Honestly, I’ve procrastinated on getting my review of Justin M. Seaman’s The Barn published. Because no one wants to be that guy. The odd man out. The Barn is undoubtedly one of the biggest independent horror hits of 2016, just as my website predicted it would be during our awards ceremony last year. It has screened at nearly 30 film festivals, it has a whole bunch more lined-up and it has been the recipient of numerous awards. It is receiving a limited DVD release through https://www.thebarnmerch.com and people are really talking about it. Of course, I’m happy for Justin’s success here as I know of all the hard work and dedication he’s put into The Barn, including an original soundtrack and Regular Nintento themed video game adaption. So, it pains me to be one of the only reviewers out there who is going to give it a mixed review. Prepare your rotten tomatoes, folks!
The Barn‘s concept is relatively simple and yet it is effective. The film finds itself in the year 1989 and it’s Halloween in a small town with a funny name. High School seniors Sam and Josh are enjoying their last Halloween festivities in town with the help of their closest friends. On the way to a rock concert, the group finds an old barn with a sinister secret and living urban legend locked inside. Unfortunately, they awaken the evil held within and a trio of supernatural slashers begin taking the friends apart one by one. Now it’s up to Sam and Josh to find a way to protect the rest of their friends and send the trio of killers back to the grave they crawled out of. Written and directed by Justin M. Seaman, The Barn stars Mitchell Musolino, Will Stout, Lexi Dripps, Cortland Woodard, Nikki Darling, Nickolaus Joshua, David Hampton, Richard Billock, James Weldon, Jed Giacchino, Hunter Amos and Ryan Nogy.
The film also features performances by legendary scream queen Linnea Quigley (Night of the Demons, Return of the Living Dead, Silent Night/Deadly Night) and actor Ari Lehman, who played young Jason in the original Friday the 13th.
The Barn is the perfect horror time capsule, feeling like a lost gem discovered on the bowls of a Hollywood editing bay while in reality it is a modern day slasher. It fits in so precisely, in mood, look and design, with other films of the year including A Nightmare on Elm Street 5, Clownhouse and Friday the 13th 8 that one could imagine seeing The Barn paired with any of the before mentioned titles at a double screening in movie theaters. I’d like to give Seaman, cinematographer Zane Hershberger, music men Rocky Gray and Jason English, and the entire set design department a major round of applause for accomplishing such a successful product. Many filmmakers and their crews attempt to make homages to the great late slasher flicks of the 80’s, but very few have been as resourceful, entertaining and successful as The Barn. The nostalgia here is what’s getting people talking.
For me, though, and I think this is where other viewers may agree with me, this is where the raving starts. I was looking forward to the old school practical special effects, and while The Barn does have a lot of cool kills, I found most of the violence to be lacking quality. To me, The Barn is an extremely polished, well thought out flick and the quality of special effects just didn’t match the quality of the other departments. The acting was another point of conflict, with some actors turning in much better performances than others. I understand that there needs to be a certain level of cheese in movies like this one, but there were scenes that were too hokey. In terms of pace, The Barn has a fantastic opening, good scenes of character development, and fun kill scenes, but there are a lot of snoozer moments in between that I found myself hitting the fast forward button at times. Cohesiveness and it’s gaps between give and take is harmed my viewing.
Still, The Barn is far from a bomb. As I mentioned, it’s nostalgic value speaks volumes about the content and old school horror fans are going to dig the Hell out of it. It’s got two great horror cameos from stars that you know and love. It’s got a high body count and killers you’ll find yourself loving for some strange reason. It’s a perfect Mischief Night and Halloween flick and it’ll be a movie you can watch with your friends and a couple of beers. I only wish that some parts weren’t A+ while other parts were C. If only it had kept up with itself! Still, I don’t think it’ll be long before The Barn is scooped up by a distributor and put out onto the market in a bigger way. Then you’ll have the opportunity to tell me if you agree or disagree, but either way – you should check out The Barn.
Final Score: 5.75 out of 10.
I had already placed my order for the DVD when this story got shared…honestly it made me worry that I just bought a real “snoozer” lol. Unfortunately this reviewer just didn’t get it, which is a shame. Thankfully I watched this movie (without fast forwarding) and it was wonderful. Everything that I had previously read on other sites seemed to have gotten it right. I wouldn’t call it a perfect 10 film, but I’d say its easily an 8 or 8.5. It definitely deserves a way better rating than a 5.75. Heck, even from what the reviewer here said that he did LIKE doesn’t really make sense for giving such a low rating.