Bootleg Halloween Costumes

Okay, let's just get this out there: Freddy Krueger is not the only killer who does his work at night. In fact, I'd dare to say that probably about 80% of killers kill at night, because it's harder for people to see you in the dark. The sad thing about this bootleg Halloween costume is - well, actually, there's about a thousand sad things. First off, the name. "Night Killer?" Why not "Dream Killer" or "Claw Killer" or "Scar-Faced Killer?" They had to make it that generic? The other worst thing is that this costume is just a stripey shirt. It doesn't come with anything else. That's cheap even for a bootleg Halloween costume.

It's pretty obvious that the minds behind this "Dalmatian Lover" costume have never seen 101 Dalmatians. Cruella DeVille, who this is obviously supposed to be, was pretty much the polar opposite of a Dalmatian lover. She was, in fact, a Dalmatian mass murderer. This costume not only mangles the classic look of the Disney cartoon (a trend that you will see much, much more of as this feature continues), but it also manages to add a soupcon of inappropriate sluttiness to the ensemble as well.

There's something kind of appropriate about a bootleg Borat costume - the character is, after all, a simulacrum himself; a badly Xeroxed parody of Eastern European celebrity. It's the kind of thing I can actually see Sacha Baron Cohen showing up to a Halloween party in. That said, this "Eurasian Traveler" costume is just a mustache and a cheap wig, hardly everything you need to really simulate Kazakhistan's finest television personality. They could have at least thrown in the full-body Speedo bathing suit.

I can understand the desire to make a bootleg Mario costume. Nintendo's corporate mascot is one of the most identifiable video game characters of all time. But to make a costume this utterly generic and then have the gall to call it "Plumber Man?" The fact that Mario is a plumber is just about the least important part of his character. "Jumping Man?" "Princess Rescuing Man?" These all make sense. Imagine some poor dumb person who has never played a Mario game looking at this costume and asking "What the %^*& makes this guy a plumber? He doesn't even have a damn wrench?"