The Houses October Built
I’m a big fan of the Halloween tradition of “haunted houses”; attractions put on each year by civic groups, fire departments, and even private individuals seeking to let you pay for the privilege of having the shit scared out of you. When I was younger, it was mostly the local Jaycees or Lion’s Club that put on the “spook houses” and the occasional “terror trail”, and it was typically the same gags year after year, folks dressed in cheap costumes and in general just having a good time. As the years have gone by, however, the once primarily charitable activity has become a cottage industry; people have learned that folks like you and me will pay good money to get scared, and have populated more recent “haunts” with high-tech special effects, film-quality costumes and make-up on the performers, and larger venues with longer-lasting experiences. We Fellow Fans as a demographic are harder to scare now than in the past, thus the attractions designed to scare us have had to become more complex and extreme…but what if that extreme went too far? We’ve all heard the (occassionally true) urban legends about people actually being injured or even killed in haunted attractions. When one considers that you don’t really know who’s behind that creepy-ass makeup, and that motivations besides simple Halloween fun could be behind an individual’s reasons for working in such a place, you have to ask yourself just how safe are these dark, often isolated places? Of course, such thoughts add to the patina of fear that we’re seeking when we go to these attractions, but still…how “extreme” are you willing to go?
The Houses October Built, the upcoming found-footage flick from director Bobby Roe, explores that question in harrowing detail.
Yep…you guessed it…CLOWNS.
Zack has a dream, a dream that any horror fan can relate to; this Halloween season, he wants to find the best, most terrifying, most extreme haunted attraction around. He and four old friends, brothers Bobby and Mike, Jeff, and Brandy rent an RV and set out across the south searching for this “holy grail” of haunted houses, touring every one that he can figure into the trek along the way. To document this grand quest, the RV is outfitted with a number of external and internal cameras, and the quintet always has someone with a hand-cam capturing the fun. As they travel about, visiting some pretty impressive haunted houses, they meet an eclectic and exclusive subculture along with the throngs of avid scare-fans. Speaking with some of these “behind-the-scenes” workers in such attractions, they hear a lot of whisperings of just how extreme some haunts go; real human body parts, actual psychotics working in the places, suicides and mysterious deaths that have occurred, etc. This information intrigues Zack, and after hearing of an “underground” haunt that’s always on the move and invitation-only, he becomes obsessed with finding it, convinced it is “the one”. On this path, strange happenings plague the journey, as several times Halloween-garbed figures confront the group in their travels, and as the search for the secretive, travelling haunt becomes deeper, these occurrences intensify, until finally, in New Orleans, Zack’s pilgrimage comes to an end…but not from the group finding the mysterious attraction, no indeed; it’s the “haunters” that find them…and the level of “extreme” fright may just be more than was bargained for as the line between fun and reality becomes first blurred, then finally erased for the five friends.
NOT what you want to see on a lonely road…
As far as found footage movies go, I think this one acquitted itself nicely of a lot of the typical pitfalls of the subgenre. The acting was very natural; nothing seemed scripted, and the reactions and choices of the characters by and large felt very genuine. That said, as the film went on, I found myself wondering why they continued on their journey considering some of the things that were happening, but as I’ve said many times before, if you’re gonna be a horror fan, you have accept the fact that people are gonna do things that aren’t necessarily intelligent; if everyone did the smart thing, there’d be no horror movies. The number one trap of POV flicks (why are you filming this?) is adequately answered by the implication that it’s to be a kind of video scrapbook of Zack’s lifelong dream; not necessarily the best reason I’ve ever seen, but sure as hell not the worst. The only real aspect that’s kinda hard to swallow is that these guys could rent an RV that would make Inspector Gadget proud, and then outfit it with what is obviously several thousand dollars worth of camera equipment just for a buddy’s memories, but hey; folks have done stranger things. You don’t actually see a lot of brutality, so the gorehounds don’t have a lot to chew on, but the overall atmosphere is well-crafted with realistic and hair-raising imagery. The incorporation of real footage from several haunted attractions and the people that go to them adds a nice flavor of realism, interspersed interviews with actual “haunt” workers perpetuate the fearful implications that all may not be safe and jolly behind the scenes, and the odd (and frankly, pretty damned creepy) occurrences that plague the trip are shot in such a way as to be easily relatable, inevitably getting under your skin. All of these factors cultivate a strong sense of palpable unease as the film goes on, building to a climax that leaves the audience suffering with the harrowing terror of the characters.
Do you want to play?
I’m sure most of you have spent a goodly amount of time (and no shortage of cash) in some haunted attractions in your tenure as a horror fan, and that being the case you will definitely find something familiar in this flick. Of course (as with any flick), this one won’t be for everyone; if you’re a hardcore gorehound, as I said, there’s not much for you…if you’re predisposed to disliking found footage…well, you can figure it out.
Personally, I enjoyed the film, and I think that if you’re the type that a) likes to go to “haunts” , and b) can appreciate a mounting, suspenseful ride, you should definitely give this film a shot.
It’s the perfect time of year, you know? Watch it with your pals before you head out to your own local haunted attraction…I guarantee it’ll give the experience a whole new spin.
–Mouse
RLJ/Image Entertainment will be releasing The Houses October Built to theaters, VOD, and iTunes October 10th.
Andrew Thompson
