The Houses October Built

The Houses October Built (2014)

Runtime: 91 minutes

Directed by: Bobby Roe

Starring: Bobby Roe, Brandy Schaefer, Zack Andrews, Mikey Roe, Jeff Larson

From: Room 101/Foreboding Films

Yep, this is another found footage movie, but this was another one that I thought was fine: 

What better film to discuss on October 1 than one with such a title? I am not surprised that something like this has scores all over the map on Letterboxd, but I found it to be fine. The camaraderie among the quintet we follow is a big asset, along with the general premise.

That premise: this is yet another found footage flick, but the idea is interesting. They are in a rented RV and they go to Texas in order to film various haunted houses/similar spooky attractions and some of that footage is from actual locations in the Lone Star State. They wish to experience an “extreme” haunted house known as the Blue Skeleton and as weird things escalate with various workers at those joints appearing to F with them... yes they do experience something terrifying. From Google I know that there are actually attractions like this (the McKamey Manor being the most infamous example, where you are made to vomit, eat cockroaches, are physically assaulted, etc. No thank you to any of that real life torture porn).

It is rather ludicrous how the group continues on with the winding journey to the Blue Skeleton experience despite all the threatening moments that happen to them. Still, this is a movie I thought was not bad. Sure, there are jump scares (and not just during the footage you see in real attractions) yet there are also chilling moments; like in Hell House LLC there are incredibly creepy clowns... also, what happens in the final act would be utterly terrifying to anyone & everyone.

As I previously stated, I am not stunned the scores for this movie on Letterboxd are all over the place; I can admit the characters can sometimes be pretty dopey and the ending is on the precipitous side. I also wouldn't have minded more footage from the actual attractions, although I know there are legit documentaries about the topic. That noted, there was enough to where I can give this a decent rating.