Frightfest London 2025: ‘The Haunted Forest’ Review
Stars: Grayson Gwaze, Cedric Gegel, Kaitlyn Lunardi, Meghan Reed, Jamie Bernadette, Keith Boynton, Mashka Wolfe, Violet Bennett, Ellie Christiansen | Written and Directed by Keith Boynton
A teenager with a keen interest in horror takes up a job as a scare actor at a haunted forest attraction that his cousin runs. He soon becomes friends with his fellow scare actors, but a tragic death leads to more suspicious happenings, and the teenager starts to wonder if he really wants to be involved in the attraction.
There’s been plenty of scare attraction horror movies in the past ten years or so, of varying quality. As well as some interesting documentaries, there’s been plenty of good too, with Hell Fest, The Houses That October Built, Haunt and Hell House. The only issue I have with them is that they kind of go with the same ideas, and the ones that stick out for the better are either just extremely well-made or offer up some fresh ideas to the horror sub-genre. The Haunted Forest seems to actively try not to go down the same route as many others.
It really focuses on the teenager and his life. Zach is played by Grayson Gwaze, and I thought he was a surprisingly good character. You wouldn’t say there was anything special about him, but Gwaze plays him very well and makes him very likeable. Although the movie doesn’t give him a big, sympathetic backstory, you kind of root for him and like him as if they did. His main character trait is that he’s a nice guy, and that is actually enough. I think that’s a testament to both the writing and the acting from inexperienced Gwaze. He is in many of the scenes throughout the whole movie, so it was important that the performance and character are right.
Some horror fans might think that The Haunted Forest is a bit slow. Not much in the way happens (in horror terms, like death scenes) in the first half of the movie, and I wouldn’t even say it makes up for it in the second half of the movie. Unfortunately, pretty much all of the deaths happen off-screen, which is disappointing. Especially when one of the ones that we do see is really entertaining. Of course, this is likely a budget issue to a degree, but I would have liked to have seen a bit more effort.
The writing does go for a bit of a surprise towards the end of the movie, but you will probably see it coming a mile off, and there’s little else in the way of surprises. The only originality here is the focus on character, which – while refreshing – isn’t as entertaining as a full pace slasher movie with all the gore. Not in this case anyway. That’s not to say this is a dud. Director Keith Boynton is experienced, and it shows because the movie is shot well and looks nice. Couple that with the performance from Gwaze and some decent supporting performances, and this is an enjoyable and decent addition to the haunted attraction sub-genre. Just don’t go expecting anything much more than PG horror for the most part.
**½ 2.5/5
The Haunted Forest screened as part of this year’s London Frightfest.
