The Barn
by Justin M. Seaman
Every town has these legends of haunted houses and local monsters. Here in my little town in Georgia we had Glow House and tales of the lizard man. Tales that are whispered and shared throughout high school and beyond. The Barn is one of those tales.
Three demons haunt this desolate barn in the middle of a small farming community. Knock three times while saying Trick or Treat to awaken them. The Boogeyman, Hallowed Jack, and The Candy Corn Scarecrow will come to feast on your flesh as their treats on Devil's Night.
The Barn takes place on Halloween 1989. Sam and Josh are looking to have one last night of fun before they graduate high school. Along with some of their friends they head out to go see their favorite band, Demon Inferno, play a Halloween show. On the way to the concert they take a detour through a small farming community. They discover the barn and knock hoping for a treat. What they unleash is a blood bath of tricks this Halloween will not forget.
The Barn is a low budget, Indiegogo funded film that oozes that Troma feel. It's supposed to be set in 1989, but aside from some very forced slang and questionable fashion, this could be any time period. They do use a "VHS" type filter over the movie to give it a film grain and they added cigarette burns to the corners of the screen. This just distracts and I caught myself groaning every time they showed up. I'm not saying it made the film unwatchable it was just kind of annoying.
The acting isn't bad. Sam and Josh are likable. The death fodder… uh, I mean, their friends… aren't bad. We get a couple of cameos from horror icons, Linnea Quigley and Ari Lehman. They are always a big treat. Linnea Quigley is one of my heroes and I would love it if Ari Lehman would do a show like the one in the movie. I would totally watch it!
The effects are really good. I'm not surprised however, there were five different effects houses listed in the credits. I'm really glad that the CGI was minimal and the three demons were mostly practical, even if The Boogeyman did kinda look like a party city latex mask. The Candy Corn Scarecrow was really goofy. I mean, he actually had a laugh like Goofy; I was expecting him to say "Gawrsh!" Hallowed Jack was my favorite, the flames in his eyes were outstanding. I really love pumpkin headed monsters as they're super creepy to me. The kills were top notch and this is where the comparison to Troma shines through. A lot of head squishes and eye gouges. It was a gore fest! And I love a movie that isn't afraid to kill children.
The Barn didn't really tug at my nostalgia like I had hoped it would. I sort of wish it would have just taken place in modern day times. The few things that this movie got right they nailed. The things they got wrong aren't bad enough to take away from the bloody fun. I think this will have to be a new addition to my own annual Halloween Hootenanny.
Robin Thompson, HMS