Shudder: five films to be thankful for this Thanksgiving
By Carla Davis
3. Haunt
Why is a Halloween-related film perfect for Thanksgiving viewing? Well, as we horror lovers know, it’s hard to let go of what we consider to be the start of the holiday season. Why not extend it a bit by watching a fun, bloody film set at a Halloween haunted attraction?
Haunt is a Shudder Exclusive, and was produced by Eli Roth, so there’s some pretty good pedigree at work here. Its world premiere was at the 2019 Popcorn Frights Film Festival, followed by a screening at FrightFest.
A group of attractive college-aged friends decide to visit a haunted attraction out in the middle of nowhere on Halloween night (clearly they never watched The Houses October Built). Upon entering the attraction, they are required to surrender their cell phones and sign a waiver.
Of course, the group members are almost immediately separated, and before things pick up, they encounter typical, corny jump scares generated by the haunt. The fun ends when one of them is actually slashed with a razor blade, and now it sinks it that they this is no ordinary haunt.
As our friends try to find a way out, they begin to encounter the masked figures operating the attraction, and I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that not all of them make it out alive.
Haunt is fun, intense and gory, and the actors are much better than what you typically see in this type of film. Before jumping full on into the Christmas season, get a little nostalgic for Halloween and give it a watch.