Merolliv
I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.
Humaira Grant
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
Suman Roberson
It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.
Aneesa Wardle
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Rainey Dawn
A childhood trauma story about a woman who's parents died when she was very young and she was sent to an orphanage where she lived for years. Grown up, she living on a farm with her haunted memories and is a very devout Christian. News of a killer in town breaks out, a killer who's weapon of choice is scissors. The woman begins to think her uncle is to blame but is he? The question is: Who is the killer? A pretty good psychological thriller. I guessed right off the bat who the killer was but I was second guessing myself the whole film and I won't tell you who - you will have to watch and find out for yourself who the scissor killer is! Not a lot of blood and gore in this film - just a decent psychological horror-thriller to keep fans of the genre entertained.8/10
punishmentpark
'Haunts' has some terrific dramatic material to offer, which the viewer gradually begins to understand through the haphazard memories that haunt our leading lady Ingrid, a farm girl with Swedish roots, a dark past (I suspected incest, murder, but in the end it all turned out a dream, coinciding with a killer on the loose - as best as I could tell), a yearning for religious completion, and, as we eventually learn, heavily psychotic tendencies. The flashbacks and the latter part where things twist and turn like crazy, are my favorite elements. The acting is rather so-so, the dialogues more than often fail and the whole story is way too confusing (and in the end somewhat disappointing, if I understand it correctly) to take seriously. I mean, the only option in the end is that Ingrid imagined the attacks, right? But then, the ending of her appearing in the mirror before uncle Carl, seemed a little ambiguous, as did some memories. I was expecting Carl to be a possible bad guy, and even Ingrid, as well... like I said, way too confusing, but still interesting.The backdrop of the rural village, farms, roads and off-roads (I would have guessed somewhere in Wisconsin, but it was shot in California, so...?) is beautiful, but its inhabitants struggling with day to day life turned upside down by a vicious killer could / should have been so much better.An interesting flick, very much, but not really a good one, all things considered. 5 out of 10.
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
Jonny_Numb
Another day, another bad movie from the "Chilling Classics" boxed set... "Haunts" has a somewhat interesting premise (as other reviewers have stated, overtones of "Repulsion" abound): Ingrid (May Britt) is haunted by the repressed memory of her mother's suicide; she lives on a farm with her hulking uncle (Cameron Mitchell, who once again lends his seal of badness); there's a masked assailant killing local girls with a pair of scissors (in one hilarious moment, he attacks in full view of 2 policemen), and she's just met a poor-postured creep at choir practice. You see, she's a Puritanical girl who shudders at the notion of having her womanly plane violated by a sinister male ("Repulsion" again). There is a ghost-story twist to the whole thing, explained in about as heavy-handed a way as the filmmakers can muster (but still manages to make little sense). By the end of "Haunts," I was confused and apathetic...this might have had something to do with my lulling in and out of sleep while watching. The score by the usually-reliable Pino Donaggio is undistinguished and unmemorable, which is indicative of the film overall.