Director: Kevin Wayne
Year: 2026
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
Preparing for a special shoot, a group of paranormal researchers looking at reviewing activity on their channel of various haunts and prepare to shoot their latest video at a renowned local haunt, but when it becomes apparent the owners are murderous psychopaths they have to get away alive.
Review:
Overall, this was a fairly fun and likable genre effort. One of the better features here is the engaging setup that manages to provide this with the kind of starting point that helps to merge several storylines together. The main focus on the group arriving at the location looking to film a special video about the specific haunt and getting a lot of usual bits about the backstory of the channel as proof of their legitimacy so that they can film, the exploration of the haunt’s grounds so that they can talk about its history, and getting to follow guests to see it operating at peak performance. This all comes together quite well to offer up the kind of effective starting point that the way this all works together is a lot of fun, as we get an enjoyable tale of the group being unaware of what’s going on at the facility and getting caught up in their show, so they fail to realize what’s really going on.
This showcase of the haunt itself in operation is a lot of fun, working nicely with the idea of the guests and visitors constantly needing to question the special effects and props and their true nature. The full run-through of their traditional operations that they follow along on, with the group witnessing monstrosities emerging from behind prop doors or walls, capturing the group and dragging them off, which is interpreted as just part of the whole experience, and the various traps used to hunt their unaware targets, all allowing this to have some fun setting up the chaotic finale where the true deviant nature of the owners becomes obvious, with the gory kills featured here being immensely fun and helping to highlight the kind of really overt setup used to keep the whole operation running. These all manage to bring about some likable elements here.
There are some issues here that hold it down. The main issue here is the generally confusing setup that goes along with the kind of operation the haunt is working under, as everything here seems to be quite difficult to believe is openly killing people in this manner without any kind of official interference. The film makes it plainly obvious that the owner and his helper are behind everything, showing them taking their victims and torturing them for showing up, yet there’s little mention of any kind of official police investigation or proof that they’re involved in the activity. This ends up making the obvious nature of their actions feel like a plot contrivance rather than anything else, giving this the kind of cheap, cheesy feel that comes together quite awkwardly, especially when it’s revealed that normal workers were also being employed who know nothing, and giving this whole thing a really troublesome idea.
There’s also an incredibly useless and somewhat bizarre series of sequences here that try to paint one of the characters as a psychic for their ability to connect with the dead, yet there’s little purpose for including them. Far too much of a deal is made out of the one member of the group being a renowned psychic on the trip being able to observe the condition of the ghosts supposedly on the site who were there due to the original accident that brought them there, only to have the whole thing be barely brought up at all beyond using it for several flash vision hallucinations that are never really brought up. As a whole, this all comes together simply to add a series of shocking images for little reason, with the scenes not mattering in the film due to the way the rest of the characters not utilizing this all that often, and with the low-budget qualities on display, all hold this one down.
Overview: ***.5/5
An immensely likable and worthwhile indie slasher, there are some immensely likable factors with this one, and it holds together well enough to be watchable, despite some flaws that hold this one back. Those with an appreciation for this particular style or who are curious about it will have the most to like here, while most others out there should heed caution.
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