In 2014 director and writer Bobby Roe brought us The Houses October Built.  The production team includes Steven Schneider, who produced recent classics such as Paranormal Activity, The Devil Inside, and Insidious.  The movie stars Brandy Schaefer, Zack Andrews, Bobby Roe, Jeff Larson, and Mikey Roe.

In Roe’s directorial debut he was able to accomplish a found footage style that doesn’t make the audience queasy, and a plot that is relatable and realistic.

The premise of five friends taking a road trip to find the scariest haunted house in the country is not far-fetched from reality in the least.  How many of us have done the same?  If you didn’t trek across the country many of us have at least tried to find the scariest attraction in our own state.  I know I have!

Along their trip the team films inside these haunted houses and interview the scare actors who bring them to life.  While many of the scares are generic and seen again and again, it’s the interviews that shed a new light onto the scare industry as the friends discover the operations aren’t as kosher as one would believe.

Despite having fun along their road trip, the run of the mill haunted houses aren’t enough to quench Zack’s thirst for a house so scary, it will top any experience anyone has ever had.  His holy grail of haunted attractions is called the Blue Skeleton, but the whispers and rumors of the establishment are difficult to separate.  The location of this haunt also proves difficult as it moves every year.  This haunted attraction is his ultimate goal, but little does he know it may be his demise, as well.

Where this story takes a left turn into horror movie territory is when the gang encounters scare actors who may not be actors at all.  These individuals not only reoccur at many of the houses they visit that are states apart, but they also find them trespassing on the safety of their home away from home, inside their RV.

Despite being thoroughly creeped the hell out by their encounters outside of the attractions the groups continues on under the guidance and enthusiasm of group leader Zack.  Finally they are invited to the haunted attraction that has evaded their grasp as they trekked across the country in search for it.  However, there is good reason why this Halloween attraction is not open to the public, as they will come to learn it is not a haunted attraction at all.

In the long awaited sequel we discover Brandy (Brandy Schaefer) is found alive in the coffin by authorities, and her entire hellish experience has gone viral online.  Dubbed as ‘Coffin Girl’ the video has garnered more than 4 million views since its upload.  In a twist that is all too real in today’s culture the victims turned survivors have become something of celebrities among the horror crowd.  With the promise of “easy money” the only female of the group is roped back into the second round of road tripping with her friends who made the original journey with her with the promise of posing with fans and networking social media to their benefit with their newfound status.

This time instead of the Blue Skeleton being their ultimate goal, it is a haunted attraction called Hell Bent.  However, as they seek out this new attraction to face their fears created by their terrifying experiences they begin to see signs of the Blue Skeleton in their path.  Is this road trip going to act as catharsis and heal their wounds, or open up new ones?  Literally.

RLJ Entertainment is bringing The Houses October Built 2 this autumn on September 22.  Check out the trailer below!