No, not that movie. This movie.
Yes, 1991's never-released until last year's Scary Movie is straight outta Austin, Texas.
It's all about a nerd named Warren (John Hawkes, Kenny Powers' brother from Eastbound and Down) who winds up in a haunted house attraction, but is convinced that things are not what they seem. Just like this movie, which you'd think would be an end of the video rental idea movie and it ends up being a slapstick voyage into Bava lighting and slasher menace.
Hawks is awesome in this, somehow becoming a mix of Buster Keaton and John Lithgow in The Twilight Zone: The Movie as simply the act of going into a fake haunted barn is way more than his mind can endure. And once he reveals that the maze-like structure - all constructed from soundstages - contains a killer, he busts from his seams.
This is a low-budget affair, but any horror movie that uses The Butthole Surfers and ends with legendary Austin psychedelic performer Roky Erickson's "I Walked With a Zombie" over the credits is one that you know I'm going to adore. And man, the killer's mask is absolutely awesome looking.
Plot summary
On Halloween night, big-time nerd Warren attends a spookhouse in a small Texas town. But is the haunted house as harmless as it seems, or has a psychotic mental patient found a new stomping ground?
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
March 07, 2023 at 03:12 AM
Director
Tech specs
720p.BLUMovie Reviews
Great!
Nice Mood
An unhinged young man accompanies his friends to a haunted house attraction around Halloween right as a deranged mental patient has escaped. As the night wears on, this young man starts to think the mental patient has broken into the haunted house and is going to kill them one by one.
It's amusing to see John Hawkes so young and in such an early role and Scary Movie works mostly due to his bizarre, scared rabbit performance. The Halloween visuals will give you the warm and fuzzies for all of those who love that time of year and it's fascinating to see how many films have cribbed from this later on like the recent Hell Fest and Haunt. Even at about 80 minutes, it's a little too slow and there's not a lot of terror or danger for a good majority of that run time, so less patient viewers might want to sit this one out.