The Barn Part II
It’s been three years since that night in 1989 when Sam Daniels and Josh Harper vanished, Michelle Fairchild the only survivor of “the barn incident” which prompted “hostile church lady” Sara Barnhart to pressure the town of Helen’s Valley to ban all things trick or treat, but now at college with her friend Heather and part of the Annual Sorority Ball Fundraiser Michelle feels it is time to reclaim the night and despite resistance the pair move forward with preparations for the Gamma Tau Psi Hallowe’en Bash.
The off-campus venue arranged, Michelle bravely opting to host the night in a barn, they arrange it as a funhouse, one way in, one way out, with costumed actors performing the various ghoulish performance pieces; the rules are simple: no turning back, no running and no touching, but cutting through the crowds of eager paying customers are a trio of masked characters familiar to final girl Michelle, and this time they have brought friends.
Writer and director Justin M Seaman having set out a straightforward proposition with The Barn, to make an old school horror movie inspired by Hallowe’en campfire tales supported by practical costumes and effects, to be enjoyed rather than analysed, knockabout fun for those participating in the shoot and watching the finished product, it is little surprise that The Barn Part II never strays within those boundaries despite the circumstances within.
With Lexi Dripps, Mitchell Musolino, Will Stout, Linnea Quigley and Ari Lehman reprising their roles from the original, joined by a plethora of faces and voices familiar to horror audiences, among them Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman and Hellraiser’s Doug Bradley, even before the titles roll the opening scene of boy scouts toasting marshmallows over their campfire segues to stabbing, burn scars and scalping, a taste of what is to come.
The kills frequent, bloody and often silly, the plot is often secondary to the action but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t one, though with the focus more on the gore The Barn Part II is somewhat fragmentary, the pacing and flow sometimes suffering as the shenanigans are unleashed but the cast are game for anything that is thrown at them in the name of “workplace incidents.”
Cutting corners necessary and acceptable on the low budget Seaman has to work with, largely crowdfunded, while there are establishing shots of large numbers most of the work takes place with much fewer bodies on screen to expedite shooting and keep overhead costs down, but what is important has been captured in the can and put on screen, monsters, mayhem and the spirit of the season and “damage our young innocent minds.”
The Barn Part II is available via the Scream Team releasing website
