Haunt (2019)

Haunt (2019)
Written By: DMG
Edited By: Grave Reviews Staff

 

Film Information

Director: Scott Beck, Bryan Woods

Producer: Eli Roth, Todd Garner, Mark Fasano

Writer: Scott Beck Bryan Woods

Date Released: September 13, 2019

 

Cast:

Will Brittain as Nathan

Katie Stevens as Harper

Andrew Caldwell as Evans

Lauryn McClain as Bailey

Rating = 1/5 Graves

***May contain some spoilers***

Synopsis

A group of five young adults go to a haunted house attraction for Halloween. However, as the group explores the sketchy attraction, it becomes apparent to them that the attraction is designed as a death trap. In addition, the attraction that the group ultimately chose to attend may not have been so random after all. Harper (Katie Stevens), who had a bad history of abuse, suspects that she may know the person behind this chaotic attraction. What was supposed to be a fun night out, turns into a struggle to escape the horrors that await them and survive!

Gore Factor

As the producer of the film, Haunt, you would expect Eli Roth (Hostile) to have impute as far as torture and gore scenes are concerned. But, there seemed to be very little thought into this element. There are however some notable scenes, but nothing that is very memorable. For example, there is a very quick scene of someone getting their face torn off. But in general, the gore scenes are so quick that you never have time to really absorb the full impact of what should have been very intense and key scenes.

The Grave Review

There have been several haunted attractions gone wrong type movies to date. The Houses October Built (2014), The Funhouse Massacre (2015) and Hell Fest (2018) are just some examples of this premise. Haunt tries to mimic its predecessors but fails miserably in several ways.

I will start with my biggest criticism, which is the plot and the sequence of events. A group of teens choose to go to a haunted attraction that is in the middle of nowhere. When they get there, there is no line, no lights, no people and no indication that this is an actual attraction other than a sign that lights up the words, “Haunted House.” When they realize the haunt is a way to lure people inside for the group to meet their deaths, one girl, Harper (Katie Stevens) finds out that her abusive father is partially behind this attraction. But this twist in the story seems incredibly coincidental. There was no indication that Harper’s father sent her daughter any hints or clues to find this place. There were even scenes where one of the group members would be attacked by one of the haunters followed by another scene that showed the same person escaping. It was as if the film wanted you to fill in the gaps between A and Z. In this respect, the premise in general was not believable and seemed extremely forced.

There was very little use of props or imagery that resembled a haunted attraction. The film appeared to want to take the shape of a Saw film but keep the haunted attraction premise. The environment was not aesthetically pleasing to view. When you think of a haunted attraction, you may think of bright colors, animatronics, actors/actresses and mist. You will not find that in Haunt.

Overall, Haunt had very little to offer. On a personal note and as a haunted attraction lover, we respect everyone who puts great effort and time into producing haunted attractions for people during the Halloween season. Haunt (2019) unfortunately puts shame to all those who sacrifice a great deal to make these attractions a reality.

            For the above reasons, we give Haunt (2019) One Grave out of Five.

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Haunt (2019)

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