles.
Writer/Director Ben Sottak knows how to play up the camp but also the kills with a sense of weirdness and glee without getting too heavy. Adjani Russell plays Wendy who is brought into play with the bad sorts but has a different arch. But the house itself turns into a weapon but not as much as one might think. It is actually the use of dust or psychedelics that ups the play but it almost seems like a shortcut. Now the construct of where these came from also is a little random which the director did allude to in the Q&A. Not everything needs to make sense but recognizing that Shapiro was actually older than she played definitely explained the maturity of the acting since her lines have so much a sense of knowing and yet the innocence does need to be indicated. Pumpkin's actions of violence seem a little unbothered as well as a certain digging scene but this is par for the course in a certain way since it is going to be a Shudder release. "Hallowarrior" is its own beast: fun for its own sake but it is also great to see Shannon Sossamon on screen again. B
By Tim Wassberg
