Its 130 days until October 1, but some recent gloomy weather and an intriguing trailer brought me to the 2014 found footage Indie “The Houses October Built.”
The plot is interesting to say the least – a group of friends documenting the scariest haunted houses in the days leading up to Halloween. Its filmed in the style of found footage, purported to be realistic events in which the group is witnessing actual strange and borderline evil things along the journey.
The real life jump scares associated with a traditional October visits to a haunted house are perfectly organic, and some of the journey is shown through the first person lens of a camera, which makes it more chilling.
What we have is a rudimentary production at best, and that’s not to say its a bad thing. Writers Bobby Roe (who also directs), Zach Andrews, and Jason Zada depict a simple setting that is little more than a van the group drives around in, and the actual on location houses they film. Roe and Andrews also appear as primary characters in the story.
The movie doesn’t prop up sloppy writing or a weak plot with the found footage crutch like so many other films do. Rather, its done in a way that isn’t too out of place as we witness the events from the viewfinder of the camcorder operated mostly by Jeff (Jeff Larson) as well as static security cameras on the Winnebago. While there are a few times you may find yourself screaming to put the camera down and act like a normal person would, it isn’t as outlandish as it is seen in other stories of this ilk.
Where the simplicity of the plot fails, the cast itself is quite good, and the rapport makes us believe they have a true friendship among each other. We have the token cute girl (Brandy Schaefer) who is pleasing on the eyes and by far the standout from an acting perspective. Brandy delivers the fear and nerves one has come to expect from a horror movie siren. We can gather she’s an independent sort, the type who could change a flat tire faster than a mechanic, but she’s perfectly at ease admitting she gets scared easily amidst the darkness of a haunted house.
Brandy is joined by cameraman Jeff, boyfriend Zack (Zach Andrews), and brothers Bobby and Mikey Roe. Each is perfectly natural in their role of just a group of regular people making a documentary. Some of the funniest and best interactions occur when they are just driving around in the van talking to each other like friends would do.
The opening scene depicts the friends in a typical dive bar setting up their adventures and plan – searching for the most extreme haunted houses, specifically ones nestled in the backwoods of rural Texas where there are no safety rules, OSHA guidelines, and whispered rumors of ex-cons operating the sites and actual human body parts used as props.
As the crew embark on their journey, the houses and people they encounter get creepier and creepier, you’ll want to combine elements of “The Blair Witch Project” and “Deliverance” for reference points.
The weak spots of the film to me were the hit or miss nature, literally from one scene to the next. I loved the creepiness of the costumes the haunted house characters are dressed in (kudos to the wardrobe department for crafting some clever and truly original gems) specifically the doll, bloodied rabbit, and clowns though at times it seems like the story was lacking, and scenes were little more than an excuse to show off said costumes (though I can’t really blame them).
“The Houses October Built” is a decent movie. It has some scares, some cool effects, and the style of found footage. Check it out for a fun show that doesn’t attempt to be the GOAT of horror movies.
by – Matt DeCristo
