Haunts

"Haunts" follows Ingrid, a young Swedish woman living with her American uncle in northern California. Their small town is suddenly plagued by several scissor-murders and rapes; meanwhile, Ingrid finds herself recurrently assailed by a lecherous butcher in town. Are the attacks connected? Does a newcomer to Ingrid's church choir have something to do with it? Or could it be someone else?

This little-seen psychological horror film is very much in the vein of other "mad women" films of the 1970s such as "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" or Robert Altman's "Images," packed with dreamlike energy, haunting cinematography of dreary rural abodes, and a thin demarcation between hallucination and reality that cuts through it all. "Haunts" is a bit more of a slipshod production than the aforementioned two films, but it exists in the same universe.

There are definitely effective moments here, particularly the attack sequences that intersperse the melodrama of Ingrid as a character. The film does grow tedious in its last act and loses momentum to a degree, while the last ten or fifteen minutes err into baffling quasi-supernatural territory that feels underdeveloped and there simply to shock the audience (or leave them scratching their heads). May Britt is believable here as a naive and devoutly religious Swedish expat, while Cameron Mitchell turns in an odd performance as her possibly-lecherous uncle . Aldo Ray is also present as the town's sheriff investigating the crimes.

In the end, I found "Haunts" to be quite captivating in many ways, mainly due to it being rich in atmosphere. It's a very dreary and dour-looking film, and possesses the same kind of sensibility of its contemporaries that I enjoy very much. The screenplay is admittedly sloppy as the film attempts to resolve itself, and the last act throws concepts into the mix that don't really gel, but I ultimately think the film works as a mood piece more than a straightforward thriller. It is an oddity for sure, and it's somewhat surprising that it has not found an audience over all these years. 7/10.

This film has only one downside for me and that is being very slow in spots, particularly towards the end. About 15 minutes of this flick could, honestly, have been sacrificed to the cutting room floor with no real loss. Other than that its really pretty good. Cameron Mitchell plays his part very well. Aldo ray does his job as sheriff and lends quality to a well developed character. William Gray Espy does very well in his role, and both Kendal Jackson and Susan Nohr deserve recognition. But the real star is, fittingly enough, the lead, May Britt. She does a wonderful job in portraying a very troubled woman with deep seated emotional problems. The part I liked the best? It was so easy to figure out, until I figured out that I was wrong. Three times in a row. And then? SURPRISE!

Director Herb Freed isn't exactly celebrated for his contributions to horror cinema, but personally I can't say he let me down already. "Beyond Evil" (starring John Saxon!) is a decent haunted house chiller and "Graduation Day" is an over-the-top insane & gory 80's slasher flick. "Haunts" is a whole lot less exciting than the two aforementioned titles, but Freed also clearly didn't want this film to be a gross and outrageous horror smut fest. Wrongfully promoted as a psycho-killer-on-the-loose flick, "Haunts" is actually a lot more effective as a psychological portrait about a dame in distress. Ingrid (May Britt) is a deeply religious farmer woman living on her own and suffering from a frigid sexuality as well as fear of male commitment, inflicted by some obscure childhood traumas. When several young women are found brutally murdered in the little town, Ingrid loses her sanity and starts to spot perverted murderers everywhere. Some other reviewers already made the comparison between "Haunts" and Roman "Repulsion", which is a righteous one, albeit Polanski's classic is naturally a lot more intense and frightening. Still, this is an atmospheric low-budget thriller with slow-breeding suspense and a handful of memorable moments. The scene where Ingrid discovers the corpse of her murdered woman amidst her farm animals, for example, is pretty damn creepy! The picture quality is truly poor and urgently needs restoration, but this shouldn't keep admirers of obscure 70's gems from purchasing a copy of this film. The cast features some familiar names, like Cameron Mitchell as Ingrid's suspicious uncle and Aldo Ray as the town's fatigue Sheriff. Decent thriller, as long as you don't anticipate wild gore or gratuitous sleaze.

I think the other reviewers here and elsewhere (myself included) were thrown off by the fact that the video distributors have incorrectly packaged this as another cheap '70s slasher/exploitation movie, and that's the reason for the negative reviews. This film is meant for a completely different audience. I myself started to become disappointed partway through the film when there was little action, but then I realized that this is not a typical slasher flick, but more of a Stephen King-style psychological horror film about the demons of small town life. That is when I started to enjoy it. Like King's novels, the story builds slowly, and there are several peripheral characters who may seem unimportant to the main storyline but contribute to the overall atmosphere. The movie does not have much gore or any nudity, but this is the kind of film that succeeds almost purely through its vivid, austere atmosphere, which was done so well that some of it reminded me of the work of Ingmar Bergman. The film isn't perfect, but director Freed shows a good eye for detail, and the washout cinematography is striking. I had never seen any of the actors elsewhere, but May Britt's lead performance was very competent. This is definitely not the kind of film for hardcore horror film buffs, as it doesn't fit under that genre category very well. Rather, it is a film for more serious, patient viewers who can appreciate a slower pace without instant rewards. For them, this is well-worth checking out.

Haunts was a random pick n mix movie for me, I had no idea what I was getting myself into and movies like this make me regret ever doing that.

It tells the story of lady who believes her uncle is responsible for a series of killings in the area with a pair of scissors, but there is more to the story.

I say "Story" very loosely, as though there is one it's an unstructured abyssmal abomination of an attempt at one.

The movie is horrifically boring, totally lifeless and at no point did I feel engaged or even remotely begin to care about a character or outcome of the movie.

Certainly one of the worst films I've seen lately, this is not a clever psychological thriller as it seems to refer to itself. It is instead a 90 minute sleeping pill (Side effects may include boredom and a severe migraine).

The Good:

Not a sausage

The Bad:

Incredibly unengaging

Muddled plot

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

The lord giveth and the lord taketh away

A cross around the neck has yet to save anyone