Released: September 22, 2017
Director: Bobby Roe
Screenplay: Zack Andrews & Bobby Roe
Cast:
Brandy Schaefer as Brandy
Zack Andrews as Zack
Bobby Roe as Bobby
Mikey Roe as Mikey
Jeff Larson as Jeff
Recovering from the trauma of their ordeal last Halloween--which involved kidnapping and apparent attempted murder--by the mysterious group the Blue Skeleton, who take "extreme haunt" to another level, five friends decide they must face their fears in order to move on with their lives. Heading back out on the road to visit more haunted house attractions, signs of the Blue Skeleton start appearing again and a new, fresh terror is just around the bend...
If you are a fan of the first installment, you might be surprised to see the same characters' names appear on the cast list for the sequel because, SPOILERS, they all die and/or get left for dead. Well Houses October Built 2 retcons all of that and brings all five of our heroes back into the RV without too much wear and tear. Only Brandy shows any real signs of PTSD and reluctance at volunteering to put herself back in a dangerous situation, and so has to be tricked by her friends into joining the road trip so that the guys will be able to get sponsors for their burgeoning business (a Final Girl is interesting, Four Final Dudes are not). The crew is back, searching for the most over-the-top extreme haunts in existence.
Houses 2, like its predecessor, is a meta-film. This go-around, it is also a love letter to some of the most famous names and faces in American haunt culture. The group travel to and namedrop real extreme haunted attractions, including Ohio's "Haunted Hoochie" and Philadelphia's "Terror Behind the Walls" (I've been, and I definitely recommend btw). There's cameos from actual organizers, artists, and researchers that work with and in these haunts to create waking nightmares. It's an illuminating peek behind the curtain for people who don't really just how much organization it takes to put on these incredible attractions, and just how big their culture has become. In this fashion, Houses 2 is a send-up and celebration of all things Halloween, particularly in how this holiday can create a sense of community among artists, scarehounds, and horror freaks, much in the way the first film was as well.
There's a fun turn the story takes this time around where our heroes' documentary is inter-cut with voyeuristic footage of the group, letting us know that the true subject of this exploration is not the haunts anymore, it's the people hunting them down. The retconning that resets the board opens the door to some inconsistencies and plot holes, and if you scrutinize too close you start to wonder why you should even care about any of these people because the film doesn't make any sense but I think the trick here is to watch Houses 2 not as a horror film but as a horror documentary. It works far better this way, with each visit to a haunt just a chapter in a larger wrap-around story that the Blue Skeleton confrontation at the end ties up as neatly as can be expected.
The extreme haunt phenomenon is on the rise. It's fascinating to experience, to read about in analytic texts like Margee Kerr's Scream: Chilling Adventures in the Science of Fear (author and book both featured in this film), and to watch here in Houses 2. People are voluntarily paying to be subjected to potentially traumatizing experiences; the privilege to be emotionally rocked in the confines of a supposedly safe space. Is it a jaded mentality commonly attributed to millennials? Adrenaline-addicted experience over possessions mentality? Something else entirely? It's titillating territory to explore, and The Houses October 2 is the perfect place to begin your hunt.
The Houses October Built 2
5-Totally Terrifying
4-Crazy Creepy
3-Fairly Frightening
2-Slightly Scary
1-Hardly Horror
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