Day After Halloween [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

This movie isn't really violent at all and it is slow paced... it plays out exactly like a Giallo, considering how slow some films of that genre are, you shouldn't be disappointed if you go in thinking this.. if this was an actual Giallo it would probably be considered a very good one. The score is nice and gloomy and theres nothing bad about the performances. It comes to a pretty exciting (and confusing) conclusion.

After many great VHS era and genre releases like Mortuary and Satan's Slave, Katarina's Nightmare Theather releases had me hooked. I saw this new title come up for release and I took the plunge. With a title like "The Day After Halloween" and featuring "that guy" who played Toecutter in Mad Max, I figured this was going to be a great lost aussie slasher from 1979, during a time when lots of great genre flicks were coming (and going).

Well, even this life-long horror fan got duped. First off, the title of the movie is Snapshot. There is no mention of Halloween anywhere in this film. Secondly, its not even a horror film, let alone a slasher. Its a drama/thriller that carries on WAY too long with nothing going on. The supposed "psycho" is just an ex boyfriend and he is about as threatening as a Teddy Bear.

The "violence" doesnt even pick up until the last 20 minutes of the film, and by then no one cares anymore. Pacing is terrible. Not even a little nudity from the lead actress can save this film. 90 percent of the film is spent wasting time with lame photo shoots for the lead actress.

Scorpion Films, if you are reading this, please hire me to screen your potential releases before making the investment, cause this film is not worthy of release under the Katarina's Nightmare Theater collection!

I hope the next round of releases are actual horror films, cause even the bad ones I have enjoyed due to the action/gore/nudity. But 110 minutes of photo shoots and parental arguements is not worth a 6 pack of beer on the couch.

Pass this one and get Mortuary, Satan's Slave, and Humongous instead. I still support this line of releases cause at least they are unearthing films that never got their due. This just isn't one of them.

The real title of this slow moving Aussie import is Snapshot, which makes a lot more sense since this movie has nothing to do with Halloween, the movie or the holiday.

Angela is a sweet but naive hair dresser who is given a big break in modeling when one of her clients drags her to meet a big time fashion photographer who agrees to use her for a campaign. Angela makes more in one day of modeling than she made at the salon in six months, but her bright new future might be derailed by her bitter and hypocritical mother and her creepy stalker ex-boyfriend.

The Day After Halloween has the feel of a movie that was written as a drama and then re-worked into a thriller. There isn't even a minor suspense sequence until two thirds in, although the final twenty minutes are lively enough to provide at least some compensation. The script is co-written by Everette De Roche who is the most important genre screenwriter in Australia, having written Patrick, Long Weekend, Road Games and Razorback--all of which are classics. The Day After Halloween is most definitely not a classic and should probably be avoided unless you are a huge fan of Ozploitation.

Aaaah, the 80's! What a great time! Especially if you were a fourteen year old kid who just loved horror movies. I would walk miles to get to the nearest 'mom and pop' video store every weekend to see what was new on the shelves. And, one day, like magic, this movie just appeared on top. And it stuck out like a soar thumb. I mean, the VHS box was huge. Huge I tell you. At first, I thought someone had stuck a box of cereal on the shelf as a joke. No kidding.If I can remember correctly, it had this picture on the front showing a bloody hand on a desk, next to a calendar, or something. I think a pair of scissors was on the desk also. Then, I looked at the title. It said, 'The day after Halloween'.

Excuse me? (I had to take a second look) Yep! That's what it said. '...after Halloween'. I was dumbfounded, and upset, and a little annoyed. All I kept saying to myself was, 'When did they make another 'Halloween' movie? What is going on!? How could I have missed this at the theater!? Where were the darn commercials? How come Fangoria didn't say anything about it? What is the world coming to? By that point,I checked all over the box and it didn't have anything that looked like a Michael Myer's movie. No white face. No Jamie Lee Curtis. Nuthin'. But yet, it said, clear as day, it was a 'Halloween' movie. Wow! I thought. I'll finally get a chance to see what happened after Laurie Strode took off in the ambulance at the end of Halloween 2. I was excited at the thought, but also anxious, because Michael Myers scared me to death. But I just had to watch it.

So, when I got home, I popped the tape into the player, took a deep breath, hit play and started to watch. Hmmm. When is that creepy techno music going to play? I kept waiting. Who is that on the screen? I kept waiting. Wait a minute now, that's not Jamie Lee Curtis coming out of a burning hospital. Trick or treat, sucker! Not even a darn candy corn. I felt like Charlie Brown did on Halloween when he got that rock. I was so confused. How could they lie like that to me? How could they be so sneaky?

And that...(!) was my 'Very First Time' being ripped off by false advertisement during the early video days. 'The day after Halloween' was the one that did it. Of course, at the time, I didn't know it was all about money, I was too young to understand all that. But then, once I started working at the videostores, and ordering the films, it all became very clear.

Well, I'm sure you figured it out by now, that this film isn't a continuation of Laurie and Michael's affairs. But, believe it or not, I still finished watching the movie back then. And I remember it being rather strange. I've watched it once or twice since then, so, here's what I remember...

First off, the girl in it is very pretty and has beautiful eyes. I forget her name but she was in the movie 'The Man from Snowy River'. She plays a model who is being stalked by a fan, or someone else that she knows. So, it's kind of like the Morgan Fairchild movie 'The Seduction' and 'The Fan' starring Lauren Bacall, which came out around the same time. It's also Australian, I think. In the movie, I also remember a photo studio catching fire, and the pretty model arguing with her mother, or somebody. I think she had a lot of issues with people. I think there was a pig's head in it, too? Maybe that was another movie.

If you like mystery thrillers with pretty young women in peril, you might like this. Though it is misguided, it is rather charming, in it's own unique way. Especially if you like rare vintage films from the 80's. Oh, one more thing, I did a little research, and the movie also goes by the name 'Snapshot', and you can find that title in the 'Aussie triple movie pack' here on Amazon. I might have to get, just to see if it has that pig's head in it. I'm so confused right now.....

Kevin Brian- Thanx for reading!