A slight detour away from actual Horror/Thrillers to this warm documentary that gets into why scary experiences can be so popular. It follows three families that turn their property into haunted attractions each Halloween season. Building local haunted houses seems like unimportant subject matter, but director Michael Stephenson (Best Worst Movie) doesn’t keep his focus so narrow. He gets deep into how this type of pastime steers/sidetracks the entire household, even though it’s only a month’s planning for one big night. It also brings a community of strangers together, showing how scares lead to laughs and warm feelings.
I loved watching the different approaches taken by the three houses in the film. Each at one time calls what they’re doing “art”, though they tackle their art with different levels of enthusiasm and pursuit of perfection. These people are passionate, yet it’s never about traumatizing people but putting on a good show. (None of the houses go for realistic scares or phobias like killer clowns. They go for outrageousness, with giant spiders and aliens.) This movie is the best endorsement for Halloween as a positive influence on society, and the climactic montage of locals getting scared by what they built is the true happy explanation why being scared is so popular.
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