It’s Halloween night in the movie Haunt, and Sam’s roommates want to take her out drinking to forget her awful boyfriend. He is a drunk who hits her, but she is far too afraid to break up with this violent creep. While out partying, the young women meet up with some male acquaintances and eventually find themselves at a backwoods extreme haunt. This killer attraction turns out to be far more dangerous and demented than they had bargained for, though. Off the beaten path, it’s the type of place where no one can hear them scream, and they all do plenty of that throughout the movie.

Sam and her friends find the haunt to be fun and scary until things start to get too real. Not sure if what they’re seeing is a show or real torture and murder, they work their way further into the bowels of the haunted house, until it seems like there is no escape. And that’s when who they think are just scare actors start gunning for them, looking to draw buckets of blood out of the assorted young adults. Led by Sam, they fight back, but when they get split up, it’s up to each to survive on their own. Will they make it out alive? Or will the sadistic freaks who run this scare factory succeed in getting what they want: a couple more souls for the taking.

Consistently surprising and full of many a twist and turn, Haunt keeps you guessing as to the motives of the group of masked maniacs who make our lead characters’ lives a living hell. And what masks do they ever have! The killers costuming is so well done as to be instantly iconic. Think of the masks in The Strangers and how they immediately caught on as Halloween costume ideas.

The maze the characters have to traverse in hopes of escape is quite masterfully designed, as well. Each room holds a new horrific sight or challenge and many a character enters an aforementioned room never to make an exit from it.

Written and directed by filmmaking partners Scott Beck and Brian Woods, Haunt is a well made, relatively satisfying genre exercise. Much more traditional in meeting genre expectations than their most famous work, the screenplay for A Quiet Place, the duo’s efforts in making this feature positions them well for a future job helming any slasher franchise they’d like to get their hands on. Producer Eli Roth also bears to receive credit, as Haunt has very distinct similarities to some of his earlier movies, such as Hostel and its sequel.

For those seeking mostly morbid thrills, there are plenty of practical effects and kills and blood spattering across the movie screen. If you’re a gore fan, you won’t be disappointed by the many original and interesting deaths that take place within the confines of the film’s deadly haunt.

As we approach the spooky season, Haunt is a flick whose release is well-timed. While I would argue it’s always a good time to watch a horror movie, some filmgoers are all the more interested in watching them during this time of the year. Hopefully, Haunt will stick around for another month or so, as to see it on or close to Halloween itself, would be quite a treat.

Recommended if you liked: Saw, The Collector, Hostel

Final Grade: B

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