Of all the holidays celebrated worldwide, no single day is more loved by the UTG staff than Halloween. With the arrival of the year’s best month, the time has finally come to begin rolling out a plethora of features and special announcements we have prepared in celebration of our favorite day, including the one you’re about to read.

Now in its third year, 31 Days Of Halloween is a recurring feature that will run throughout the month of October. The hope and goal of this column is to supply every UTG reader with a daily horror (or Halloween-themed) movie recommendation that is guaranteed to amplify your All Hallows’ Eve festivities. We’ll be watching every film the day it’s featured, and we hope you’ll follow along at home.

Day 9: Escape From Tomorrow (2013)

Today’s pick revolves around the idea that nothing is sacred, and nothing is what it appears to be.

I’m Florida born and raised, therefore, the word “Disney” has been in my vocabulary for as long as I can remember. While I’ve only been to Walt Disney World a handful of times throughout my life, I still have a very vivid memory of the sights and sounds that have had a very well-guarded reputation for being clean, inviting, and family-friendly.

Coincidentally, it’s those same elements and that same setting that molds Escape From Tomorrow into something so haunting.

It’s highly possible that if you’ve already known about this film, it’s because of the Disney factor alone.

Long story short: Director Randy Moore and his tight-knit crew did the unexpected and shot this feature-length project all under Disney’s nose across multiple theme park and resort locations (both Anaheim, CA’s Disneyland and Orlando, FL’s Walt Disney World). The name of the game to accomplishing this in one of the most consistently crowded American vacation destinations was secrecy, haste, and above all, strategy. As a workaround to uncontrollable lighting conditions, Escape From Tomorrow was released as a black and white film, which conveniently lends a major hand in conveying such a dark story in a place marketed as “The Happiest Place on Earth.”

Through relying on black comedy and psychological horror themes, Escape From Tomorrow tells the story of a stressed and overworked father named Jim on his family vacation with his wife and kids. Almost immediately into the the film, Jim (portrayed by Roy Abramsohn) receives a phone call from his employer that leaves him jobless minutes before he takes off for one last day. The madness which follows takes on some of the most ridiculous turns I’ve ever seen in film, but that’s where the real entertainment comes in.

Jim’s schizophrenic behavior paints a rather dark picture on the already marked canvas that is the entity of Disney. You know those princesses portrayed by face actresses? Let’s just say their “expertise” goes way beyond posing for pictures with you and your loved ones. Those fat and juicy turkey legs that tourists just love to chomp on won’t seem as appetizing after giving this a watch. And you wouldn’t want to believe what Moore reveals inside of the gigantic landmark that is the Epcot golf ball.

Of course, this is all contained within the confines of a blatantly fictional film. But that same inventive spin is what truly tops the plot to perpetuate the whole experience, in true B-movie fashion. The ending that’s just as abrupt as it is absurd speaks volumes about the director’s approach. Rather than guiding his audience to continually guess what’s next in Jim’s journey, Moore relies on the bizarre to etch Escape From Tomorrow into the minds of many.

There should be an unwritten law that for every 4-5 formulaic (yet very lovable) slasher/zombie/ghost films on a horror marathon, there should most definitely be a WTF-inducing picture added in, if for anything, for the sake of shaking things up.

To anybody who’s ever pressed on through sweltering heat and masses of humanity just to snap a picture in front of Cinderella’s Castle, catch an overrated fireworks show, or even ride the three-minute stomach-churner that is Space Mountain, Escape From Tomorrow should be that movie.

Editorial written by: Adrian Garza
Last year’s Day 9 film: Antichrist

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Adrian Garza

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