Really struggles in the back half to keep everything coherent, but that doesn’t stop Haunt from being a surprisingly decent popcorn horror that’s a fun blast throughout; Just don’t let its awkwardly clumsy storytelling and overreaching ending detract from the solid scares on show.

Echoing others here, a strong cast with a promising and tension-building first half is really let down by a slightly disappointing second half and a rather ridiculous final scene, in my opinion. Unfortunately, [spoiler]when the enemies start revealing their faces, it becomes a little less scary for some reason. Adding to the poorer quality of the backend of the film is the fact that the film's lead character, Harper, suddenly becomes almost superhuman: she carries on fleeing after being shotgunned in the shoulder, standing on some large nails, and having the palms of her hands ripped off my industrial-strength superglue, like as if nothing happened! She also seems to suddenly change her entire personality, from shy and timid to a confident ass kicker[/spoiler]. That said, the first act is a solid 8/10 but the second is more like a 4/10, which was a shame. Nevertheless, it's a more than enjoyable watch overall.

A film that went pretty under the radar when it was released I think. The premise and everything is all very familiar and been done before, heck pretty sure a film with pretty much the same plot was released a year earlier called "Hell Fest". But where Hell Fest fails Haunt exceeds in pretty much every single way. A fleshed out back story that gives levity to the final girl which makes you want her to survive, some truly tension inducing scenes, just the right amount of gore, creepy masks/villains and characters that pretty much make all the right choices. I will say I really also loved the ending, thought it incredibly smart. Not surprised the writers from A Quiet Place wrote and directed this. They really know how to craft a great tension filled scene. I hope this gets the cult following like Trick r' Treat does because it's such a simple yet effective slasher that does pretty much everything right.

The first Hooptober film of this year is the recently released Haunt. It is a good looking horror film with some messed up masks, a strong female lead, a haunted house, traps, loads of deaths and a boring second half. The film started out really fun, I was into it and was wondering where the film would take me, but at some point it became all too clear and I was basically waiting for the film to reach the end. It still looked lovely though! Really liked the design! Anyway, in the end Haunt is worth a watch, it isn't too long and it wasn't that bad to kick off our yearly horror festivities with this one! I just have a feeling that it had more potential.

>*"Such a pretty mask. Why don't we take it off... and find out who you really are."*⠀ -Devil This is my fourth watch, it's a Halloween classic by now! Goes really well in a double feature with *Hell Fest*. If you watched *Hell Fest* first though, you'll notice ***Haunt*** is much better quality. Acting is much better, the set is simple but every room is unique, the characters are likable, nicely done practical effects and cool kills. It has atmosphere, suspence and it's actually scary (at least for me). Ghost, Devil, Witch, Clown, Vampire and Zombie make such a wicked creepy team. They're all so mysterious and I wanted more of their story and [spoiler]why they decided to look like that[/spoiler]. Awesome designs. The reveal of their faces is so iconic and transforms the movie into something great. Love the ending. A negative would be [spoiler]what happened to Bailey, dressing her up like one of the killers felt cheap and didn't really do much in the end[/spoiler].