“Girls are mean, and not necessarily
in the Lindsey Lohan way. The Scarehouse is a torturous version of
Mean Girls, and nails it, with huge spikes through the head.”
When two friends open a Halloween fun
house on Devil's Night it is all fun and games until their former
sorority sisters begin to arrive. These six sisters are confronted by
their past as the night spins out of control. (IMDB)
First, I have to give away a secret,
sometimes when I watch a film to be reviewed I like to have my
partner in crime, creepy bride, and by the printing of this review –
wife, watch them with me. There are several reasons for this, besides
the fact she is oft times just as twisted and interested in these
things as I am. Which makes perfect sense when you think of it. She's
a great sounding board, which I admit is oft times bad for her since
it means I'm likely to ruin a movie as soon as I pick up on its
formula. The reason I'm mentioning all this is because while watching
The Scarehouse I was glad to have a woman's perspective. Her reaction
to the story, and girl on girl vengeance, was priceless. She seemed
to soak in the backstory and become fully involved with our lead
characters thirst for vengeance. Usually, whether it be gratuitous
sex or over played gore, a film with a full female cast would
eventually lose her interest. But The Scarehouse delivered with
fantastic lines, great chemistry, and wasn't gratuitous except in its
ability to give the audience everything they'd want or expect.
Basically I am convinced that woman actually act this way around each
other, even the dildo and dyke jokes got a laugh. Which lead to two
obvious questions... 1) Did a woman write The Scarehouse, and 2) The
Scarehouse is an independent film?
The Scarehouse is written by the
husband and wife team of Gavin and Sarah Booth (Sarah also being the
lead character "Corey"). Gavin also takes on roles as
director and editor. That much said, I don't feel like I cheated
writing this review with the help of my significant other. Neither
Gavin or I could have possibly understood the vindictive female
without them. Scarehouse is full of up and coming Canadian actresses
that have made appearance in popular television series and movies
such as "Hemlock Grove", "Helix", the upcoming
Del Torro film "Crimson Peak", "Reign", co-lead
Elaina is played by Kimberly-Sue Murray ("Mirror Mirror",
"The Colony") and many more. Together they have become an
ensemble cast that perfectly represents female vanity and angst.
The Scarehouse more than delivers on
slasher fun. It is political and social commentary. Each of Corey and
Elaina's victims are undone by their own vanities and even though you
might try to care about the one or two bad asses that can fight back,
ultimately you can't help but root for the killer duo. The soundtrack
is a perfect mix of college rock that gives the entire film a late
80's early 90's feel. On that note, the filming style does much the
same. The back story is presented via home video inner-cut with the
cinematic present, perfectly placed so as to give away just enough
info to lead us into the next torture until the entire mystery of why
this happening becomes clear. Each death by vanity comes with killer
lines I dare you not to laugh at. Of course there are twists, and the
final one is the reason why I say there has to be a sequel. Finally,
given the budget of the film, the practical effects get huge kudos.
The Scarehouse was shot inside an
existing Halloween haunted attraction known as "Scarehouse
Windsor" in Windsor, Ontario (directly across the river from
Detroit, Michigan). Their budget was only $200,000 Canadian. This
means most of the budget went to film stock and practical effects
while the actors and crew did it all for pizza and Ramen. Good enough
if you're really a college student but I get the impression they’ve
all quit worrying about professors for a few years. No matter what
The Scarehouse is the definition of an independent horror but does
not look or feel anything like one. I can only suspect that when its
release brings in triple the budget a sequel will be on its way. To
the Booth's... I have an idea if you need any help! With or without
my help though, The Scarehouse is perfectly placed for sequel
material!
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