Director: Jon Binkowski
Writer: Jon Binkowski (Screenplay)
Starring: Arian Ash, Chris Burns, Neil Brown Jr, Michele Simms, Simon Needham
Plot: Scare Zone is OLIVER’s pride and joy. Sure, it’s just another strip-mall Halloween Horror House, but as always, he’s put his heart and soul into it. The attraction is open for three nights only, and Oliver has brought back his old staff, including ex-con Spider, eager bride-to-be Summer, and the enigmatic Goth princess Claire. A bunch of newbies are also on board, including earnest young Darryl, who immediately finds himself bewitched by the creepy Claire. The dysfunctional ‘scream team’ learns to work together while someone or something is out to make the horror REAL.
Runtime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Scare Zone starts as Oliver (Needham) is preparing his giant Halloween Haunted House, one that he always prepared for the next level of scares, bringing back his old team Spider (Brown Jr), Daryl (Burns), Summer (Simms) and Claire (Ash) the trusted actors who must prepare for the horrors that are waiting to unfold.
As the weekend at Scare Zone unfolds, the regular start disappearing, as a masked killer is turning the haunted house, into a murder house.
Thoughts on Scare Zone
Characters & Performances – Oliver is the flamboyant owner of the haunted house Scare Zone, he puts together the Halloween festivities every year, knowing who he can trust, managing to twist the arms of the people who will work with him, he is always thinking of a new concept for scares. Claire is one of the loyal members of the team, she runs the gift shop on the nights, with her cold figure, she does help prepare the newest performers, with costumes, make up and everything they need to give the scares required in the film. Daryl is one of the newest members of the team, he will try most roles, with his attraction to Claire being the reason why he sticks around more. When it comes to the supporting cast, we will get the typical people that will do anything to make sure the job is done safely, even if his reputation is that he is the cooler guy, the woman that wants out of the business and into the next stage of her life. The movie does have fun performances from the cast, who all embrace the colourful character from within the haunted house world.
Story – The story here will see how a Halloween Haunted House of terrors, will turn into a real house of horrors when a killer starts picking off the employees of the attraction. When it comes to the attraction of the Halloween Haunted Houses, throwing in a real killer will always come in to help the horror side of things, as the colourful character fit the world and the kills will play into the environment. While the story might not get into the deeper side of things, it is dealing with the slasher side well throughout the film.
Themes – Scare Zone is horror thriller that will dive into the slasher sub-genre of horror, using the Halloween Haunted Fun House location to make for everything we need to let the less reactions going on with the film, as most of the victim think it is just part of the experience. When it comes to the kills, we will see how the environment will be used to make them all feel unique.
Final Thoughts – Scare Zone is the Halloween Haunted House experience you would expect.
