The Houses October Built
The Houses October Built is a nice found footage movie that interweaves real haunts with a story about five friends traveling around trying to find the scariest haunt. And boy do they get more than what they expect.
Photo Credit: Foreboding Films
Released: Oct 10, 2014
Runtime: 91 mins
Director: Bobby Roe
Writer: Bobby Roe, Zack Andrews, Jason Zada
Actors: Brandy Schaefer, Zack Andrews, Bobby Roe
PLOT
Five friends are traveling around, searching for the ultimate haunted house. They soon find out that they are being stalked by mysterious people from an extreme experience. Is it real, or is it part of the extreme experience?
MY THOUGHTS
The Houses October Built feels like two different movies intertwined into one movie. The first half is about the five friends having fun at the various haunts they come across. But slowly it starts changing when strange and creepy incidents start happening until a surprising ending that may or may not be a disappointment.
The beginning of the movie has a documentary feel to it with interviews with some of the workers, which gives the seedier side of the industry. With people talking about how each season gets more and more extreme, and how a lot of the haunts don’t do background checks which you would think they would do with the kind of job they have.
The movie takes a turn when the group tries to find a group called the Blue Skeleton’s. They are a group of haunters that move around to a secret location each time. They are rumored to use real torture to get scares. This remind you of anyone? Like maybe McKamey Manor? (As far as torturing people-though everyone that goes there agree’s to the torture).
The acting is decent. I’m not bothered by it, and it does feel like they are friends. Yes, some of the characters will annoy you, but that should be expected. I did like Brandy Schaefer. Her reactions seemed realistic and believable.
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My biggest dislike with The Houses October Built is the ending. The ending felt rushed and we really don’t see much of anything as far as torture or scares. I felt like the movie built up to something and then I was just let down. And they left the ending ambiguous (though, there is a sequel so unless they start with a whole new cast, then at least some survive).
Overall a decent found footage movie that I feel is a must to watch during the Halloween season. Especially after visiting some haunts, The Houses October Built would be a great watch to finish the night. Definitely watch if you haven’t seen it.
And now for your Forever Final Girl Exclusive…Did you know?:
At one point on the road someone asks: 'has a zombie ever fired a gun in the history of cinema?'. Mike replies "no", but the truth is George Romero incorporated at least two instances of gun-toting zombies in his films: 1) 1985 Day of the Dead, where the now-famous zombie Bub is the first zombie to ever hold and fire a gun. And 2) was 2005 Land of the Dead, where there are multiple zombies using an assortment of firearms.
Bobby Roe included the name of several of the real Haunted Houses from the movie in a list of "America's Scariest Haunted Houses", which he used as marketing material for the movie.
Check out my other reviews here: Forever Final Girl
Let’s get into the rankings:
Kills/Blood/Gore: 2/5
Sex/Nudity: 2/5
Scare factor: 4/5
Enjoyment factor: 4.5/5
My Rank: 3.2/5
IMDB: 5.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes: critics: 6/10 audience: 3/10
Letterboxd: 2.6/5