With social media as it is, it’s hard to not hear about movies, especially if you are a horror nut like myself. So as I was scrolling through my movie options last night I came across The Hoot Owl. I haven’t heard a word about this movie, but the trailer looked decent enough, so I took a chance and rented it.
The Hoot Owl follows the story of a young couple, April and Scott, who along with her sister Suzy and another friend Drew, all head out to the Texas countryside to check out April and Scott’s recently purchased house that is definitely a fixer upper. Left supposedly abandoned with full furnishings, they decide to go have some fun and check out their mysterious buy. Throughout the first hour or so, you get some POV shots of someone, or something, looking at the indoor activities of these new homeowners. We are even treated to not one but two musical montages, which are kinda tough to sit through.
The Hoot Owl has A LOT of issues, but the one thing I will say is when the kills start, that is where this movie shines. For such a low budget horror flick, this has some AMAZING gore FX. Unfortunately, you have to sit through the first hour to get to the good stuff. The acting is adequate and the location is beautiful, but the script is really the weak part of the movie. It was hard for me not to grab my remote and fast forward through the boring parts. To be honest, the gore is great, but it’s not worth sitting through the other hour of this movie.
The Hoot Owl is directed and written by Jason Rader and Jason Von Godi — both first timers. I would like to see what is up next for them because you can tell a lot of love went into this movie; It just doesn’t work for me. I rented it though YouTube, but I am sure it is available else where if you are so inclined. GRADE: D-
