Konterr Brilliant and touching

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Freeman This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

trashgang Haunts is one of those flicks that is hunted down by true collectors for so many reasons. First of all, it has a few famous Thespians in it that were on their downfall back then. On the other hand the director was Herb Freed who directed Graduation Day, a well known horror for the geeks. But also this flick, Haunts, never had a proper release so far. It's only available on US VHS up to this writing and I guess it will never be released on DVD because it's a bit outdated and had nothing to offer.The only acting that could convince me was that of May Britt (Ingrid). It was her last flick she performed in. We also have Cameron Mitchell (Carl) be he couldn't convince me, not even in the final scene before the mirror. It's sad to see what he did before as an actor and I couldn't care about him here. Further we have Aldo Ray (Sheriff) but what he did here was really bad, he just said his lines without emotions. Coming from movies like The Green Berets (1968 with John Wayne) is is really a downfall. Luckily some names went further to become bigger like Ben Hammer (Vicar) who played for example the father of The Beastmaster (1982) and is still performing. William Gray Espy (Frankie) stopped acting in 1985 and only appeared in series.It's made just before the heydays of the slashers and maybe that's the reason why it flopped. Nothing is creepy or scary there is even no red stuff to mention in it. It's more a psychological drama with a twist. Everybody in a small town do has his dirty secrets. It's also weird to see May Britt walking around a lot in her nudies but doesn't show anything. The rape scene's are tame and the stabbing isn't convincing at all. Still, it's one to collect due the actors in it and the name of the director. Easy to catch on VHS with different covers, none of them pictures on it shown in the movie.Gore 0/5 Nudity 1/5 Effects 1/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

bkoganbing Although May Britt, Cameron Mitchell, and Aldo Ray have all seen better days before doing Haunts, the film was a bit better than I was expecting.Haunts has May cast as a sexually repressed farm girl who has a lot of old memories revived when some women start being raped and killed in her vicinity. Cameron Mitchell is her uncle who has come to stay with her and Aldo Ray is the sheriff investigating the killings.No unearthly type demons or creatures are doing these things, they're just the product of some sexually frustrated men. For a while it's starting to look like everybody in this vicinity has some issues.The ending of Haunts is rather offbeat and I will add my voice to those who say it is like a Stephen King novel. Let's say the reason for May's problems and the killer are not one and the same.

Scarecrow-88 Herb Freed(Graduation Day;Beyond Evil)directs this psychological melodrama(..with elements of a slasher) regarding the effects on a small town, and especially troubled Ingrid(May Britt), as a sexual predator stalks vulnerable women at night with a pair of scissors after raping them. Ingrid is *haunted* by memories from childhood regarding finding her mother dead in a bathtub and possible sexual abuse at the hands of "reliable" Uncle Carl(Cameron Mitchell, whose role is minor until the enigmatic ending where he supposedly returns to Ingrid's home where memories of his own resurface after being away for a while). It seems that Ingrid is being stalked by the town stud, Frankie(William Gray Espy), who even rapes her in her own bedroom, holding scissors to her throat. Ingrid is a deeply devout Catholic who is suffering hallucinations thanks to her past(..blood is a constant)and seems incredibly uncomfortable around men. Husky voiced, alcoholic sheriff(Aldo Ray)is truly puzzled about the attacks plaguing his once quiet, sleepy little town, and is quite concerned for his citizens, innocent women who might venture out at night alone. Trying to sober up, the sheriff will attempt to find the killer, keeping his deputies on alert, watching the country roads and neighborhood streets at night, hoping to catch him in the act. Meanwhile, Ingrid battles with her conscience and religious convictions after being raped. The film also subtly hints at the idea that her mysterious Uncle Carl might be the one responsible for the attacks. Also, a mannerly, soft-spoken stranger from Baltimore, Bill Spry(Robert Hippard)enters town hoping to date Ingrid, who seems little interested in making relations with any man.Director Freed and collaborative writer Anne Marisse craft a very tricky tale here which takes it's time building the attacks around Ingrid's story. The attacks themselves really are the Macguffen as the film centers around Ingrid, and serve to actually heighten her trauma. Through the surrounding attacks in town, Ingrid, slightly stable on a slender thread, goes off the deep end with the scissor-murders influencing her hostile fantasies. The film seems to have three endings. The police cornering the sexual sadist in a saw mill. Ingrid's confrontation with Frankie as a bound Carl tries to free himself. And, Ingrid's fate and the reactions from the sheriff and Carl relating the truth to the viewer. Freed doesn't hurry himself and the film takes it's time developing so it might can become tedious for some viewers(..such as choir practice and a bar conversation between Spry and a local gal-pal of Ingrid's who is a potential victim). I think one might also find the last thirty minutes tiresome due to the complexities of Ingrid and what is real and imagined. I found it worthwhile and thought Britt's performance was a stunner. The score from Pino Donaggio really adds quality to the tragedy ever so present throughout the film. Freed does an exceptional job incorporating Ingrid's memories within her life at the present, with Donaggio's somber music adding the right touch at reflecting her deteriorating mental state.

BloodTheTelepathicDog Those expecting a haunted house story or slasher with exploitative ingredients need not bother with this film, but viewers who like their horror stories with subtlety and a slow-paced sense of impending doom should check out this nifty flick. The main drawback to this film is the lack of even a single likable character in the story. The protagonist, Ingrid, played by May Britt, is a cold, self-absorbed, man-hating woman who cannot be liked. The sheriff, well played by Aldo Ray, might be the only likable character in this film but when he disregards Ingrid's claims of being attacked because he is suffering from a sickness, one can't like him that much either.The main premise of this film concerns a serial rapist preying on the women of rural community. There are a handful of suspects, ranging from the town Casanova, the new to town drifter and Ingrid's uncle (Cameron Mitchell). When Ingrid is attacked and claims that the town Casanova raped her, the sheriff thinks he has his man until he learns that there might be more to Ingrid than meets the eye.VIOLENCE: $$$ (Not too graphic, but there are several rape and attempted rape scenes - handled about as tastefully as a director can handle such an incident. There is a shooting and a stabbing, but when the violence occurs you couldn't care less about who is the recipient of the bad guy's wrath since everyone in this picture is unlikable).STORY: $$$$$ (Well handled and thought-out screenplay that gives the viewer quite an unexpected twist. Halfway through the film the rapist is revealed by Ingrid but now Sheriff Aldo Ray must investigate to find out if Ingrid speaks the truth or is trying to frame the Casanova - who has just knocked up the sheriff's daughter (Kendall Jackson).NUDITY: $ (There are two shower scenes but you see nothing. Aldo Ray also catches his daughter in bed with the town Casanova, but she scurries off screen swiftly).ACTING: $$ (The acting is the main drawback to this film. With a more capable cast this very well could have been a cult classic - if not something more. Aldo Ray and Cameron Mitchell give the best performances in this film. May Britt, as the lead, was over her head in this film and failed to make me care for her character. Her acting talents are wanting to say the least).