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 

Check it Out