Hayride to Hell 2024 (Written Review)

 

Hayride to Hell

Cast: Bill Moseley, Kane Hodder. Allyson Malandra

Writers: Kristina Chadwick, Robert Lange

Director: Dan Lantz

When I went into this horror feature,  I was expecting it be a generic story of a man seeking revenge against those that did him wrong.  It would make the victims our protagonists and it would frame our main antagonist as another crazy deformed slasher.  What I liked best about Hayride to Hell is that it’s victims are really the bad guys that we want to see them get disposed of by the killer

Farmer Sam(Bill Moseley) has owned his family’s farm for many years and puts on a fun Halloween event every season.  His farm is in danger of being shut down by a greedy politician Betsy Butte(Allyson Malandra) and other members of the community.  They want to turn his land into a more residential and buisness like area. Farmer Sam is later attacked(and almost killed) by Sherriff Jubel(Kane Hodder) and his deputy Nixler(Graham Wolfe)after perusing some kids for vandalizing his land. Other residents like Karen(Denise McDonald) and her husband Dick(Jared Delaney) believe The Halloween Hayride to be unsafe if kids are being shot at and wants the farm to be shut down.  Sam makes a deal with them that if he can present an all new Hayride that will be fun, safe, and scary.  He can keep the farm, but if it's a failure.   Not only will  he will repay his back taxes and back payments.  He will pack up and leave the farm.

What follows is a fun tale of the poor getting back at the rich.  This is for everyone who has had their rent raised or the cost of their mortgage go up for stupid tax reasons.  The many people who attend the festivities at the Farm love Sam and are not at all scared by him.  The only people who are bothered by him are the ones who are trying to remove him.  During the Hayride, Sam along with the help of his staff will enact their revenge against these greedy individuals.

The cast works very well here and I did enjoy every character on screen.  I love watching the scenes  between Kane Hodder and Bill Moseley.  They have great chemistry with each other and would love to see them team up in another movie.  Even the characters of people you are supposed to hate were fun to watch because they had more range and were not just your average A Hole.  One of Besty Butte’s associates Missy(Melanie Martyn) at one moment looked like she was going to have some common sense and not go along with the group’s plan to sabotage the farm no matter if its successful or not. There could have been some nice elements to build that character and make you feela connection to at least one member but it never goes that way and I wish it would. The other character I liked was Witch Hazel(Marion Mosely).  She is the one stealing money from the tills while working and I could watch another full film of her character conning men out of their money.

The direction and editing of Hayride to Hell is very good.  The movie is at a tight 90 minutes and I was completely engrossed in the story telling for the whole time.   For a small indie production.  It makes damn good use of their budget and the special effects /makeup never looked cheap.  Bring Famer Sam back for another movie because I will watch it.