Review of The Halloween Tree

Anybody who says this is a Halloween classic is absolutely right, it is a superb animated movie. One that I remember vaguely from childhood, and revisited on YouTube last night. Ah, those great memories. The animation is absolutely wonderful, it had a dark eerie feel to it, and all of the more advanced visuals were breathtaking. The music score was just phenomenal; there are no songs to interrupt the flow, instead the incidental music is haunting, beautiful, atmospheric and even dramatic. The characters are great- the four leads are likable enough, but my favourite is Moundshroud, sinister yet funny yet charming all at once. And what a talented vocal cast. Ray Bradbury narrates with consummate ease, but the real kudos has to go to Leonard Nimoy as Moundshroud, in one of his best performances. The pace is brisk, it has an engaging and somewhat educational story and a nice faithful script. It is also brilliantly adapted from the book by Mr Bradbury himself, and the film is full of traditional Halloween imagery that are constantly used in an inventive manner. Not to mention the ending, I thought that was a very poignant one. All in all, if you haven't seen this already, give yourself a treat. 10/10 Bethany Cox