VOD Review: The Houses October Built (2014)

Haunted Houses are an American staple, and come each October, they scare the living hell out of millions of us. They're as much a part of Halloween as are jack-o-lanterns and candy corn. And costumes. And candy. AMC's Fearfest... you get the point.

Given that they are such a large part of our culture (at least for one month a year), it seems like a no-brainer to center a Horror movie around them; how creepy is it to think that a place we go to for some scary fun might actually be full of maniacs that want to end our lives? That's basically making the entire Haunted House conceit a reality, and we're all for it.

The Houses October Built brings that exact premise to life, and for the most part, it does it pretty well.

The Houses October Built is the story of five friends who set out on a road trip to find America's best Haunted Houses; they're thrill-seekers, you see, and only the very best haunted houses will do. They meet an odd and creepy cast of characters at every haunt that they visit, but it's not long before they become bored of the average spook house. When word reaches them that there are "extreme" haunts that exist on an underground circuit of sorts, they foolishly set out to find one.

DON'T TEASE THE CLOWN, MAN. HE'LL KILL YOU.

The more they ask around about these secret "extreme haunts," the more the name Blue Skeleton pops up; Blue Skeleton is supposedly a very underground haunt that constantly moves location, and it's said to be about as extreme as it gets, which makes one wonder just what the word "extreme" is supposed to mean here. As things get creepier and creepier for the group, they receive a cryptic note that tells them to head to New Orleans (NOLA if you nasty) if they want to visit the Blue Skeleton, and it soon becomes apparent that they may be in more danger than they had originally thought...

GIGGLES?

We won't spoil what happens for you here, because what kind of a jerk spoils the thrills and chills of a Haunted House right before their friends are set to go through it themselves, but suffice it to say that the idiots in this movie probably should have just stuck to the run-of-the-mill haunts, because at least you don't die at the end of those.

Supposedly.

SEEMS FAIRLY EXTREME TO US.

For a smaller Indie flick, The Houses October Built ended up being pretty entertaining. It had a bit of a lackluster ending, and some of the things the characters did were nonsensical (as per usual in these types of films), but for the most part, this movie did a good job at maintaining a creepy vibe throughout. How could a movie about Haunted Houses not be creepy? Haunted House are creepy by definition, and when you add to that a "real" story where people get murdered by the Haunted Houses, it all becomes doubly terrifying.

The idea of sinister forces lurking in the shadows at the Haunted Houses that we've all been too with friends or family, is just disturbing. They're supposed to be fun, not deadly! After watching this, we'll be casting a wary eye at every Haunted House worker we meet from now on, and that's a positive testament to just how effective this movie was.

The coolest thing about THOB is how it intersperses real footage of Haunted House/interviews with industry professionals, with the fictional story of the group of friends and their ordeal. There's apparently a Documentary of the same title that came out a few years ago (produced by the same guys), and we're really curious to see it now, because the real footage in this one was almost fascinating to watch. Maybe as a bonus feature on the Blu-ray?

THIS BITCH RIGHT HERE...

As great as the scenes which took place at the various Haunted Houses were, the "house" at the end was a bit of a let down.

I personally envisioned the group of thrill-seekers being lured to the mysterious Blue Skeleton, and the people who run it being like "Alright, you want the scariest Haunted House experience ever? You got it." You know, like they'd go through a Haunted House and get stabbed, cut, attacked, maybe smacked in the mouth a bit, etc... and that's kinda what we got, but not really.

Just like the characters in the movie did, we really wanted to see what exactly constituted an "Extreme Haunt," but when they finally got there, after all of the creepy build-up, everything ended far too quick, and it all felt a bit anticlimactic. It just wasn't the best payoff for all of the cool things that had come before it.

THE SCARIEST MASK IN THE ENTIRE MOVIE.

Why do people in Found Footage movies never say "Screw this, let's just go home?" I know that the whole point of the FF sub-genre is to capture the "real" exploits of people who don't have the good sense to "git while the gittin's good," but it gets really old after a while.

Just once I'd like to see one or two people in a group like this say "Fuck this" and just leave. Gone. They survive the grisly fate of the dummies who stay behind, and are all like "Man, I'm glad we left when we did!" You could even do a video of them at the end, having survived, talking about their friends and their experience. "We sure do miss them... but at least we're alive!"

The Tunnel (2011) (our review HERE) did that "post-ordeal interview" thing extremely well.

DO THIS, AND YOU CAN LIVE.

There's some violence in this one, but most of it happens off screen. So off-screen were the killings in this movie, that we're not really sure that anyone actually died.

Wouldn't that be a clever twist; leave the victims of the movie beaten, bruised, stabbed, terrified, and _________, and be all like "Hope you enjoyed your extreme haunt!"

ZOMBIES HATE PAINTBALL GUNS.

There's actually a scene in this one that takes place inside of a strip club, where the dancers are all wearing masks and face paint, so, boobs.

SO WOULD THAT LAPDANCE COST MORE OR LESS?

Don't piss off the people who work at Haunted Houses; deep inside they're all disturbed, and will kill you if provoked. This goes double if said haunts are located in the middle of nowhere, run by yokels, and are kept secret because they are too "extreme."

ALWAYS WITH THE CLOWNS!

The Houses October Built is an imperfect movie in many ways, but it's also just as effective, in many others. We really enjoyed the hell out of this one, and while it's not as "Halloween Essential" as movies like Halloween or Trick r' Treat are, it's definitely one that we could see getting heavy play come each October. This movie is definitely worth the $6.99 it'll cost you to rent on VOD.

We really do hope they'll include the 2011 Documentary of the same name on the Blu-ray/DVD release as a bonus feature. If so, we'd buy it for sure.

B

The Houses October Built is available now on VOD.

Here are a few more creepy images from The Houses October Built, because it was near impossible to find good/usable pictures of the hot chicks in this movie.