Haunters: The Art of the Scare

This was a documentary that I watched while I was at work. I believe once I started this and then changed my mind. Haunted houses are interesting, but I don't tend to go to them. Part of the reason is that they can be pricey so finding someone to join is an issue. There's also the issue now of having a small child who has an early bedtime and another one on the way. Seeing what these people do here is impressive, especially since they aren't necessarily 'professionals'.

We end up following Russ McKamey, Shar Mayer and Donald Julson, or at least those are the ones that I believe this focuses on. Russ and Donald create haunts in their yard, which are impressive. Shar is an actor that works at different jobs to scare people. It is fun to learn more about each of them, how they got into what they do and see where their aspirations are for the future. This does come with issues, like Russ expanding out to a farm until the neighbors have an inspector come. Not everything is bad here, but it does bring up the question of how far is too far, especially with McKamey Manor.

This was quite interesting to watch. Seeing the time and effort that is put into it. Hearing how much it costs for these people who don't charge all that much. I learned more here than I was expecting. It is heartwarming at times to learn about these people and see how happy they are doing these things. There is only one part that bothers me. McKamey Manor is an extreme haunt, with a safe word. It does bother me to see one of his neighbors who is basically tortured for his enjoyment. It toes the line of the law. What is even more interesting is hearing people who go through this and how they want to come back as actors to scare others.

In general, this is an interesting documentary that is well made. I do think focusing more on the haunts in general would add to this, but it is cool to see what they put together for sure.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.

If you love Halloween and love being scared this is definitely something you'll enjoy. It's pretty fascinating and shows u a side of horror you've never seen before. A history of haunted houses and how they have evolved. Everyone's story is different yet they all do it for the love of the scare. Fun and interesting. A must see for horror fans.

The minute I pressed play on this documentary I knew it was something different right from the start. Not because of the fact of it being a documentary about Huanted Houses & scare actors. But because I knew whoever made this put a lot of time, passion, commitment & their heart & soul into making this movie. This documentary brings you into the realm of what it's like to be a scare actor & own your own haunt. This film showed that the community of Haunters is incredible & probably has the most passionate & devoted artists out there. The drive & appreciation that these people have to be able to have this as a dream job is amazing. Jon Schnitzer did an incredible job of capturing the work of Haunters and what it feels like to be in their world. Thank you to an amazing director & cast/crew for putting together this documentary & sharing with people to keep following their dreams!

Easily one of my new favorite movies, and one of the best viewing experiences I've ever had in my 4 years attending Fantastic Fest. Its absurd, funny, scary, and exciting the whole way through and inspired me to immediately apply for a haunter position at House of Torment in Austin, TX. Thank you for making such a unique look into the craziness of extreme haunted houses! Shar is my new life inspiration!

Right, well while I can't really fully appreciate the haunted house attractions, as we don't have those in Denmark, then I will say that there was still some entertainment value in sitting down to watch the 2017 documentary "Haunters: The Art of the Scare".

It was actually fun to see the creativity that the people behind these attractions were coming up with, and to see the passion that drove them to invest so much effort, time, sweat and money into their projects. Not to mention seeing the fruits of those labors in the form of the videos of people experiencing the thrills of the haunts.

One thing, though, that didn't sit well with me was the attractions where people are physically assaulted, violated, abused, etc. It was just taking it too far. One, I don't see the point in doing that, as it was just too extreme and just a ticking timebomb waiting to go off until someone takes it too far. Two, why would people willingly subject themselves to aforementioned abuse?

The interviews in the documentary are good, though it is a very biased documentary, as you only have the views from those positively attuned to these events. It would have been interesting to have had some points of views from people opposed against these events. It would definitely have painted the documentary in a more nuanced perspective. Some of the people in the documentary are just sadists, because that kind of need to inflict emotional distress and physical torment on others is just not a healthy mindset to carry around with you.

I will say that writer and director Jon Schnitzer's 2017 documentary "Haunters: The Art of the Scare" is worth checking out, regardless of you having access to such events or not.

My rating of "Haunters: The Art of the Scare" lands on a five out of ten stars.