The Top 10 Best Haunt Movies

5. Hell Fest 

If I was a masked killer, I’d probably do exactly what The Other (Stephen Conroy) did in Hell Fest. This is one serial killer who believes in working smarter, not harder. His modus operandi involves keeping all his murderous desires pent up until the one night a year when he can really let his slasher flag wave: Halloween. He simply goes from Halloween event to Halloween event killing people in plain sight and everyone thinks that it’s all just an elaborate act. In 2018, he targeted the traveling horror theme park, Hell Fest. Once inside, he quickly picks his victims and follows them around, picking them off one by one. When the teens wise up to the fact that their friends aren’t pranking them, they try to tell the cops. Unfortunately, the authorities also think that it’s all just a prank. With his hoodie and mask, The Other can disappear into crowds only to appear again just when you’re at your most vulnerable. So, next time you’re at a Haunt, be sure to be nice to the other fright fans in attendance. You never know who might be under the mask.   

4. Fear Inc 

Unlike the other Haunt movies on this list, Fear Inc comes to you. The movie centers around a group that you can hire to tailor-make the ultimate horror experience for you. They’ll put months into planning and do everything from plant actors in your life to even get your friends in on it. At least, that’s what you might think when you hire them. The truth is that they’re so good at creating the illusion that it’s impossible to tell whether it’s all just a game or not. I mean, these guys go deep with it. I’m talking about an enigma wrapped in a mystery, locked in a puzzle box, deep within a conundrum nesting doll. This time their target is the ultimate horror fan, Joe Foster (Lucas Neff) who is determined not to fall for any of Fear Inc’s tricks. Things quickly spiral out of control, and soon Joe is questioning whether the night’s gruesome events are the work of Fear Inc or someone else entirely. It’s a great horror-comedy that will keep you guessing right up till the very end.      

3. Hell House, LLC 

Most Haunt movies follow the patrons of the haunted houses, but Hell House, LLC takes a look behind the scares. I know that the horror genre became oversaturated with found-footage movies after the success of The Blair Witch Project, but Hell House, LLC is actually one of the good ones. The movie actually takes place five years after 15 people died at the titular Hell House attraction. However, the footage it shows supposedly reveals everything that happened up to that tragedy. It even captures part of the fateful night itself. As a new crew of investigative filmmakers try to unravel the truth behind the happenings, it soon becomes clear that something otherworldly had a hand in the deaths that occurred. This is actually only the first entry in a trilogy featuring an incredibly deep story and mythos behind the night. Personally, I think it starts to beat a dead horse a bit in the third movie, but the original is definitely worth a watch.   

2. Blood Fest 

One of the few good things that came out of the Great Quarantine of 2020, was that I became so desperate for entertainment, I started scrounging through every streaming service imaginable for movies I hadn’t seen yet. As luck would have it, I stumbled upon the wonderful horror-comedy Blood Fest. The film is a lot like Hell Fest in that it takes the Haunt idea and really kicks it up a notch by turning it into a full on theme park. The big difference is ,instead of just one masked psycho, Blood Fest is filled with every possible horror trope you can think of from vampires to zombies to maniac clowns. The best part is that they’re all man-made, meaning that the mad “genius” behind the park did things like hire Eastern European women and had a dentist give them fangs and put electrodes in bodies so they could be controlled like a videogame character. It’s totally ridiculous, but with appearances by Zachary Levi and Jacob Batalon, the comedy shines through even during the bloodiest moments, making Blood Fest a personal favorite among haunt movies.      

1. Haunt 

I was legitimately shocked by how good Haunt was when I saw it. Sure, it was a bit of a struggle during the first 10-minutes or so, since it seemed like it was going to be a low-budget straight to video kind of movie, but that all changed once the unsuspecting victims arrived at the Haunt itself. Then again, that’s exactly how the haunted house seemed when they first stepped inside, cheesy, a little fun, but hardly dangerous. That all changed the moment they got too far in to turn back. See, this Haunt is hosted by a slew of psychopaths that worship the idea of Halloween, a time of year when everyone else puts on masks to look like monsters, but they can reveal their true natures. Directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods put in the effort to make the villains in this film terrifying, elevating Haunt to a whole new level as you become legitimately concerned for the people trapped inside. It’s one of the few haunt movies I insist all horror fans take a look at.

Honorable Mention: Something Wicked this Way Comes

Despite not being horror-themed, Mr. Dark’s Pandemonium Carnival does tend to show up a bit later in autumn than your typical carnival. Turns out that’s because the owner is less concerned with rickety rides, botulism infused junk food, and rigged games of “chance,” and more focused on gathering souls for his collection. He’s especially fond of the innocent souls of children, since I guess they’re closer to mint condition or something. Either way, this is one carnival you’re going to want to stay away from. Then again, I feel like the questionable structural integrity of the rides, food-poisoning, and menacing, snickering carnies would be more than enough reasons for me to reconsider setting foot inside this carnival. 

Shout-Out: The Funhouse

So, Tobe Hooper’s The Funhouse doesn’t actually take place on Halloween, and the titular funhouse is only moderately horror themed, but The Funhouse is a classic early 80s slasher flick. It follows a group of stupid teens who decide to spend the night inside the funhouse at a traveling carnival because… Well, because of a mcguffin. It doesn’t really matter why they’re there. What matters is that they soon find themselves being stalked by a Frankenstein mask wearing carnie with a taste for blood. It’s everything that horror fans love about the slasher genre from one of the best horror directors of all time, which is why I had to give it at least an shout-out on this list of haunt movies.

Those are my favorite Haunt movies of all time. As I said, it was tough finding enough films that met the requirements for this list, but if you know a great one I missed, let me know in the comments below. As always, I’ll be updating this list as new Haunt movies pop up mysteriously. So, be sure to check back from time to time in order to see how the rankings might change. In the meantime, watch your back next time you go to a real-life Haunt. Remember, always know where the exits are and take someone with you that you can definitely run faster than in the event that you’re chased by masked psychos.