The Houses October Built

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The Houses October Built
Starring Brandy Schaefer, Zack Andrews, Bobby Roe, Mikey Roe
Directed by Bobby Roe

The Story:
Every October, thousands of haunted attractions open around the country.  For five thrill-seeking friends, they decide to document their adventures to different Halloween attractions in the hopes of finding the ultimate scare.  They of course get more than they bargained for.

The Synopsis:
Halloween is my second favorite holiday (behind Christmas - you know, gotta love the good and the bad), and I've always wanted to go to some haunted attractions, but never doing it because I realize that it's fake and that takes away from the fear aspect.  If I was younger, I might be scared, but I know I wouldn't be scared by them today.

That's what drew me to this film.  Not only did they feature several real attractions, but also mixed in real interviews with people who have heard real horror stories at real attractions, such as accidental deaths by the actors to hiring shady people to terrors behind-the-scenes.  The film would've been better if it was a straight-out documentary, instead of the now overdone found-footage film.

The five characters did well enough for the type of film.  None were really annoying, and they all seemed like normal people, which helped draw you into the film and really feel their plight.  The ending, as it seems with most of these types of films, is the worst.  This one leaves it completely open-ended, and not in the least bit frightening.  Surprisingly, the real frights happen in the middle of the film, when they come into contact with a truly creepy real-life Porcelain doll, and when a masked intruder videotapes them sleeping.  Scenes like that amped up my excitement for the stunning ending, but it was like popping a deflated balloon.  Highly dissatisfying.

The Summary:
With an interesting premise and a likeable cast, "The Houses October Built" could've been a great low-budget cult classic, but instead fell into the generic trappings of other found-footage horror films.

The Score: D+

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