Review by Troy Balmayer
Directed by: Gavin Michael Booth
Starring: Sarah Booth, Kimberly-Sue Murray, Katherine Barrell
This is a kind of troubling effort from director Gavin Michael Booth and his horde of scream queens. It has some neat moments, don’t get me wrong, and the pulsating music lifts a lot of the sequences; it’s just the gorno aspect and revenge horror aren’t new and the running story is twisted but not deep enough to warrant respect.
Upon concluding the construction of a scary house for punters to be freaked out by, Corey and Elaina use their horror props for a more sinister motive, inviting some old sorority girls to experience the Scarehouse and answer some big questions regarding a past night that left Corey and Elaina as outsiders filled with a need for revenge.
The main story isn’t shockingly awful or even bad, it’s just average. Revenge thrills are sort of cheap to me and this take on sisters doing it for themselves comes together like a full length t.A.T.u music video with a horror sneakiness pumping through it. The amateur camera footage of the girls recording their pre-night out and the night itself is good enough to make it feel more real, but they’re so fake and squealy that it nulls the chance of realism anyway. The running question of how the two vengeful ladies got into their predicament is at first intriguing, but by the time the answer comes, you’ve nearly lost interest and gathered the main point of it all.
The climax has a tingle of excitement as it seems to go somewhere dark. Then it’s ruined, sadly; the epilogue becomes a weird and salty taste to try and swallow as it plays out to a pathetic end that wraps everything up.
Adrian Ellis conjures up some impressive music mixed with the rest of the sound crew and it of course is filled to the brim with that expected and necessary horror vibe, but with a neat electric edge. The opening song, Merry Go Round by Bleu, is fantastic, echoing with an '80s vibe, and though it’s not used after the initial instrumental, it’s worth the listen.
Booth and Murray deliver their tormenting roles well, having a menacing shred in their performances, and Murray does well in giving her character light and shade at times, even though she is a psycho. The other girls, who predictably serve as victims and fresh meat, are convincing enough at screaming and looking good.
Apart from a couple of tense, gut wrenching (literally in one place) torture scenes, this story lacks oomph or originality, left with two good female leads and fun music to stop it from being completely bad.
