House of Fears

Six friends sneak into a haunted house the night before it opens for Halloween, only to find that their evening of fun has turned into their worst nightmare.

Corri English (playing Samantha) may now be known to horror fans who watch "Holliston" (if you do not watch it, you should), but she was largely unknown when appearing here in a starring role. On the flip side, Jared Padalecki (as "JP") was probably well-known at this point and appears anonymously (uncredited). How they got Padalecki is unclear.

The film has an interesting style and coloration (sort of a purposely blurry, washed-out look). And a haunted houses where the fears come to life is always a steady source of horror goodness. But I just did not see much to make this one stand out, and it has been understandably forgotten.

Haunted house films aren't too common anymore, and unfortunately, some don't handle the concept well.

People in a haunted house doubling as a fake haunted house get terrorized by various apparitions, pretty similar to the Fangoria horror festival's "Dark House" but without the cheese.

The problem? When a horror movie isn't scary, I'd prefer watching a cheesy film over one that leaves me thinking, "okay, that guy died, meaning after this character, this one, and this one die it'll be time for protagonists to defeat (insert villain here)".

Dark House was very fun; House of Fears was memorable despite not being good, but I must admit because I've recently seen Dark House, this movie seemed less entertaining than before, and it wasn't all that entertaining to begin with.

Maybe worth a rental, otherwise, watch some other film.

It sucks that imdb forces people to have to use 600 characters these days, despite the fact that some reviewers can leave a single sentence and their review is allowed to be posted. Maybe they pay for some premium membership, I cannot say.

But aside from my complaint about that, which in a way is helping me to satisfy the vapid IMDB need for 600 character reviews, as I stated in the title : THE MOVIE was JUST ok at times, but the set stole the show. It wasnt anything truly spectacular. It was just extensive. Either they shot in a number of locales or in one big studio lot. Or maybe they went to actual funhouses. They pulled a lot of strings and the quality of the film with its lighting and all was fairly good. It was just missing something to make it more palpable, including better acting. 5/10.

This is an ok by the numbers cliche ridden horror. Zero originality but ok to watch if nothing better to do. Usual annoying characters, zero plot.

Puzzling is that at the party scene Jared Padalecki (Supernatural/Friday the 13th Remake) appears in a doorway and promptly disappears!? Is this a cameo? In joke? Friend of director? When I sae him him I knsta fly thought.....ah the quality if the film just got a little better if he's in it.......then hes never seen again.

Most odd.

Watch if nothing better to see. Far better films in though. Maybe it was a Directors first film and way into the industry. Its shot well etc and is far from terrible. Just unoriginal.

i saw this a month or 2 ago at a horror festival in LA. if you're going into this knowing it will be just another horror movie where horny teens end up somewhere and get hacked up, that's what it is. What makes the film interesting is the cinematography and creatism of the killings, and the mansion as a whole. it was shot very coolly (I know this isn't a word), some good temperatures to convey moods and the diff rooms / fears etc.. the ending though was unfortunately predictable, much like the characters. I found myself shouting at the screen, "just go! He's gonna get you!" etc.. i was engaged, but for the wrong reasons. the film had the same cheesy girl in distress, big hunky guy leads the pack, funny guy and black dude. very well done for the budget. Some of the acting needed to be tightened, A LOT. Michael Pagan was the best, I'd like to see him again. Eliot Benjamin was relatively funny, and he looks to be pretty new so good luck to his career. The movie didn't attempt to change or go beyond the horror genre that we've been looking at for the past "forever," but again, if you go in knowing this, you'll end up liking it. it's very fun, and a good time. I'd definitely watch it again. on a scale of 1 - 10 in horror land, i give it a 6.5 while in overall movie land, i give it a 4.

Jp