Based on a confidential police report from Kaufman County Sheriff's department, this film sees Deputy Harris heading out to a deserted house to investigate a kidnapping. His colleagues joke that the house is haunted but of course he is not concerned about such nonsense. Heading into the grounds, he finds nothing, however things get increasingly odd and he starts to feel the pressure of something that he cannot quite put his finger on.
When you look for this film online you may find on some results that the film has the title of Thrillvania: Behold the Noose; when you look to see why that is, you'll see that the film was set on the grounds of the Thrillvania haunted park in Terrell in Texas and that the short film appears to have been done in support of that park somehow. I'm guessing with that last bit but whether or not the film benefits the park, for sure the park benefits the film by giving it a good creepy old place to be set in. The film doesn't really do anything new with this, but if True Detective can be praised for doing the same then the film should not be criticized just because it is a very familiar story (or bit of a story).
The delivery is nicely creepy even if it is a bit obvious with all the things it uses – spider webs, creepy music, odd items strewn around, etc. All of this can be put down to the fact that it is in a theme park, but again it has good side and down sides. There is a nice build and it is a shame that the film is not more restrained at the end; the rock music pushes things too far and was unnecessary – and the puff of flame at the end was clearly to do with using the park and not doing what the film needed, giving it a rather cheesy ending that didn't fit (even with the excess at the end).
The acting from the wonderfully named Major Dodge is okay; he doesn't totally sell the fear and yes he does have eyelashes that a drag queen would kill for, but he does alright. Technically the film is well made – looks good, nice atmosphere, knows what it wants to do; it was only the slight air of excessive and familiarity that limited it for me. Worth a look as a haunted park experience through your television – although don't expect anything too groundbreaking.
