4 Halloween Blu Ray Review (Darkside Releasing)

4 Halloween is a 2023 horror anthology produced, story, shot, special fx, and directed by Domiziano Cristopharo (Phallacies, XXX Dark Web, A Taste of Phobia, Xpiation, Doll Syndrome, Red Krokodil, House of Flesh Mannequins, The Museum of Wonders, and 61: Scorecard Killer). It was written by Sebastiano Tuccitto. Halloween is the night of masks, murders, and mayhem. During this evil day, four different stories of fear and depravity intertwine to shock your mind. A psychotic serial killer can’t decide which mask to wear for their next wave of gruesome murders. A young man helps a mysterious disturbed grandmother find a fitting costume to frighten her grandchildren. A mad scientist devises a deadly pizza dough that changes them forever after a taste. Finally, a couple is put to the ultimate test while they both face their greatest and deepest fears!!!! I’m really surprised that no one is really talking about 4 Halloween especially around this time of the year. This independent horror anthology has a fantastic atmosphere with some wild visuals and production design. It’s mainly focused on those elements rather a full blown story or snappy dialogue here but that’s cool with me because there’s already so much going on in 4 Halloween. I really enjoyed how every segment ran into each other and it was all in the same night. Quentin Tarantino always did that, all of these crazy characters end up interacting somehow and it all ties together at the end which was a nice surprise. They don’t make that many horror anthologies these days so I’m always excited when I find one that I’ve never seen before. I’ve reviewed Red Krokodil, A Taste of Phobia, Xpiation, and Doll Syndrome from director Domiziano Cristopharo in the past so I knew what I was getting into with this horror feature. He does so many different jobs for 4 Halloween, it’s very impressive. Plus he put together a solid crew to help with the other behind the scenes responsibilities. The violence, the masks, the monsters, the deaths, the suffering, the killer pizza, and the gore is handled by Domiziano Cristopharo under his special fx artist alias Athanasius Pernath (Jack the St. Ripper, Phantasmagoria, Dark Waves, Ill: Final Contagium, Torment, and American Guinea Pig: Sacrifice) which is one of the best things about this low budget production. There’s plenty of brutal and nasty moments to satisfy any extreme horror fanatic here. Some of these would be cool standalone films if developed a little more. The cinematography from Domiziano Cristopharo reminds me a little of a mix between Creepshow and Suspiria. It’s very colorful and brings a sinister bright style to all of it’s grotesque images. The creepy music from Salvatore Sangiovanni (The Transparent Woman, Mad Macbeth, H.P. Lovecraft: Two Left Arms, and Bad Habits Die Hard) and Susan Dibona (The Boxer, The Theatre Bizarre, and A Night of Nightmares) is like it’s own character here especially during the first segment since there’s no dialogue in that one. The interesting cast includes Nicholas Sartori (La Perdición), Puccy Polverino (Eldorado), Silvio Caroli, Marco Cigognini, Daniel Arturi, Megan Vigil (Tantrum), Ale Tedesco, Alessia Cordoni, Ennio Prato, Gloria Bellei, Enzo Paris (eROTik), Domiziano Cristopharo (Reality Killers), Todd Quality Jaeger (Toilet Zombie Baby Strikes Back), and Alessandro P. Schiavi. I couldn’t find any information about most of the performers in this so I’m not sure if they used a different name or maybe it was their first gig but this was a solid first impression. There’s a variety of homages and easter eggs for so many classics in this. The first story had a more extreme John Carpenter’s Halloween and slasher vibe to it. The third story had a huge The Stuff influence to it. The Last one paid respect to clown horror. One of my favorite shockers was that it basically turned into an unofficial Killer Klowns from Outer Space at one point during 4 Halloween. It covers most of the major sub-genres and it offers the audience a little bit of everything. It’s shorter so it has a good consistent smooth flow and pace to it. There’s never a dull moment. 4 Halloween is a total blast and a throwback to old school horror. It almost feels like something that was made in the 80’s. More people need to know about Domiziano Cristopharo’s horror anthology 4 Halloween. It’s a hidden underground gem that knows exactly what type of low budget movie it’s making, RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Darkside Releasing! This 1080p (1.78:1) uncensored and uncut transfer is from an HD master of the independent production. 4 Halloween definitely looks so much better than it’s actual budget. It’s all about it’s style and sharp visuals. The cinematography, special fx, and production design are so damn good for what they had to work with. It has an English: Dolby Digital 2.0 track on the disc. The soundtrack and score is what really stands out here when it comes to the audio. All of the dialogue is very clean, the madness is elevated, and the music has a killer boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. It has the almost 10 minute “Behind the Scenes Clips, Bloopers, and Alternate Scenes “. There’s various silly goofs, unreleased footage, and some awesome behind the scenes stuff with the special fx from this. It has the “Official Trailer” for 4 Halloween. It has various “Trailers” from Darkside Releasing. This is a M.O.D (BD-R) home video release. It’s available everywhere right now including MovieZyng.com, CHECK IT OUT!!!!