THE SCAREHOUSE

Very much enjoyed this horror film which unlike many horror films these days did not promise more than it could deliver.  In fact, I was continually surprised by the sheer amount of nasty scenes in this film – One woman is squeezed until her ribs and internal organs explode, another woman has her nails and eyelashes pulled out then her breast implants cut out and finally is forced to eat one of the breast implants, two other women get powdered acid on their skin which of course burns it away,  another victim is electrocuted.

The  protagonists are two young ladies who have just completed a two year stint in prison the result of a prank gone wrong during their initiation into a sorority (which we see in flashback scenes alternated with present day action scenes) .  The other sorority members refused to cover for them despite assigning them the task that went wrong and now they are seeking revenge using a Halloween haunted house as a cover.

Everything about this film is well done.  As I noted the murders are gruesome, they also are well paced and come on continuously throughout.  There are several twists including one I didn’t see coming at the very end.  It also helps that the two vengeful girls are themselves not very sympathetic characters (which we understand more of once we see what happened in the past).  

Each character represents a certain archetype we associate with college girls - popular girls specially.  The two protagonists are a bit more complex.  The nicer one has gone completely mad from losing everything she had.  The more manly one is the more cold blooded (hence the twist at the end).

Good acting helps rivet the viewer to the intriguing plot and the no nonsense gore and violence is a treat for the true horror fan.  Good mix – Well laid out plot, nasty horror fates for the film’s characters.