 
A group of teens find a book in a haunted house that starts a story on each one of their fears and kills them in the end in which they try to go back to the house as to where it belonged and trying to stop the ghost creating these deadly stories.
Terrific beginning as the story takes place in 1968 with a small town of Pensylvannia getting ready for Halloween with jack o lanterns being made as well as the decorations making you want to jump in with the fun here.
Plus there's sirtuations with locals getting ready for hallos eve along with some juvenile delinquents lead by Tommy causing trouble by beating up a scarecrow in his cornfield in which there's good camera takes on all of this. A nice drawn in moment as to what will unravel later on in the story.
Then when trick or treating starts to happen one of the younger kids Chuck Steinberg with his group of friends has a prank up their sleeve when Tommy plans to do a nasty deed towards them as this was cleverly put into the story as well as fun to watch all of this happening.
A nice chase with Chuck and his friends trying to avoid Tommy and his gang of friends hiding in a drive in as Night of the Living Dead is showing which is a perfect touch. Plus a nice situation with one of the friends Stella Nicholls meeting up with Ramón Moraless in his car as I had a feeling a romance will break out.
The fun keeps rolling along when the group of friends go to an abandoned home that's reputed to being haunted and has some fun there as the setting looked perfectly creepy in an old fashioned sort of way which may please fans of retro horror.
More drawing cards roll in when they find a book and get spooked by all of this as well as a nice haunting moment when Chuck spots an old lady in a chair with her dog staring out at him as this was another haunting and mysterious moment well used into the scene.
Then tension breaks out when Tommy finds them as well as ditching his girlfriend Ruth whom is Chuck's sis and doing something nasty towards them all which shows on how obnoxiously evil he is and can be well remembered to anyone who saw this as all of this looked well done.
Some mild romance looked good and natural when both
Stella and Ramón have their discussions at her home as well as reading the book they got at the house which delivered some tension as to what they are realising that involved Tommy.
Then Tommy is hammered returning to his home which is the farm as there's a nice shot on the cornfield as well as him going there with the winds blowing involving the scarecrow leaving a perfect creepy feel since we all have a feeling that this object will come to life and seek revenge in which there's good special effects that involves Tommy on what happens to him afterwards.
Then when the scenes roll out some more both Stella and
Ramón read the book and it starts to write as this looked effective as to what will happen to their other friend Auggie when he is about to have leftover stew and they try to contact him on his walkie talkie and warning him which was creepy as to what is happening later on involving a zombie trying to find him. This definetely made my heart race as well as him hiding under his bed and he slowly tries to look up to see if anything is there and boy is there every a perfect jumping moment and to anyone who has a heart condition will not want to see this moment. It will catch you by surprise big time.
Then it's Ruth's turn for a story as she is about to get ready to perform in her school play but a spider bite on her cheek is growing and great CGI effects unravel when she is in the washroom and to anyone who has arachnaphobia will creep you out big time.
Then when the others go to a hospital for historical patients at their centre it looked mildly humoress as to why they wanted those records. Although it wasn't overly funny it seemed to work and make things uplifting compared to the dark moments that we've seen in the story so far.
Then both Stella and
Ramón listen to a recorded history as it reminds me on the film Session 9 as to how it was sounding as well as having a eerie moment on telling a story as to what will happen to their next friend which is out of the ordinary and for sure was perfectly well done for a haunting type of horror story like this one.
Meanwhile Chuck is in a red room panicking as this was a nice setting since things look suspenseful for him and two puffed up beings are slowly charging towards him as this looked a little too campy than creepy but hey it worked in well regardless.
Nicely done moment with Stella having an emotional discussion with a police officer at their headquarters on what is going on which looked powerfully done.
The action piles up greatly when one of the police officers spots their dog barking at a fireplace as well as a creature forming and speaking goofily and acting deadly as well as wild as it offered that Evil Dead 2 type of horror humor. I got a kick out of seeing this happening as well as this being chasing after
Ramón while Stella tries to go back to the haunted house to confront the ghost causing this havoc as all of this was insanely energised and making you want to watch for more.
The terrorising moments happen big time for Stella when these ghosts thinks that she's another person that caused them trouble and she gets hauled away in some sort of a dungeon as there's fast action camera shots involving her and a good dark surroundings. Plus some great emotional moments when she talks to this final spirit and being truthful as there's great special effects on this spirit acting wild as fans of paranormal horror will love this moment.
Bottom line is that this was a great film to watch and has a bit of a retro feel to it all paying tributes to the films we loved as well as pleasing the fans who enjoyed watching the Final Destination legacy as well. Definetely brought in alot of tension, suspense and some scares too. I'd advise to others to check this out as horror films are starting to get good again.
The acting quite good if I do say so myself in which Zoe Margaret Colletti (Stella Nicholls) really gave it all in her role as I found her to be the best in the cast and a perfect choice for the leading role as a brainy teen in which she had the total looks for all of this as well as offering a nice spunky type of attitude too. She does well with her lines towards her other fellow actors as well as showing a perfect and scared emotional attitude crying out in some scene's and being a true force of nature. She certainly was a terrific character actress.
Michael Garza (Ramón Morales) definetely had the heartthrob boy next door looks and appeal as well as having a decent charming behavior. Does well acting courageous and having a no nonsense attitude standing up towards some onscreen bullies during a drive in as he made his performance in this scene well remembered. Shows off great energy and enthusiasm throughout the story too.
Austin Zajur (Chuck Steinberg) offers great adrenaline as one of those geeky type of teenagers but yet having a likeable attitude. Does a great job acting full of life as well as showing a good hyperactive attitude when get vengeful in a scene which he made very believable. Also does well panicking in other moments when the terrors start to happen. He deserves good credit.
Natalie Ganzhorn (Ruth) had an effective supporting role as a whiney older teen as she seemed to do well by acting somewhat cocky as well as being bitchy too. She can be well remembered within all that she did here as well as acting insecure which shines off well too. Plus does well freaking out when something happens to her and really getting into this.
Austin Abrams (Tommy) had a small role in this film but thought that he was worth mentioning since he lived to play a bully showing an arrogant and obnoxious attitude as he seemed a bit evil by how he treats others. He for sure knew on how to act intoxicated near the end of his role as well.
An eyeball and a piece of toe is revealed in a stew
A bunch of hives are revealed a teenage girls body
The music was terrifically done by Marco Beltrami and Anna Drubich as they know their craft to make it sound dark and adventureous as there's the screechy violing music along with shooshing sounds as well as the dark sounding moments used throughout whatever was necessary to out into at that moment. Certainly gave me the chills now and then that was for sure and helped the story big time. Also there's some nice harmonising towards the start of the closing credits sounding strong.
Donovan's song "Season of the Witch" was played during the beginning of the story which was a great touch to what the town was preparing for and it was a catchy tune indeed since the story took place in 1968. |
