As summer starts to draw to a close, we begin to see the trappings of autumn and Halloween appear. Whether it's cosy cardigans, pumpkin spiced anything, or, of course, spooky movies, certain things help set the autumn mood just right. One that has been growing in popularity is the scare attraction. Getting to enjoy horror thrills with none of the danger, they can be a fun way to spend your time. For some, working in one of these is even more appealing; getting to actually be the bogeyman for a little while. In The Haunted Forest, writer-director Keith Boynton attempts to give us the sweet candy of Halloween mayhem, but in reality is more like an unwanted and disappointing apple or pack of dental floss.
Smart but slightly awkward teen Zach is looking forward to his new job in his cousin Mark's scare attraction. He settles into the role alongside the band of quirky oddballs who are his fellow workers. Soon, weekends spent jumping out at unsuspecting visitors feel more real and fulfilling than his day-to-day life. This is brought crashing down when someone is found dead in what appears to be a tragic accident. As Halloween comes closer and closer, Zach must come to terms with the possibility of very real danger amongst the fake skeletons.
It gives little pleasure to say that The Haunted Forest is a bit of a dud. There's nothing overall wrong with the movie; Boynton is a capable filmmaker, and the cast, particularly Grayson Gwaze as Zach, is solid. But many things that have the potential to be interesting are not explored as they could have been. A scare attraction is a legitimately great setting for a horror movie. It has worked in the past in films like Hell House LLC or The Houses October Built. It's a location that can allow for a blurring of the lines between real and fake terror. But a couple of nightmare sequences aside, it's not touched upon.
The plot is ostensibly a mystery, but there isn't much of a mystery to be found. You'd have to be asleep to not see where things are going fairly early on. There's zero tension, and the couple of red herrings the movie tries to throw in our path are clumsy. The death that kicks off the horror calls to mind the old urban legend of a Halloween decoration being a dead body without people initially realizing it. Unfortunately, this potentially interesting angle isn't explored. Taking out the horror elements and being a straightforward coming-of-age against a backdrop of Halloween and dealing with the realities of what the holiday stands for could have worked well. There is a throwaway line that Zach's mother may be dealing with a terminal illness. This could have been an angle with dramatic potential, but once again, it's something that is not developed.
So, it's a classic case of trying to do multiple different things but succeeding in none of them. By the time it gets to the real mayhem in the third act, it's hard to care. One should judge a movie on what it does rather than on what it doesn't do. The problem there is that the movie has to do something first. Whilst competently made, The Haunted Forest lacks anything memorable to be more than a passing curiosity.
The Haunted Forest had its world premiere at FrightFest 2025 on 23 August
