CREDIT: IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT/RLJ ENTERTAINMENT/ROOM 1001 AND FOREBODING FILMS/IMDB.COM
If you had great expectations for The Houses October Built 2, you may be disappointed by the overall outcome of this film. Stick to the original one for more thrills and chills.

If a late night thrill is what you are looking for, then the newly released “horror” film, The Houses October Built 2, directed by Bobby Roe, is definitely not it. This lack lustre sequel is the farthest thing from scary and is only mildly entertaining at best. While we are taken through some pretty neat and extravagant horror attraction setups, The Houses October Built 2 just didn't live up to expectations.

Following suit from the first film, five friends who are still recovering from the trauma of being kidnapped last Halloween, decide they must face their fears no matter how terrifying the Blue Skeleton (a mysterious group of people who take Halloween attractions to an extreme level) was. In order to move on with their lives, these friends head back on the road to experience more of America's haunted and scariest attractions. However, during their travels, signs of the Blue Skeleton start to appear and new terror begins.

While it was super interesting to see some of these well put together attractions, including hayrides, haunted houses and even escape rooms, they were not frightening to watch as a viewer. I would imagine it would be terrifying to experience them first hand, but watching a mock escape room is about as scary as watching paint dry.

Through these attractions, we start to see some glimpses of the Blue Skeleton; the screen gets a blueish tint, the music gets dark and we may even see a reflection of a group member's mask. Besides that, the film doesn't do a great job of building up the suspense, rather it feels flatlined throughout the entire film.

One of the best aspects of the film was definitely the musical score. The music, lead by Steve Yeaman, was definitely what gave the movie a heartbeat. From the ultra-creepy prelude, to the wicked techno beats during a horror festival, it was probably one of the only things that kept me entertained throughout the movie. However, even the great musical score couldn't even save The Houses October Built 2's “climax”.

Once the group of friends finally reach one of the supposed scariest destinations, Hellbent, the movie started to feel a little tense. The film finally started to evoke some sort of emotion (an hour and twenty minutes later). We began to see familiar creepers from the first film and an eerie setting was definitely created, but then the film just dropped the ball on creating a really good ending. It tried to create a big plot twist which was unsuccessful and quite frankly, probably killed the possibility of a great franchise.

The Houses October Built 2 may have done a better job with the filmography and sound then the first film, but lost its raw and scary feel that the first film did such a good job at. If you are looking for a good scary movie I would probably skip this one and stick to the original if you haven't already seen it. However, if you have an hour and forty-two minutes to kill, The Houses October Built 2 at least gives you a neat inside look at some of America's scariest attractions.