WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Scarecrow-88 Woof! This dog barks. Danforth (MC Gainey, who has a grand ole time) has been resurrected by a pentagram old coin dropped on the basement of a private school by his ancestor, Quentin (Jonathan Baron), thanks to his obsessive literary teacher, Myers (Ricky Wayne). Soon there's a pentagram forming on the basement floor which unearths Danforth and his head demon. The kids and faculty still in the school are fodder for Danforth to destroy through his supernatural black magic. "Haunted High" offers Syfy the chance to further diminish their value (if that was humanly possible at this point) in terms of quality in films produced for the viewing audience. Major hurdle not overcome is that the basis of all Danforth's witchcraft in "imaginatively" killing folks is that the violence suggested is just too brutal for the television audience watching. That and it helps to keep cost down if you don't see arms and legs pulled apart by weight wires at a workout bench or a head explosion from an amplified screech in the showers. There are ideas that allow those involved in the Danforth murders to go crazy such as gym shirts that levitate and fly towards a victim, a diva pulled into a commode, a musical instrument used to kill a member of the band, the foldable bleachers used to crush the music teacher, dissected frogs attacking faculty, a trophy case literally encasing the principal, and a defibrillator used to shock the teacher head of the prom committee. Quentin must somehow conquer his ancestor's power even after being invaded by his dark spirit. Acid on the bones and their demonic rings might just diffuse the strong evil presence of Danforth and his demon. The end has Danny Trejo (as the high school janitor), Quentin, and Quentin's potential girlfriend, Whitney (Lauren Pennington), descending into the basement to do battle with Danforth and his demon.Marc Donato will be recognizable for his long-time role on Degrassi, laughably cast as an intimidating thug scaring the much larger (and whiny to the point that I was almost about to lobotomize myself so I wouldn't have to hear him anymore) Shawn Phillips, while Charisma Carpenter got a really easy paycheck as a librarian who is dispatched by Danforth's demon in like one minute…she might say three or four word, tops! Trejo, despite the name value, is stuck in the janitor closet trying to get out for probably half an hour! His spirit fighting Gainey's spirit at the end while Quentin tries to be rid of his grandpa's evil is the icing on the cake…it pretty much explains everything about how off-the-rails cheesy this film is. Love Trejo when a film plays to his strengths, but all the special lighting effects with the bolts from Gainey purposed to destroy him in the basement isn't exactly what I consider a showcase of his talents! Give him a rocket launcher and suit him in a leather vest and let him blow away biker scum…not mopping floors, reading from a book of spells, mourning over his dear love who returns as a type of spirit (although she doesn't speak), stuck in a locked room where he exhaustively bangs on the door seemingly forever, and getting waylaid by green bolts of spiritual lighting. Phillips, if I must mention him again, is a ghost hunting fan and expert hacker who nearly pees his pants at Donato… this alone gives the film a level of ridiculousness it lives in like a pair of pajamas. The quips Gainey delivers with his maniacal laugh is right out of the school of the Freddy Krueger class, but the violence and effects don't compare to what Nightmare on Elm Street was doing to class room kids back in the day. The characters aren't particularly distinguished, presented as meat for the grinder. At least they are split up and separated by Gainey's powers and not due to stupidity. See this at your own peril

wes-connors High school senior Jonathan Baron (as Quentin Smith) agrees to help a history teacher in the boiler room. They drop some mystical gold coins Mr. Baron inherited from his grandfather, which causes the old man's spirit to appear. Ghostly grandfather M.C. Gainey (as Lionel Danforth) causes earthquakes in the New England private school. Baron's girlfriend Lauren Pennington (as Whitney Douglas) starts seeing things. People get slaughtered - in very violent ways. Wizened janitor Danny Trejo (as Ortiz) joins the students in battling Mr. Gainey...In featured roles, thin Marc Donato (as Colt) and thick Shawn Phillips (as Blake) overextend their years in high school. Sexy librarian Charisma Carpenter is seen briefly. The opening credit sequence is a highlight, but the accompanying song - a re-write of Chuck Berry's "No Particular Place to Go" - could stir the rock 'n' roll star's once protective lawyers into action. The special effects aren't too bad, for this sort of thing. However, the TV Movie earns a failing grade as director Jeffery Scott Lando and his crew can't turn the effects into an engaging story.*** Haunted High (8/25/12) Jeffery Scott Lando ~ Jonathan Baron, Lauren Pennington, M.C. Gainey, Danny Trejo

hi_im_manic I had expected a low-budget made-for-TV SyFy feature, this is why I'll generously award this campy feature 3 stars. One simply cannot watch a movie like this and expect a high quality production, however viewers deserve to not face-palm themselves every 4 minutes."Low budget", as most of us cinemaphiles know, is not a valid excuse for bad writing, bad acting, and... bad everything. The plot is like cheap fishnet stockings... covered with holes, transparent, and weak. Sadly, not as attractive. Some of the scenes are so illogical it's frustrating. A better screenplay, set and directing would have lent this mess some respectability because the concept itself is very intriguing. It's a good idea with potential, gone wrong. There are some unique kills, and I wasn't really distracted by overly bad CGI like in some comparable productions. I was too distracted by poorer qualities, I suppose. The dialog is so bad, it exceeds description. The bad puns tossed out by our antagonist before each kill were insufferable. Even if they were aiming to be campy, it still failed. I've seen better acting at middle school Thanksgiving pageants. The worst performance (arguably) was offered by Shawn C. Philips. He's no stranger to the horror genre. Perhaps he just did the best he could with the material he had? It's all terrible waste of several proved talents. Please do not judge the actors exclusively by this feature if you happen to be unfamiliar with their other work. If you're a fan of other Sy-Fy channel movies and are prepared for their usual shortcomings, you may not be disappointed. Admittedly, this is not their worst work nor their best.

michaeldukey2000 Haunted High is an unremarkable exercise in hack work that got 2 stars only because of the all too brief "zombie frog" sequence. M.C. Gainey as a released spirit of a evil cult leader comes across as a poor man's Stacey Keach spouting off pre death puns so bad that Freddy Kreuger wouldn't touch them. The CGI isn't as bad as say Piranhaconda but it isn't any better than an old episode of Goosebumps either and Goosebumps is scarier. The bare bones plot of teens and teachers locked in school with demonic forces is purely a Chinese menu type of affair. Take one tired cliché from collum A and 3 bad scenarios from collum B. As for kills the majority of them take place off screen followed by a gush of blood on the nearby wall. Shawn C. Phillips is the most believable person in the cast so that says something right there. Danny Trejo is the stereotyped Hispanic love sick janitor but his good guy roles aren't nearly as convincing as his bad as roles and this is nowhere as entertaining as Machete. Rent that instead. The bottom line is as long as there are masochists that stay home on Saturday nights to watch this crapola and as long as there are sponsors willing to jump on board SyFy is gonna keep churning out the cinematic equivalent to Montezuma's Revenge.If you must watch it do what I did and fast forward through about half.