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Posted in: Movies, Review | Tagged: Linda Blair, Robert Englund, Spooktacular, Spooky World, Tom Savini
Spooktacular! Is A Love Letter To A Horror Icon {Review}
Spooktacular! is a wonderfully made documentary on a horror icon that needs to be remembered forever. Were you ever able to go yourself?
Spooktacular! is a wonderfully made documentary on a horror icon that a certain generation holds dear and the industry as a whole owes a great debt to. Even if you never visited the park or had no idea it existed in the first place, the film sucks you in and gets you rooting for the town and the people who were involved with running it, even though you know the story is not going to go their way. That is the best type of documentary, and this is one every horror fan needs to add to their list this fall.
Spooktacular! Is Heart-Warming
The haunted house industry pulls in billions of dollars a year, and it has Spooky World to thank for it. Founded in 1991 to be the world's first horror theme park, it featured haunted houses, sideshow attractions, all sorts of celebrity guests, a museum, and their main attraction, a haunted hayride. A staple of Berlin, Massachusetts, the park employed most of the town for well over a decade and caused traffic jams for miles. Horror icon Tom Savini (a producer of this film) designed one of the haunted houses and signed autographs. He was joined by other horror icons like Kane Hodder, Robert Englund, and Linda Blair. Bands performed on a stage, including Tiny Tim, for several years. It was the Disney World of spookiness.
But outside forces would undo Spooky World like most things where not everyone is getting their piece of the pie. The film does not mince words and blames the closure of the beloved attractions on corrupt governments and officials who decided they wouldn't let it continue without getting their cut. Before all that sadness, though, Spooktacular! makes you fall in love with this town and its people. Most of them were scare actors in the attractions, and the stories they tell make this experience sound like the most fun time you could ever have. It clearly touched a lot of people, and director Quinn Monahan does a great job presenting their stories with real class and reverence.
There are a lot of stories to cover, so not everything is given the ample time one would have wanted. More time spent on the artifacts in the horror museum on the grounds would have been cool, and maybe a bit more on the processes over the years on what went into the effects in the houses and on the hayride would have ruled. Still, some of that can be chalked up to the footage and pictures from back then just being lost to time. The amount of footage they do have in the film is surprising to begin with. It is also hilarious that it seems like some of the celebrity stories seemed to be filmed in their cars on their phones, but that is not a detriment; it actually adds to the charm.
This was an important horror artifact that needed to be discussed in long form, and this film is the perfect time capsule for all of us who enjoy the genre. This was a precursor to so much of the industry we love now, from Halloween Horror Nights at Universal to celebrity conventions, all the way to the local hayrides you may attend each year. Do yourself a favor and seek out Spooktacular! this year and dream that you could return to visit in its heyday.
Spooktacular!
8/10
Spooktacular! is a wonderfully made love letter to one of horror's most important icons. Even if you have no idea what Spooky World is, you owe it to yourself to watch and learn.
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