Change Your Image
popcornwolf
Reviews
Screamer (2011)
Brilliant documentary on Halloween haunts
The tale of Fright Night Productions weaves a cohesive narrative thread through this honest look at professional haunting, and is balanced ever so deftly by the footage of other haunts and comments from industry professionals that manages to answer the question, "Why do those guys keep trying?" We're shown looks at some successful haunters and their haunts and some huge industry events, and the inevitable answer is "Love." Love of entertaining, love of performing, staging, decorating
the love of Halloween. This is illustrated best by soul searching (but not defeated) haunter Matt Kemp: "I've wasted a lot of time, a lot of money, but I've also gained a lot
of
everything."
Director William McHugh's instincts are just about as good as one could want from a documentary filmmaker. The eye of the camera is unflinching when it needs to be and the shots are very well chosen. We're given a fairly deep look inside the making of a haunt and what it really takes to do this for a living. Sometimes, it just ain't pretty. T his movie is quite a journey and highly recommended to any haunt or Halloween fan. Along the way, there are insightful and welcome comments from pro haunt stalwarts such as Larry Kirchner, Leonard Pickel, Ed Edmonds, the legendary Midnight Syndicate and many others. They underline just how tough it really is to start and keep a pro haunted house going, but also shine a light on the rewards, which are many.
SCREAMER is literally a haunted roller coaster ride, with laughs, fascinating props and people, plenty of cool and stunning Halloween visuals, and a heartbreaking climax. Screamer is ABSOLUTELY must see for even the most casual of Halloween/haunt folks, and if there has ever been a better documentary on the subject, I simply haven't seen it yet.