{Fright Fest 2025} The Haunted Forest Brings Slashers, Synths, and Some Tropes

FrightFest is always good for a world premiere or two that sneak in under the radar, and this year Keith Boynton’s The Haunted Forest showed up looking like a proper slasher throwback. With its 93-minute runtime, a synth-heavy score, and a setting that feels ripped out of the late 90s, the film embraces its budget limitations and leans hard into atmosphere. The result isn’t perfect, but it is the kind of messy fun genre fans will find themselves grinning through more often than not.

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The setup is almost too good to resist. Zach (Grayson Gwaze), a horror-obsessed high schooler who’d rather sketch gory comic book panels than do algebra, gets a dream gig at his cousin’s “haunted forest” attraction. It’s a local legend, the kind of Halloween destination you wish your town had growing up. There’s a makeup artist love interest (Kaitlyn Lunardi as Sarah), a veteran worker with more backstory than he lets on, and a sinister vibe lurking in the woods. When bodies start dropping, Zach is forced to realize that his beloved horror tropes might be a little less fun in practice.

Visually, the movie punches above its weight. The attraction setting is pitch-perfect for a slasher, full of fog machines, creaky set pieces, and twisted carnival lighting. It’s the sort of space that makes you want to walk through it slowly with a flashlight just to see what jumps out. For a film clearly working within budget restraints, it absolutely looks like a horror movie—which, believe it or not, is the first and sometimes hardest hurdle.

Performance-wise, the lead is sharp and engaging. Gwaze sells Zach’s transformation from wide-eyed fanboy to panicked survivor. The supporting cast, including Cedric Gegel and Meghan Reed, give just enough personality to their roles before the inevitable happens. The characters aren’t revolutionary, but they’re fun company for the ride.

Where The Haunted Forest stumbles is in its attempt to layer in deeper meaning. The boarding school backdrop mashed with the haunted attraction makes for an odd but intriguing juxtaposition. It’s a little cliché, sure, but it mostly works. The bigger problem comes with the film’s use of the “Indian burial ground” trope. To its credit, there are moments where it feels like the filmmakers are self-aware, even brushing against land recognition ideas in an almost satirical way. But that awareness doesn’t fully land, leaving the film’s tone uneven. It wants to acknowledge the problematic nature of the trope while still milking it for scares, which results in something that feels more clumsy than clever.

Tonally, the 90s aesthetic is where the movie shines. The synth-driven score and lo-fi vibe give it the energy of an old VHS rental you’d stumble on at a sleepover. There’s something refreshing about a movie that doesn’t pretend to be slick or modern, instead choosing to wrap itself in the comfort of retro horror.

As for the horror itself? The kills are solid, if not groundbreaking, and the forest provides a strong stage for the carnage. The big twist, unfortunately, veers into the silly side of things. It’s not enough to derail the movie, but it’s one of those moments where you’ll either chuckle in delight or roll your eyes hard enough to see your own brain. The ending doesn’t do the film many favors either. The shift into a confusing POV perspective undercuts the tension and leaves some of the cooler ideas unexplored. Instead of a knockout finale, the movie quietly shrugs and wanders off into the mist.

Even with its flaws, The Haunted Forest has charm. It understands horror fans well enough to play the hits, even if it occasionally stumbles trying to remix them. Boynton directs with an eye for atmosphere, and the cast is clearly having fun with the material. While the burial ground/cult subplot is messy and the ending may frustrate, the film still delivers the thing most festival-goers want: a horror movie that looks, feels, and bleeds like a horror movie.

It may not be a future classic, but it’s the kind of title you could imagine popping up on late-night cable in a few years, earning cult status with audiences who stumble across it by accident. The Haunted Forest looks great, moves fast, and scratches the slasher itch, even if it can’t quite outrun some dated tropes and a wobbly ending. Call it a fun, flawed ride through the woods that horror fans will be glad they took.