Recovering from the trauma of being kidnapped last Halloween by the Blue Skeleton – a group who take “extreme haunt” to another level – five friends decide they must face their fears in order to move on. Heading back out on the road to visit more haunted house attractions, signs of the Blue Skeleton start appearing again and a new terror begins…
THE HOUSES OCTOBER BUILT 2 is the sequel to the 2014 cult hit, and marks the return of Brandy Schaefer (“coffin girl” from The Houses October Built) along with the original filmmaking team of Director and Co-Writer Bobby Roe, Producer and Co-Writer Zack Andrews , and Producer Steven Schneider (Split, Insidious, Paranormal Activity).
This sequel essentially picks up where the first ends… so (SPOILER ALERT) everyone is actually alive. Surprise! The cops come to the rescue and it has all been for publicity and extreme scares thanks to The Blue Skeleton crew. Convenient, but alright let’s roll with it. What we’re really getting with The Houses October Built 2, is The Houses October Built but with even less of a narrative. The first hour, exactly like the first film is a massive ad for all the top haunted houses across the US. The only added storyline is the fact that Brandy a.k.a. “coffin girl” is famous on Youtube and now everyone wants the group to visit their attraction and they will pay them… as long as Brandy is present. Problem being, she is understandably traumatized by her experience being kidnapped and emotionally tortured. Cajoled into a tentative travel schedule, our five experience The Zombie 5k, Zombie Pubcrawl, and a few other new Halloween fan favorites. Every once in a while we get what appears to be a snippet of plot thrown into the roughly hour and a half runtime, but basically, it doesn’t really amount to much until the final 25 minutes. Yes, it’s got a clever ending but that doesn’t save the fact that the acting is underwhelming and the guys, consistently disregarding Brandy’s feelings are kind of the only real villains in the film. If you’re looking to try out haunted houses of various kinds but don’t actually have the nerve to do it yourself, then The Houses October Built 2 might be up your alley. You can catch the trailer below for a sneak peek into the sequel and can catch it in theaters or on demand starting today.
RLJ Entertainment will release the upcoming horror film THE HOUSES OCTOBER BUILT
Thanks to the likes of Stephen King, Poltergeist, and American Horror Story clowns are not cool. Lately, in fact, people dressed as clowns are attempting to lure small children into wooded areas in middle America. Why? That’s just sick! In Tom Nagel‘s new film CLOWNTOWN, a group of friends is stranded in what appears to be an abandoned town, until crazies dressed as clowns try to kill them. 
There is good, bad, and ugly about this film. We’ll start with the bad. The story is missing just enough explanation to bother me. The back story does not go far enough into the connection of why. That’s all I’ll say for now, because I do think the film deserves an audience. The ugly, while I’m being relatively nit-picky at this point, is as follows. The film runs long. It could have been much tighter getting to the “good stuff”. That’s basically all in that category. And now, for the good or I should actually say, the great: the acting. I have to say, with the exception of one character, this film has exceptional performances. I have to give our leading ladies a shout out for the level of terror portrayed on their faces. It reads completely genuine to me. Our clown friends are beyond unsettling. On the whole, I was impressed on this front. My favorite part of the entire film has got to be the opening scene. It harkens back to classic horror tropes featuring a babysitter and the creepy kids, brief gratuitous nudity included. It was a fantastic intro to a story that had all the potential in the world. Also, high five for the homage final shout. I’ll let you discover that fun gem on your own.
In a world where our entire life exists online, we are constantly in danger of being hacked. Using tools like an 
Mike Regan is about to launch “the Uber for private jets” in a new app roll out. When his company hires new tech Ed, who seems to have all the quick fixes, Mike invites him inside his home to tweak the glitches in his smart home. Unable to understand social cues after a short period of time, Ed becomes obsessed with taking Mike down notch by notch. Nothing is off-limits. Ed put Mike’s business, reputation, and family in harm’s way. His actions prove detrimental, but Mike will not allow his entire life to be destroyed. He has to fight firewall with firewall.
I.T. will do nothing less than make you rethink the devices in your hand and how you use them. In a present day where a foreign country is hacking a major political party in real life, that’s awful enough. Perhaps, though, we should be more afraid of the troll in a basement with nothing better to do than destroy others.
More often than not, when we think about our legal system today, perhaps the word that comes to the mind of many is “Injustice” How much does personal belief, whether religious or political, sway the decision of a DA’s office or a jury. My husband recently served on a jury here in Manhattan, on a relatively well known case. After his month long ordeal, he stated, “In some alternate universe, if I was ever thinking about breaking the law, well, God help me. A jury of my peers is anything but.” He explained that the particular jury he served on contained individuals who slept during proceedings, doodled in their notebooks, sighed audibly in court, and verbally fought to be excused on a daily basis. He cannot imagine what it would have been like had he been the defendant. In a very important documentary, SOUTHWEST OF SALEM, four women, who happen to be lesbians, were convicted of a heinous crime based upon a modern day witch hunt. In Texas, their jury was most certainly not comprised of their peers. 
Directed by filmmaker journalist Deborah Esquenazi, this emotional documentary first made its big splash earlier this year at the Tribeca Film Festival and received audience accolades. It recently garnered Grand Jury Award at 2016 Outfest and Outstanding Documentary Jury Award at the 2016 Frameline Film Festival.
Drawing on personal experiences tends to be a pretty successful way to tell a story. Raw emotion tends to translate from page to screen, especially if you have a legend bringing your words to life. Jerry Lewis makes Daniel Noah‘s new film a beautiful and heart-wrenching winner. MAX ROSE tells the story of a retired jazz pianist whose world is sent into a tailspin after he finds a letter given to his wife. Who is the mysterious author? This could change everything he’s ever known.
We’ve all been there at one time or another. Sitting in a cubicle, or the like, wanting desperately to staple a co-worker’s mouth shut or just whiteout our own eyes. But we think, hey, if I work hard enough, I’ll get that promotion and maybe, just maybe, this won’t suck as much as I think it does. Welcome to BLOODSUCKING BASTARDS, where all your daydreams and nightmares come true.
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