[FrightFest 2025] FILM REVIEW: The Haunted Forest

The Haunted Forest - FrightFest World Premiere Review

Director: Keith Boynton

Starring: Grayson Gwaze, Cedric Gegel, Kaitlyn Lunardi, Meghan Reed

Written by: Keith Boynton

Produced by: Cassie d'Agostino Mashka Wolfe

Cinematography by: Aitor Mendilibar

Original Score by: William Clarke

Synopsis:

A high school senior who lands his first job was a scare actor at Markoff's Haunted Forest. But after one of his colleagues dies tragically on the grounds he begins to question his fascination with death and the macabre.

Thoughts:

I often think that horror films set within the confines of a scare maze usually don't work because they tend to focus on the maze itself and forget about story. 'The Haunted Forest' does focus on its story, which is intriguing and engaging, but its revelation is very flimsy which brings the film down overall.

Grayson Gwaze stars as Zach, a high school senior and aspiring comic book artist who leans in heavy on the horror art. He's just been hired by his cousin Mark as a scare actor at his infamous scare maze. The film begins weeks out from Halloween so Zach has to get caught up to speed pretty quickly. Zach hasn't seen Mark and his family in quite some time but he is welcomed in with open arms and told by Mark's wife Susie that he can stay anytime he wants.

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Most of the first half of the film is Zach intergrating himself in with the team and becoming friends with longtime scarer Jacko (played by Writer/Director Keith Boynton) and make-up queen Sarah, who catches Zach's eye immediately. And in the second half of the film really terrible things start to happen. A visitor is injured badly when a real chainsaw is used during part of the maze. And then Jacko's lifeless body is found one morning hanging from the zip line. Despite these horrendous incidents, Mark is keen to keep the attraction open which understandably doesn't sit well with Zach. But who is behind all this? Is it just a coincidence or is it sabotage?

There's a tease early on that a rival scare maze have been trying to bring down Markoff's Haunted Forest for some time now and I really liked that idea. Zach witnesses Mark arguing with a strange man, who is revealed to be a former digruntled worker who got sacked a while ago and then began working with this rival scare maze. All this added some really interesting backstory to the premise. Sarah also adds some very intriguing lore when she reveals to Zach that she and a small number of the team are part of a group that pays homage to the sacred dead of Native Americans that were once sacrificed on these lands. I wish this would have been explored further throughout the film.

It's a well written script for the most part and al the cast are really good. I found out afterwards that the Markoff Haunted Forest is a real scare maze somehwere in Dickerson, Maryland USA and that definitely adds alot to the film because the sets don't look super cheap or repurposed. There's very little scares or tension until after Jacko's death and some VIP's are invited to give the maze a run through. There's a bit of a commentary on the fascination with death and how social media influencers capitalise on anything, no matter how morbid or inappropriate it may be.

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The final sequence is good old fashioned gory fun. Lots of blood and death. And the inevitable big reveal. Not sure how convincing it is. It felt paper thin and maybe if we had more focus setting that up the reveal would've felt more satisfying,. It wasn't bad just a little lacklustre. And some of the characters (I'm trying not to spoil anything here) behave in really unbelievable ways. They choose murder and chaos instead of just running for safety. I dunno, maybe some scenes were cut that would back up their decision to just straight up murder people.

I think some people will be disappointed by the lack of scares and horror as there's a long stretch of the film dedicated to getting to know the characters and location but I had fun with it. It's set at Halloween and it does feel like Boynton could've leaned heavier into the Halloween spirit a bit more just to heighten the overall atmosphere.

Verdict: ⭐️⭐️½

-Gavin Logan

'The Haunted Forest' received its World Premiere at FrightFest '25 on August 23rd