PopHorror Let's Get Scared
When The Barn hit streaming in 2016, it made genre audiences feel as though they were taking the journey with the characters, as opposed to just watching them on the screen. The film starred two lovable, average guys and a host of nostalgic-looking monsters. It was a love letter to horror made for the fans, by the fans. Six years later, The Barn 2 raises the stakes even more. Fans were clamoring for a sequel. They contributed to campaigns and followed along with the crew as they shot this much-ballyhooed follow-up.
Let’s examine how The Barn 2 lived up to these gargantuan expectations!
The Barn 2 was written and directed by Justin M. Seaman (10/31, 2017). The original idea for this franchise came from childhood drawings and stories that Seaman brought to life years later. He was able to draw inspiration from his early musings and turn them into a full-fledged “dream come true.”
This film stars Lexi Dripps (The Barn, 2016,(read our review here) and Sable Griedel (Force To Fear, 2020). The duo tries to bring Halloween back to their small town while avoiding the curse to provide closure to the events of the previous film. While the main cast exudes skill, fun, and chemistry, we get tons of appearances from genre mainstays like Joe Bob Briggs (Scare Package, 2019), Diana “Darcy The Mail Girl” Prince (The Last Drive-In, 2018), Doug Bradley (Hellraiser, 1987), and Linnea Quigley (Night of the Demons, 1988), among others.
This movie manages to give all these established horror stars a chance to shine, while also giving the main characters the room to tell their own stories to invest the viewers in their well-established motivations.
Everything about this film showcases the growth of the filmmakers’ abilities. For as wonderfully charming as the first film is, this edition showcases cleaner shots, better color grading, longer gore sequences, and a more serious tone overall. You still get the nostalgic VHS type of feel, with quality comedic relief, but this sequel holds a bit more bite and tighter pacing than the original film. They also address some questions that were left open in the original, giving fans of the first movie more of the world they’ve built, and more of the secrets behind the carnage.
Every horror franchise needs menacing antagonists, and The Barn 2 has those in spades. Our favorite costumed creatures are back to cultivate carnage, but this time they’ve brought more fiendish friends to add to the fray. The special effects team surely satiates the gore-hounds here, while Rocky Gray (Shriekshow, 2022) provides a score that keeps the tension tight during scene transitions.
Final Thoughts
Films like The Barn 2 prove that not only can horror fans create the type of original content they love, with roots in the ground from the stuff that we all grew up watching, but that there’s an audience willing to help get that content made. With the seeds planted by this talented team for another potential sequel, we will all wait outside of the barn, ready to knock three times, hoping to conjure the spirits again.
You can order The Barn 2 on Blu-Ray right now at the Scream Team Releasing website.
