Monday, October 16, 2017

NETFLIX AND KILL: THE HOUSES OCTOBER BUILT (2014) **


I've never been a walk-through haunted house kind of guy.  I've never enjoyed walking around in a herd of people inside a deserted Ames led around by some schmo spouting a corny spiel while waiting for someone in a mask from Spencer's Gifts to jump out of the darkness and grab a person in our group.  I'm not a fan of Found Footage horror movies either.  So why did I watch The Houses October Built, a Found Footage horror movie about a group of friends who go across America filming a documentary about the country's "most extreme" walk-through haunted houses, you ask?  Well, when you're trying to cram in 31 horror movies in 31 days for the month of October, you do a lot of things you wouldn't ordinarily do.  

As far as these things go, it's not terrible.  Sure, the characters are all unlikeable and say "fuck" a lot.  Sure, the final handheld sequence where they go into the “Blue Skeleton” haunt is hard to see because the camera shakes too much and it's way too dark in places.  That stuff just goes with the territory.  

There is one moment of invention that elevates the film from the usual tripe.  Of course, I’m talking about the sequence where the characters go to a strip club and all the topless dancers are wearing zombie make-up.  If anything can make a run-of-the-mill Found Footage horror movie better, it’s zombie strippers.  So, it's got that going for it.  

AKA:  Halloween House.  AKA:  Houses of Terror.  AKA:  Halloween Night.  AKA:  Haunted Houses. 

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