Halloween Picks:The Houses October Built

One of my favorite things from not just the present day is the Haunted Attraction Industry. 

This does in fact go back to my Childhood, Teenage Years, College and Beyond. Haunted Attractions is one of the reasons that I was able to have a degree in Video Production and have a rather large area of my career. 

I used to release a DVD every year titled The Best Little Horror Houses in Texas which I had to discontinue in 2012 because...Well Nobody buys DVD anymore and this was the origin of HauntShooter which I am very proud of and it's success and I am now ready to take it further and see where this goes. 

What many people don't realize is that the DFW metroplex is one of the greatest Haunt Markets in the world. The Haunts Ranging from crazy to tame there is someone for everyone that wants to be entitled to One Good Scare during the month of October.  

A couple of years ago while I was shooting for HauntShooter over in Mansfield at the Terrorplex I noticed  that another film crew was shooting with two rather large RVs and while I tried to politely introduce myself to my fellow filmmakers we were however both busy trying to get shot what we could in the short amount of time that we had and I was unable to learn more about them. 

That production as it turns out was The Houses that October Built which hit theaters this past Halloween season as well as VOD and is now on Blu-Ray and Netflix. 

Taking the Found Footage approach The film follows a small group of Haunt enthusiasts that rent an RV and tour the state of Texas and their greatest Haunted Attractions and while this group is searching for the Ultimate Haunted Attraction they also earn the ire of many of the Haunters with their disrespectful antics. 

Not too long into their journey they begin hearing of a moving Haunt called The Blue Skeleton which is regarded ad the scariest. Soon the group begins to be stalked by some unseen Scare Actors that do all from breaking into their RV to assaulting them in a bar. All of this eventually leads them to Louisiana, Bourbon Street and finally to the Blue Skeleton. 

As I stated earlier the film has a personal feeling for me as many people that I know are interviewed in the film and many of the locations that are in the film I have shot for HauntShooter as well as some of the Scare Actors that are featured in the film. 

There are many of the same issues with many films in this sub genre as you see the mistakes that they make that eventually leads to their further goings in the film and to the inevitable climax. Also this is often why the characters are far more annoying. 

Taking into consideration that the film is Found Footage it does have the usual pitfalls as such as with the shaky camera. Also the cameraman constantly shoots into the lights giving us lens flair which I can't tell if this was planned or not however there are frequent angles that gives the film the artistic direction that the filmmakers were looking to go. these actually add to the entertainment value of the film showing these characters as amateurs rather than professionals which is again the direction that they were most likely going for the film. 

The characters spend a good portion of the film fighting amongst themselves however they do remain united  and become particularly protective of the only female in their group.Again this adds to the film.

The Blu-Ray contains a slew of Special Features including Deleted Scenes, Behind the Screams, Portrait of a Scare Artist and the Cast being Carved into Jack-o-lanterns. 

Most interesting is the Full-Length Documentary that was the original film for and this flick is actually the reshot version. Many releases don't include these features and this is a nice touch.

Look for Playboy's  Miss February 2005 Amber Campisi making an appearance at the beginning of the film. 

I also have to find this Mickey Martin's Ship Wheel which is a combination Haunted Attraction and Strip Club which led to an interesting scene in the film. 

I definitely recommend this film for fans of the Found Footage sub genre as well as the Haunt Industry. 

? Dead Bodies

7 Breasts

5 Beasts

7 Creepy Clowns

Axe Wielding Rabbits

Masked Strippers

Creepy Kids in Masks 

3 Stars 

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It Follows

Okay Kiddies there are in fact some perks to being sexually anorexic and that is not dealing with the drama that usually follows the act itself.  There is the main area which is having unplanned children and if you are in a relationship that is a whole other area to work on and whole It can be nice to have a partner there has been known to have a few complications.

Then there is the usual pitfalls of casual nookie. If it is someone that you see everyday then that makes things awkward especially for where you work and there is the situation where your parter may want to be in a relationship and you don't. Then there is the friends with benefits which is a whole other issue. 

In a Horror Film sex usually has more deadly complications. In a Slasher film sex usually ends in death at the hands of a deranged killer...usually wearing a hockey mask. There is also again child bearing that can often end up as giving birth to the Anti-Christ...If you are Lucky. 

Then there is when you hook up with that someone that is cursed and as a result of the hook-up you you then inherit the curse and must pass it on to someone else. 

That is what brings us to It Follows, The new film that is making all the rage on the Horror Scene. 

It Follows tells the story of Jay (Miaka Monroe) who is dating Hugh and despite his strange behavior soon consummates her relationship and is suddenly attacked by him and taken to a strange location where she is informed that there is a shapeshifting creature that will keep coming for her where ever she goes and when it finally catches up to her it will kill he, ooh and the only way that she can she can stop it is to quickly have sex with another person and pass on the curse to them. That is until she kills that person and then targets them again. 

Soon Jay's friends are pulled into this madness and despite the fact that they aren't targets of the monster's wrath they must stop the entity and save their friend. 

Now this is an interesting entity. You first off think that the creature is a ghost but it seems to be just invisible however naturally there are scenes where the entity attacks it's victims but the Entity can be attacked as well and be physically hurt and injured but seems to always make a recovery at an inhuman speed. 

It also can only walk at the same pace and that is it's only means of travel which is why characters often travel long distances in order to avoid the Entity however it always arrives eventually and that is one of the more frightening elements of this antagonist. 

I have to admit that I was pleasantly impressed by the lack of special effects in the film and instead it's use of lighting camera work and editing to provide the scares in the film. 

There is a couple of effects in the film for the entity's attacks. The scenes where the Entity is seen following the characters do add to the flick especially in the scenes where it's not the entity following and It's choices of characters to shift into. 

The story in the flick isn't bad despite a few plotholes and there are times where you find yourself thinking why don't they take the more logical approach to this situation and then you have to remind yourself that this is a Horror Movie where characters have to make the wrong decisions in order to move the film forward and advance the story.

Despite these flaws it's definitely a good flick to watch and has some good scares. Fans of the Ring as well as the recent supernatural films will enjoy this film. 

2 Dead Bodies

4 Breasts

7 Beasts

Corpse Raping 

Leg Breaking 

Chair Smashing 

Heads Exploding 

3 Stars 

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