HALLOWEENIGHT (2009 Directed by Mark Polonia)

Halloweenight, the latest creation from Polonia Brothers Entertainment, marks the first movie done by the company without the help of John Polonia, the twin brother and other half of PBE who passed away suddenly in February of 2008. Based on a story and a concept for a feature film John had written years earlier, Mark Polonia takes on the job of bringing his late brother’s old story to life with the help of a cast of old Polonia Bros. movie regulars (like Todd Carpenter, Cindy Wheeler, Bob Dennis, Dave Fife, Ken VanSant, etc.) and with the monster and gore making prestige of make-up effects artist Brett Piper (Screaming Dead, Bacterium, etc.).

Halloweenight tells the story of an old school janitor (Carpenter) who is being hassled by a group of party-going, adventure-seeking thugs (Dennis, Fife, and VanSant) on the eve of All Saint’s Day. Fed up with their shenanigans, the janitor uses voodoo practice to bring to life a scarecrow creature to exact revenge on them. When the gang settles in with their girlfriends (including Wheeler and Danielle Donahue from Ryan Cavalline’s Aspiring Psychopath) and Polonia and Piper’s upcoming Muckman) bath as the house has its power dismantled and the kids begin to die in a variety of gory ways including by dismemberment, shower stabbing, axe plunged into skull, and much more. The possessed scarecrow is more than willing to carry out the plans of his master, the old janitor. Trix (Wheeler), being the heroine in the story, tries to go up against it and stop it with a dwindling number of her chainsaw fodder friends.

Halloweenight is a very well crafted slasher story with a ‘80s horror vibe. The make-up effects and scarecrow by Brett Piper are very well done, the score by Jon McBride is effective in establishing the ‘80s slasher feel to the movie, and Wheeler gives perhaps the best performance in the movie as the heroine.

The most interesting aspect of Halloweenight is perhaps the story as to how it came to be and those stories are explored very thoroughly in an entertaining “making of” featurette featured on the DVD released by Mark Polonia and Cinegraphic Productions themselves. It was interesting to see how John Polonia had worked on the story way back in the mid ‘80s and how it was eventually made into a Super 8 short by the Polonia’s, a Super 8 short sequel, and then years later, a feature film. For a project that was started more than 20 years ago by his late brother, Mark and Cinegraphic Productions did a fine job of finalizing it as a feature film and making John’s dream a reality. Aside from the entertaining featurette, we also get a director’s commentary with Mark, a still gallery, and the movie’s trailer as extras on the DVD.

If you’re a fan of ‘80s horror, a fan of the Polonia’s work, or looking for a good Halloween-themed horror movie, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy of Halloweenight on DVD from www.cinegraphicprod.com and www.halloweennightmovie.com