A House of Horrors with No Plumbing (or Plot)
There’s a certain bravery in making a sequel to a found-footage horror movie that already looked like it was filmed on a potato. The Houses October Built 2 (2017) is that kind of brave — the cinematic equivalent of sticking your hand back into the blender because you’re pretty sure it’s off this time.
Directed by Bobby Roe (who also stars, because apparently no one else volunteered), this follow-up to the 2014 cult-ish hit attempts to pick up the shredded remains of its predecessor. The gang — Brandy, Bobby, Zack, Mikey, and Jeff — are still traumatized from being kidnapped by the mysterious “Blue Skeleton” group. So naturally, the best way to cope with their PTSD is to… go on another haunted house road trip.
It’s like watching someone get bitten by a shark and immediately book another beach vacation.
Plot? More Like Haunted Tourism
If you’ve ever wanted to watch people film themselves visiting Spirit Halloween pop-ups for 100 minutes, congratulations: this is your Citizen Kane. The film’s “story” (a term I use loosely) follows our gang as they drive across America to visit haunted attractions, film YouTube-worthy reactions, and argue about whether trauma is cured by cash.
Brandy, the sole survivor with a working frontal lobe, initially refuses to go. She’s still haunted by last year’s kidnapping — a reasonable stance, given the “torture and burial alive” thing. But the boys, in a display of cinematic stupidity that deserves a Darwin Award, convince her to join in exchange for money. Because nothing says emotional healing like monetizing your mental breakdown.
Their journey takes them through a series of haunts — zombie hayrides, redneck horror trails, and questionable southern accents — as clues keep popping up urging them to “Seek Out Hellbent,” a secret extreme haunt. That’s right: The Houses October Built 2 is basically a cross-country scavenger hunt for bad decisions.
Found Footage, Lost Interest
Found-footage horror can be thrilling when done right (Blair Witch Project, Creep), but when done wrong, it’s like being forced to watch someone’s vacation slideshow while they scream intermittently. This movie leans hard into the latter.
The first film at least had a sense of novelty — an exploration of real-life haunted house culture blended with horror fiction. The sequel, however, mistakes repetition for tension. Every scene is handheld, every line of dialogue improvised to death, and every jump scare as predictable as an unpaid parking ticket.
The “documentary” style here doesn’t immerse you; it just makes you dizzy. There’s more shaky cam than a toddler’s TikTok, and the editing rhythm could best be described as “traumatic concussion.” By the time we reach the actual haunt, the camera might as well be filming from inside a washing machine.
The Cast: Victims of the Script (and Maybe Friendship)
The returning cast seems less like actors and more like a group of friends who lost a bet. Bobby Roe (the director) and Zack Andrews (co-writer) play versions of themselves — bros with GoPros — while Brandy Schaefer does the heavy emotional lifting as the film’s reluctant final girl. She’s actually good here, which only highlights how bad everything else is.
Schaefer’s Brandy is the lone island of credibility in a sea of cringe. You can see her trying to sell the trauma, to give the movie some weight — and then one of her male co-stars shouts, “Dude, this haunt is insane!” and the spell breaks.
There’s a bizarre meta quality to their performances, as if they’re half-aware that they’re in a movie no one will believe. It’s Blair Witch 2 meets Jackass — except with more screaming and fewer laughs.
The Horror That Was Promised (and Never Delivered)
For a film about “extreme haunts,” the scares in The Houses October Built 2 are about as intense as a Spirit Halloween mannequin with dying batteries. The buildup promises depravity — an underground attraction so terrifying it’s practically illegal — but the execution feels like an escape room designed by interns.
By the time our heroes are chloroformed (again), dragged to the mysterious “Hellbent” haunt, and subjected to a montage of violence, the tension has evaporated. It’s a sequel that mistakes volume for terror. The first film’s ending left audiences gasping; this one leaves them checking their phones.
Brandy is forced to watch her friends die — one burned, one bludgeoned, one chainsawed — only for the grand twist to reveal that it was all a prank. That’s right. The torture, the fear, the trauma — all faked for viral content.
Because nothing says “great horror writing” like turning your finale into a YouTube prank video.
The Twist That Breaks the Brain
Let’s talk about that ending. The “Blue Skeleton” group — those terrifying masked figures from the first film — are now apparently working with the victims to help them “go viral.” When Brandy seemingly shoots herself in despair, it’s revealed to be fake — part of an elaborate, idiotic marketing stunt engineered by her “friends.”
You could almost admire the audacity, if it weren’t so mind-numbingly stupid. It’s like Saw meets Punk’d. The idea that this traumatized woman would be gaslit into re-living her abduction for clout is so implausible it borders on parody.
And yet, the movie plays it straight — as if this was some grand commentary on social media, when it’s really just narrative malpractice. By the time the final shot rolls — a masked man rearranging a road sign to spell “The Blue Skeleton” — you’ll be rooting for him to kill everyone involved in pre-production.
The Real Monster: Franchise Fatigue
The Houses October Built 2 is the kind of sequel that exists because the first film made just enough money to justify a second — not because anyone had a story to tell. It’s the cinematic equivalent of leftover Halloween candy: stale, overhandled, and vaguely sticky.
Director Bobby Roe tries to replicate the first film’s grassroots charm, but ends up proving that lightning doesn’t strike twice — especially when you keep filming the same damn storm. The once-intriguing concept of haunted house tourism now feels like a travel vlog with occasional fake blood.
Even the scares feel automated — like animatronics jerking into motion at the exact moment you’ve stopped caring.
A Sequel Dying to Be Buried Alive
There’s a certain irony in how the Houses October Built franchise began with the idea of facing your fears, only for the sequel to become a fear in itself — the fear of enduring another found-footage slog pretending to be meta horror.
The original movie ended with a literal burial alive. This one ends with something worse: the resurrection of a franchise that refuses to die, even though it probably should.
If The Houses October Built was a haunted house, The Houses October Built 2 is the long, awkward gift shop exit — overpriced, unnecessary, and somehow lasting longer than the fun part.
Final Thoughts: A Trick, Not a Treat
There’s a thin line between low-budget creativity and low-effort recycling, and this sequel trips over it, falls down a hill, and accidentally films the whole thing. It’s not scary, not clever, and not even bad in an entertaining way — it’s just… there, like a stale candy corn at the bottom of your trick-or-treat bag.
If the first film was a haunted attraction, this one’s the empty parking lot afterward.
So if you’re looking for terror, tension, or even coherence — seek out anything else.
Final Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
(One out of five Blue Skeleton masks — a sequel so unnecessary, even the ghosts of the first film would rather haunt something else.)
