Written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods. Starring Andrew Caldwell, Katie Stevens, Lauryn Alisa McClain, Schuyler Helford, Shazi Raja and Will Brittain.
Plot: on Halloween night, a group of friends go to an “extreme” haunt that turns out to be more real than they’d hoped for.
This movie was produced by Eli Roth so I went in a little wary. I try not to let to let it affect my score, but Roth usually disappoints me. This time, I was pleasantly surprised. I’m not going to tell you it was the greatest movie I’ve ever seen, but it was pretty good.
See, Harper (Stevens) is being abused by her boyfriend, so much so that when the night starts, she thinks he might be stalking her. Which is how they end up at the haunt. She tells her friends to turn and they end up in the vicinity of a haunted house attraction that makes them sign liability waivers before entering. Something we often tell you is “this would not be us” and again I say “this would not be us”. We love Halloween and being scared, but there is no way we’re going to sign our lives away for a thrill.
They also have to give up their cell phones. Which, like, duh, is just so telling as to what kind of night you’re going to have. At first though, the haunt is almost silly, but then one of them gets hurt, another one gets lost and then it gets worse from there. It’s a stressful movie to watch. Not really fun so much. At one point, I wanted to fast forward through it, but I kept my cool and held my own. I was rewarded with a very cool ending, too.
I wish there had been more explanation in the ways of motive. It was also pretty unoriginal. Still, it had humorous dialogue (pretty funny in parts), awesome effects, a solid cast and surprisingly nice Freddy Claws. They worked together to get out of the place and believed each other right away. We recommend a viewing. It’s worth it, we think. LOL.
I suppose I could list my favorite movies here, but instead I'll give you a strange glimpse into what makes me TaraRomero.
1. I met George Romero. He was the kindest and sweetest man. He talked to me for longer than he should have with the line getting longer. He also held my hand. And when he noticed the ladybug I have tattooed on my wrist, he said he liked it and asked me it's name. Till then, it had not had a name. Now, I call him George.
2. I love stickers. All stickers. I just adore them. I even ask for stickers for Christmas! As a matter of fact, the birthday that just past, every member of my immediate family gave me sticker packs as gifts. Affordable and extremely appreciated.
3. I have never put much stock in astrology or horoscopes, but I LOVE the magic of the MBTI. Omg. I am an INFP and it actually sounds just like me. Introverted mostly. Creative always. Heart before head and not the most logical. Totally me! For better or worse.
4. It's no surprise I count horror so high up on the list of things that make me, me. However, it's so within my soul that I was part of the Horror Club in college. Interesting bunch. And even took a Horror Lit class as an elective. I got an A.
5. Coffee always makes me happy. Always. I'm particularly fond of caramel macchiatos. But I'll drink black coffee if it's the only thing available.
6. I hate shock for the sake of shock and endings that depress me. I always mention the movies Within (2016) and the Eli Roth produced, written and starred in, Aftershock (2012), as proof of this distate I have. I abhor the idea that just because I like horror, some people think I'd actually praise a movie that lets you think the "Final Girl" just made it through the night, only to slap her in the face with a tsunami.
7. We are big time animal people. I mean, if I could, I'd have an elephant, a bear, a zebra, a penguin, an otter and a meerkat, living with me. Seriously though. We have 2 dogs right now and 2 cats. Both cats we picked up when they each came to our front door hungry. And both dogs we got from 2 different sets of neighbors. Both who, unfortunately, don't know how to care for pets long-term. But they're happy and healthy now!!
8. Revisiting my love of horror, one of the above cats, my cat, is a little black guy named Church. Because Pet Sematary. His middle name is even Pascow. To give credit where credit's due, the name was DJ's idea. But he loves horror too!
9. I'm big into art. Along with movie posters and an Anne Frank quote, I have some actual paintings on my wall. I really think Dali paints beautifully when he wants to. And if I don't get to see Michaelangelo's Pieta in person some day, I will be very disappointed.
10. Lastly, I find Emily Dickinson's poetry intriguing. I took an elective course about her as well. But do you know I injected horror even there? I was given a poem to dissect and I picked one on death, of course. Then, I researched old "Death Photos" and even printed out copies for everyone in the class. They were so interested in looking at them that it stopped them from all looking at me, and I was able to deal quite well with my stage fright. Haha
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