HARLOW’S HAUNT *** USA 2022 Dir: Terry Jarrell. 104 mins
HARLOW’S HAUNT may seem like your usual ‘folk go to a haunted attraction with horrifying results’ type of horror film but this one is a bit different and you will need to pay attention to clues along the way.
The film opens with a sequence set in the past as we meet Eldora Bolverkr (Crystal Lynn Gorski) and her son Arioch Bolverkr (Colton Langmaack) who are out in the dark walking to seek shelter for the night. They finally come across the place they seek to stay with a man named Harlow Greer (John Dugan) who is a former reverend. He lets them stay the night but perhaps they judged his hospitable nature a bit too quickly. We then jump ahead in time and meet 5 friends who are looking to have a good time and soon set off to a haunted attraction where past events may come back to haunt them.
I won’t go any further into the film as there is some nice twists that you need to see and I wouldn’t want to spoil that for anyone. Though I will say that researching this film the story is loosely based on actual tales and folklore from the untamed backwoods of the heart of Florida dating back decades and even centuries. The shooting locations for HARLOW’S HAUNT are all in Florida so this adds a nice bit of realism to the film and the haunted attraction in the film is a real one called Sir Henry’s Haunted Trail in Plant City, Florida.
HARLOW’S HAUNT features John Dugan who most horror fans will know played Grandpa Sawyer in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013). This is the first film I have seen John in having a meaty role with dialogue so it was nice to see him getting his acting chops on further then when he played Grandpa Sawyer.
Apart from John the majority of the cast are pretty new to filmmaking and at times it does show but even though they may not be highly polished they do show that they have something to bring to the acting world.
I did find that sometimes the music was louder then the dialogue so a few times I had to go back a few scenes to listen out for what the cast were saying. One gripe that a lot of films and not just indie films get is the film length and unfortunately HARLOW’S HAUNT does suffer in that aspect as there is a lot of dialogue to get through before you get to the haunted attraction where things really kick off. Visually there isn’t much to write home about but this is mostly focused on the dialogue which you do have to pay attention to for clues. There are plans in place for a sequel so consider this first film the establishment of characters where hopefully we get more in to horror territory in the following film.
Like any film HARLOW’S HAUNT won’t be for everyone but for those who understand making films on a budget will enjoy what is on offer.
HARLOW’S HAUNT has gone onto play at several film festivals and won awards such as Best Horror Film, Best Poster and Best Indie Feature which for a first time feature film Director such as Terry Jarrell must have come as quite a nice surprise.
Review by Peter ‘Witchfinder‘ Hopkins
Harlow’s Haunt is coming out soon from BayView Entertainment