Milly Shapiro is a real treat in Shudder original film Hallowarrior
Hallowarrior released on Shudder just in time for Halloween as part of its Season of Screams, and I am always looking for new Halloween films to add to my seasonal viewing. Hallowarrior has been on my radar since its world premiere at Tribeca in June, so I was more than ready for it.
Poor Pumpkin is a young girl living all on her own in a world that seems to be in its death throes. Some unknown event (possibly a virus) has killed off the population, and Pumpkin is starting to think she is the last girl on earth. All of the crops have failed, so food is scarce, but luckily, Pumpkin has a massive store of candy to live off of.
Pumpkin loves Halloween, and we know it was a beloved family tradition, because she repeatedly watches a home movie that features she and her mother. In the video, Mom refers to the girl as a “Hallowarrior”, and that’s still how she refers to herself.
It’s Halloween, and Pumpkin has a costume of sorts; her hair is colored bright orange, and she wears a Halloween sweater and a clear shield mask with triangular pumpkin eyes painted on it. For the occasion, she has also carved “junk-o-lanterns.” Since pumpkins don’t grow anymore, she collects cans and buckets, carves them with a knife, and lights candles inside. She even puts a bowl of candy on the front porch of her house, and uses a radio to call out a message to anyone who might be out there.
That backfires on her, though, because three people actually show up – Thalia, Royce, and a teenage girl named Wendy. And that’s where the horror comes in. Though they seem friendly enough (sort of) at first, they have a menacing air about them, and we can tell that something is not right. The stakes are high for Pumpkin, because we all know what bad people do for food when there is none, right?
Milly Shapiro (whose last major film role was as the doomed Charlie in Hereditary) absolutely makes this movie. Her facial expressions are so good, and they clearly show that Pumpkin is desperately lonely, and so wants these three visitors to be her family. She says that this is her fourth Halloween alone, so she’s been on her own for a very long time.
Pumpkin can tell that Royce in particular isn’t a good guy, but she is still unsure about Thalia (who plays up her motherliness) and Wendy. Thalia goes off to round up the rest of their group, having basically pushed Pumpkin into allowing them to crash at her house, but some bad stuff goes down with Royce while she’s gone.
Hallowarrior is brutal and bloody at times
Hallowarrior has moments of gory violence, and the atmosphere is tense, but we are rooting for Pumpkin and even Wendy throughout. And while Shapiro is definitely the true star here, Ajani Russell is fierce as Wendy. Together, the two are a great team. AJ Bowen and Shannyn Sossamon are appropriately scary as Royce and Thalia, and Vic Playas, Taylor Valentine Lupini, Logan Beveridge and Bobby McFarlane are wonderfully weird as their “family” members.
Hallowarrior is a solid, spooky addition to Shudder’s Season of Screams, and I plan to watch it again on Halloween day.
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