Hauntology

Really liked the movie, enjoyed watching it, and would for sure watch it several times. Interesting how all the stories combine into one cohesive story. A lot of details, recommend to watch the movie several times to be able to see all the Easter eggs. Representative of a lot of today's social issues, which sometimes are missed or not represented in some movies. Don't miss watching this movie that portraits a lot of Ohio's scenery and talent. The director and casting group did a great job. It was great seeing an independent film, hope to see more in the future. Highly recommended, don't miss watching it.

I saw this film at its premiere at Dances with Films waaaay back in June (I'm just now joining this site.) I truly enjoyed it. If you didn't get it by the name, this film is a horror anthology. A lot of indie films go this route. I believe because it elevates a lot of the problems with production schedules. You can make a film piece by piece or have multiple directors come on and each tackle a section. This film appears to only have one director though throughout its smaller stories. This led to a lot of fun with the themes it tackles. If you're a member of the LGBT community, you'll find a lot to love here. And, that's a huge crossover in horror fandom. Like most horror, I feel like its best to go in blind to these, but I will say, the one about the art gallery was my favorite. When I think of this movie, that's the one that sticks with me. That and the ending wrap around that ties the whole experience together nicely.

When I stumbled upon the 2024 movie "Hauntology" by random chance here in 2025, I figured it was a horror anthology, given the title of the movie. Normally I am not keen on horror anthologies, as they tend to be a questionable affair in general. But given my life-long love and fascination with the horror genre, of course I had to check out what writer and director Parker Brennon had to offer.

And yes, "Hauntology" is indeed a horror anthology.

Well, as a horror anthology, let's break down the individual segments.

The first segment is titled "Witchcraft Becomes Her" was an adequate tale in the sense that it had an interesting story, but it was hardly a scary story. In fact, this was actually the best of all the boring segments that made up "Hauntology".

Segment number two is titled "The Day Mabel Came out of the Grave". A nice and interesting title, if nothing else. But again, there was nothing scary about this tale either.

Moving on to the third segment, which is titled "Paint & Black Lace". I never understood the strangulation by a plastic bag thing, as you just simply use two fingers to tear a hole at your mouth, voila, and you can breathe. And once again, another segment that proved not to be scary.

And the fourth segment is titled "The Old Dark Cashel House", oh and guess what, not scary either.

The narrative that tied the four different segments was actually better than most of the segments.

The only performers on the cast list that I was familiar with was Naomi Grossman and Nancy Kyes. The acting performances throughout the segments were fair, despite of them having very meager material to work with.

"Hauntology" was a brutally dull anthology. Notice how I left out the 'horror' part there? Yeah, there was nothing horror about this dumpster fire of a movie.

My rating of writer and director Parker Brennon dumpster fire of a "horror" anthology lands on a generous two out of ten stars, not because there is any entertainment to be had in the segments, but because of the production value of the ordeal and the acting performances.

No pun intended - the movie consists of multiple stories being told ... to make someone think about their plan to leave ... I'll tell you stories ... and when I am done maybe you want to stay. I personally don't see it ... but then again, maybe one character loves telling stories and the other one likes listening to them.

This deals with a lot of issues ... like LGBTQ+ stuff and so much more. So obviously you cannot be too sensitive with stuff like that. You also should be aware that this has some script issues ... and acting issues ... sometimes it is cringe ... like a lot. You may feel ashamed or embarrassed ... I reckon you will be able to tell if this is for you or not .. very early on. I might have rated it higher than others ... but also lower than some who liked the themes and didn't mind the flaws ...

I'm taking the time to write a review for this terrible movie because I feel like I need to warn others. I honestly don't understand how some viewers gave it a high score. The acting is awful at best-wooden, forced, and completely unconvincing. The story, while somewhat acceptable in the first 20 minutes, quickly falls apart due to lazy writing and a complete lack of originality. The plot unravels into a predictable mess, filled with clichés and nonsensical decisions that make it hard to stay engaged.

The dialogue is unnatural, making it even harder to take the characters seriously. There's no real depth or development, and by the halfway point, I found myself struggling to care about anything happening on screen. The pacing is all over the place, dragging in some scenes while rushing through others, making the entire experience feel disjointed.

If you value your time, I strongly recommend skipping this film. You'd be better off reclaiming those 90 minutes to watch paint dry-it would be far more entertaining and significantly less frustrating than sitting through this disaster. Save yourself the disappointment!