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Saturday, November 26, 2016

The Scarehouse (2014) Review Revisited



“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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