It’s too bad that we may never get a “The Paloni Show!” series off the ground as it seems to currently be one of the many interesting pilots that never quite took off. Justin Roiland, Zach Hadel, creators of “Rick and Morty” really opt for something completely bizarre and insane here, which is always a great thing. “The Paloni Show! Halloween Special” not only introduces us to foul mouth kids Leroy, Reggie, and their sister Cheruce, but they set the stage for a Halloween anthology that’s a lot of fun, even if it’s ultimately a mixed bag of treats. Siblings Leroy, Reggie, and Cheruce Paloni are hosting a Halloween Special featuring various shorts. They are shooting for their own Hulu show after hosting this variety show from their suburban home.
Things spiral out of control though when they’re forced to babysit their cousin Little Long Legs. They’re also being pursued by slasher and serial killer Dana Carver, the knife wielding Dana Carvey mask wearing maniac. “The Paloni Show! Halloween Speicial!” is an obvious wonderful ode to MTV’s “Liquid Television” in where the producers enlist a slew of various animators and creators to offer up their own horror and Halloween based short segments. “Banana Party” from Daniel Cole centers on a guy who arrives embarrassed to a Halloween party dressed as a banana. Meeting another girl in a banana outfit, they both go to a party filled with various people also dressed as bananas. Or so he thinks. I saw the twist coming a mile away, but it’s still a neat premise with a clever final scene. “Plopsie And Friends” from Sydney Heller, Olivia DeLaurentis’, Stoopid Buddy Stoodios is my favorite of the bunch.
It’s a twisted live action parody of kids shows where two costumed female hosts have to deal with their foul mouthed, deformed puppet. It’s bizarre and nightmarish and I dug it. “Camp Death Lake” from Echo Kellum and Nate Caywood is a funny tale of a victim being stalked by a slasher named “Rubberface.” During the pursuit, the victim gets a call about possibly being cancerous, and “Rubberface” decides to nurture them to health. It, again, offers up a twist I basically saw coming a mile away, but it lands with a good chuckle, and sharp animation. “The Dreston” from Brian Wysol is an okay animated short that features the last performance by the late Gilbert Gottfried. While the animation was good, the narrative made no sense. “Bet It Was Becca” from Jaime Rodriguez is just a mind fuck of an animated short obviously inspired from Junji Ito.
It centers on young Becca who is challenged to go apple bobbing in her Halloween party. And suffice it to say, she’s more than up to the task. Along with the utter mind blowing animation, “Bet it was Becca” ends on a very funny gag that wrapped things up nicely. “Megahex, Devil’s Night” is based on Simon Hanselmann’s “Megahex” comic book centering on Meg, Mogg, Werewolf Jones, and Owl, all of whom go trick or treating and end up victims of a murderous old man. It’s a funny segment with some solid voice work. “Rightbehindyouton”from Joel Haver’s is a complete miss of absurdist comedy about a man who prohibits surprise parties and Halloween after being scared nearly to death during a surprise party. The humor is flat and the delivery of the final gag is dull. David Firth’s “Slaughter Cafe” is very, twisted good social commentary based around “Clacky’s Slaughter Café,” a restaurant for the rich where they cannibalize poor people.
The victims offer themselves up for money, or clout, and the patrons eat them with great zeal. The social commentary is volatile and I loved the message behind it. “The Creek Down the Street” from Michael Cusack is another animated short that’s obviously weird for the sake of being weird. It’s a mundane conversation between two monsters talking about a date one had. They mention Halloween in the end. That’s about all the connection it has. Myke Chilian and Jordan Harris’ “Shitty Beetlegeuse” is a pretty funny spoof of “Beetlejuice” where a small monster convinces a man at a party to say the magic words to free him. It’s incidentally a very offensive word. It’s a short but sweet gag. Rafillo’s “The Killer Bathtub” is an okay short very much in the spirit of “Bet it was Becca” where in the animation is more the attraction than the actual story.
“An Alien Halloween Claymation” from Lee Hardcastle is another fine claymation short featuring a dad who has to save his baby daughter from aliens on Halloween. Again the animation is more the attraction than the story, but the final gag is worthwhile. “Slashtronaut” from Jacob Hair is an inexplicable slasher tale about three kids that discover an abandoned space shuttle. They’re then systematically slaughtered by a mysterious astronaut who delights in cruel murders. It’s weird, surreal horror short but it reminded me a lot of something out of “Heavy Metal.” Like most anthologies, “The Paloni Show! Halloween Special!” has its fair share of misses and hits, but it’s a fun Halloween special with a great bunch of characters I wish we could see more from.
Streaming exclusively on Hulu.