Haunted Trail (2021)

(On TV, January 2022) It’s possible for a film to be unusual without being original, and if Haunted Trail claims its distinction by featuring a nearly-all-black cast in a classic slasher formula, the film itself quickly becomes tedious once you get over the racial distinction. The thin plot has to do with a bunch of college “friends” heading over to a haunted trail, then being ironically killed one by one, as the fake horrors of the trail end up being all too fatal. A too-large ensemble cast is designed for gradual whittling, not helped along by some rather unremarkable acting even from attractive leads. Where the film works is in its effective cinematography on what is reportedly a low budget: even from the first few moments, there are some slick visuals here that help create the foreboding atmosphere that is a strict minimum for such horror films. But watch out, because these images don’t necessarily cohere into a sustained suspense film: hampered by its low budget, Haunted Trail struggles with effective staging or editing, the nice shots seldom coming together into an absorbing whole. Some terrible screenwriting isn’t forgiven by a semi-comedic tone that isn’t sustained by the film’s conclusion or even much of its duration. Suffice to say that even as black comedians will dismiss dumb white characters in slasher movies (as mentioned in the film!), these specific characters don’t do any better. Indeed, by the time one decides to go back because of a missing earring, you either choose to believe it’s a joke… or fume at how stupid this is getting. A conclusion meant to be shocking merely peters out in a lame motive and slap-dash coda that ignores the number of consequences about to fall on the escaping murderer. I wanted Haunted Trail to be fun and entertaining—I have a huge soft spot for low-budget black-cast movies broadcast on BET, wanted to see what director Robin Givens could do with a horror film, and some of the actresses look terrific. But even a truckload of indulgence (and, to be fair, a few laughs) is not enough to save Haunted Trail from its inherent problems. Come on, filmmakers—do better than this.