Title: The Houses October Built
Genre: Horror, Found Footage-ish
Director: Bobby Roe
Writers:  Zack Andrews
Stars:   Brandy Schaefer, Zack Andrews, Bobby Roe
IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1958043/

HERE MAY BE SPOILERS

Portions of the movie may or may not be revealed.

 

Synopsis: Beneath the fake blood and cheap masks of countless haunted house attractions across the country, there are whispers of truly terrifying alternatives. Looking to find an authentic, blood-curdling good fright for Halloween, five friends set off on a road trip in an RV to track down these underground Haunts. Just when their search seems to reach a dead end, strange and disturbing things start happening and it becomes clear that the Haunt has come to them…

 

Today we have the found-footage (i.e. some of the film was shot with a hand-held camera) movie.

The Houses October Built is quite a creepy movie.  The gist of the movie is that five friends travel in an RV  on old back roads of the countryside(you know that’s already trouble) to find the underground haunted houses which contain the REAL scares. Because, you know, the extreme haunted houses just aren’t enough scares for these people. And, I supposed bored twenty-somethings need a “real scare” to wake them out of their stylish boredom.

Of course, on the way, they’re asking the haunted house actors about the underground haunted houses where the terror is real.

Sigh.  Mind you, the movie is framed as a documentary.  Just seeing the interviews with these haunted house “players” was enough for me.  Some of these folks presented a scary presence even without the makeup.  In addition, it’s implied some of these folks are on the shady side of the law, and might not be the best folks to be trusted.

Eventually, the trip turns weird.  They are being followed by a creepy crew who don’t speak but just stare, a la The Strangers.  Instead of turning around and driving all night to get home, (because, movie) they continue on this trip and are stalked by some nefarious miscreants.

All in all, the movie was averagely (is that a word) satisfying and the haunted house themselves give you a bit of a scare, while the people they interview give you an overall uneasy vibe.

I do wish the ending had been different.  If you want to know what I’m talking about, scroll past the trailer.

All in all I say, take the ride with the movie.  If you resist the urge to get annoyed at some of the actors’ decisions, you’ll finish the movie with a couple of genuinely creepy moments.

Grade: B– The characters grew to be rather stupid and thus unlikable, but as a horror movie, they do deliver on the scares.

Note:  There is a film of the same name from 2011.  I have not seen that one, but from what I read about it, it’s more of a documentary than fictionalized horror movie.  The same people are in it and they use some of the real clips of the interviews in the 2014 film.

 

 

 

 

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

 

The ending was a flop for me because it ended up being just a bunch of killers.  I would have liked it to be just an extreme haunted house experience.  I think that would have made the entire movie much more interesting.