The Haunted Forest

2025

Action / Horror

4
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 80%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 80%
IMDb Rating 3.7/10 10 215 215

high school halloween cult forest horror

Plot summary

Zach, a high school senior, lands his first job as a scare actor at Markoff's Haunted Forest. He makes friends with the band of misfits who operate the Halloween attraction, but after one of them dies tragically on the grounds he begins to question his fascination with death and the macabre.

Director

Keith Boynton Photo
Keith Boynton

Top cast

Jamie Bernadette Photo
Jamie Bernadette as Susie
Cedric Gegel Photo
Cedric Gegel as Mark
Keith Boynton Photo
Keith Boynton as Jacko
Natalie Veater Photo
Natalie Veater as Janice
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB 1080p.WEB
856.02 MB
1280*534
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 33 min
Seeds 29
1.72 GB
1920*800
English 5.1
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 33 min
Seeds 33
1.55 GB
1920*800
English 5.1
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 33 min
Seeds 11

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by paul_m_haakonsen 4 / 10

Watchable, but bland...

Given my love of all things horror, of course I needed no persuasion to sit down and watch this 2025 movie titled "The Haunted Forest", as I had the opportunity to do so.I only knew whatever little information about the movie as was provided by the synopsis. So I wasn't exactly sure what I was in for here, and thus didn't really have any grand expectations.The storyline in "The Haunted Forest", as written by Keith Boynton, was pretty generic and fell a bit short of entertaining me. Sure, it was watchable, but having sat through 40+ years of horror movies, then this just wasn't outstanding. I sat with a sense of 'when is the movie going to kick into a proper gear?' throughout the course of the movie.There wasn't a single familiar face on the cast list for me. And that was a good thing, because I do enjoy watching new and unfamiliar talents on the screen. The acting performances in "The Haunted Forest" were good.The effects in the movie were okay, though it was not a movie that really made use of a whole lot of special effects.Watchable for what it was, but hardly a noteworthy milestone in horror cinema. I am sure that newcomers to the horror genre will enjoy it more than me.My rating of writer and director Keith Boynton's 2025 movie "The Haunted Forest" lands on a four out of ten stars.
Reviewed by rodgere 5 / 10

Great setting and a promising lead, but loses its way in the woods

I really wanted to love this one. The premise is solid-setting a slasher inside a real haunted attraction (Markoff's Haunted Forest) gave it an authentic, gritty atmosphere that a lot of indie horrors lack. For the first half, it does a great job building that specific "haunt life" camaraderie and the creeping dread that something is going wrong behind the scenes.The absolute standout here is Grayson Gwaze as Zach. He's a genuinely promising actor who managed to keep the character grounded even when the script started to wobble. He has a natural charisma that makes you root for him, and he carried the "horror-obsessed outcast" trope better than most.Unfortunately, the movie completely falls apart in the third act. Without spoiling too much, the shift in tone is jarring, and the characters start making decisions that just don't make sense. It felt like the writers didn't know how to wrap up the mystery, so they just opted for chaos that left me more confused than scared.It's a 5/10 for me-points for the cool location and for introducing me to Gwaze, but the messy ending kills the re-watch value.
Reviewed by RobotBearUprising 4 / 10

Don't be fooled by the title

This is a drama masquerading as a horror. It started off ok I guess, but it got really boring, as it is after all a drama and not a real horror. I think the most scary thing about the movie is it will probably bore you to death. That's about it. The acting is pretty ok, and cinematography is good too. It did not come across as cheaply made. But I cannot really point out anything spectacular about it.
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