Editorials
Is This the Scariest Haunted House in America?
October signifies the openings haunted house attractions all over the country. Some are more famous than others, but which one is the scariest? That distinction (honor?) supposedly goes to McKamey Manor in San Diego, California. Famous for putting its patrons through the wringer, the notorious haunted house is known for giving its patrons haircuts, binding and gagging them, pouring fake blood on them and even putting things in their mouths. Despite this, McKamey Manor still attracts a healthy amount of masochists each year. It is so popular, in fact, that at one point the wait list was 24,000 people long!
Dubbed a “survival horror boot camp experience” by Russ McKamey, the Manor’s founder, McKamey Manor requires that all patrons sign a waiver before beginning the eight-hour “tour.” Said tour actually takes place in McKamey’s own backyard, which operates as McKamey Manor every October. The theme of his haunted house attraction changes every year as well (this year the theme is “The Chamber“).
Once the waivers are signed and the disclaimers are discussed, the tour begins. As the patrons move along, McKamey follows them with a video camera to document their attempt to make it through the Manor (probably for legal purposes). He then uploads the videos on the McKamey Manor YouTube Channel. The aforementioned haircuts, mouth-stuffings and various other forms of torment are performed as the guests try to make it through the entire experience (no one has ever been able to finish the whole thing, which could last anywhere from four to eight hours).
Guests are pretty much guaranteed to walk out with bruises, cuts, scrapes and possibly broken bones (so says the waiver), and they willingly walk in to it. This is perfectly legal, though there are people that challenge the operation’s legality. In fact, there is a Facebook Group devoted to calling the place out for allegedly abusing its patrons. Granted, the patrons are abused, but they are willingly abused. Where does one draw the line? McKamey does not charge admission for the tour, so he doesn’t even make any money off of it. He just enjoys scaring the pants off of people.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I could do this. Just reading the Warning Page on the haunted house’s website gives me anxiety. I certainly applaud anyone who signs up for it though. If you’re thinking about jumping on the waiting list for McKamey Manor, take a look at the following behind-the-scenes video that The Guardian made last year. It may help alleviate your fears while you’re going through the house. Or maybe it will make them worse. Who knows?
Have any of you been to McKamey Manor? Tell your story in the comments below!
Having grown up in a religious family, Christian movie night was something that happened a lot more often than I care to admit. However, back when I was a teenager, my parents showed up one night with an unusually cool-looking DVD of a movie that had been recommended to them by a church leader. Curious to see what new kind of evangelical propaganda my parents had rented this time, I proceeded to watch the film with them expecting a heavy-handed snoozefest.
To my surprise, I was a few minutes in when Denzel Washington proceeded to dismember a band of cannibal raiders when I realized that this was in fact a real movie. My mom was horrified by the flick’s extreme violence and dark subject matter, but I instantly became a fan of the Hughes Brothers’ faith-based 2010 thriller, The Book of Eli. And with the film’s atomic apocalypse having apparently taken place in 2024, I think this is the perfect time to dive into why this grim parable might also be entertaining for horror fans.
Originally penned by gaming journalist and The Walking Dead: The Game co-writer Gary Whitta, the spec script for The Book of Eli was already making waves back in 2007 when it appeared on the coveted Blacklist. It wasn’t long before Columbia and Warner Bros. snatched up the rights to the project, hiring From Hell directors Albert and Allen Hughes while also garnering attention from industry heavyweights like Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman.
After a series of revisions by Anthony Peckham meant to make the story more consumer-friendly, the picture was finally released in January of 2010, with the finished film following Denzel as a mysterious wanderer making his way across a post-apocalyptic America while protecting a sacred book. Along the way, he encounters a run-down settlement controlled by Bill Carnegie (Gary Oldman), a man desperate to get his hands on Eli’s book so he can motivate his underlings to expand his empire. Unwilling to let this power fall into the wrong hands, Eli embarks on a dangerous journey that will test the limits of his faith.
SO WHY IS IT WORTH WATCHING?
Judging by the film’s box-office success, mainstream audiences appear to have enjoyed the Hughes’ bleak vision of a future where everything went wrong, but critics were left divided by the flick’s trope-heavy narrative and unapologetic religious elements. And while I’ll be the first to admit that The Book of Eli isn’t particularly subtle or original, I appreciate the film’s earnest execution of familiar ideas.
For starters, I’d like to address the religious elephant in the room, as I understand the hesitation that some folks (myself included) might have about watching something that sounds like Christian propaganda. Faith does indeed play a huge part in the narrative here, but I’d argue that the film is more about the power of stories than a specific religion. The entire point of Oldman’s character is that he needs a unifying narrative that he can take advantage of in order to manipulate others, while Eli ultimately chooses to deliver his gift to a community of scholars. In fact, the movie even makes a point of placing the Bible in between equally culturally important books like the Torah and Quran, which I think is pretty poignant for a flick inspired by exploitation cinema.
Sure, the film has its fair share of logical inconsistencies (ranging from the extent of Eli’s Daredevil superpowers to his impossibly small Braille Bible), but I think the film more than makes up for these nitpicks with a genuine passion for classic post-apocalyptic cinema. Several critics accused the film of being a knockoff of superior productions, but I’d argue that both Whitta and the Hughes knowingly crafted a loving pastiche of genre influences like Mad Max and A Boy and His Dog.
Lastly, it’s no surprise that the cast here absolutely kicks ass. Denzel plays the title role of a stoic badass perfectly (going so far as to train with Bruce Lee’s protégée in order to perform his own stunts) while Oldman effortlessly assumes a surprisingly subdued yet incredibly intimidating persona. Even Mila Kunis is remarkably charming here, though I wish the script had taken the time to develop these secondary characters a little further. And hey, did I mention that Tom Waits is in this?
AND WHAT MAKES IT HORROR ADJACENT?
Denzel’s very first interaction with another human being in this movie results in a gory fight scene culminating in a face-off against a masked brute wielding a chainsaw (which he presumably uses to butcher travelers before eating them), so I think it’s safe to say that this dog-eat-dog vision of America will likely appeal to horror fans.
From diseased cannibals to hyper-violent motorcycle gangs roaming the wasteland, there’s plenty of disturbing R-rated material here – which is even more impressive when you remember that this story revolves around the bible. And while there are a few too many references to sexual assault for my taste, even if it does make sense in-universe, the flick does a great job of immersing you in this post-nuclear nightmare.
The excessively depressing color palette and obvious green screen effects may take some viewers out of the experience, but the beat-up and lived-in sets and costume design do their best to bring this dead world to life – which might just be the scariest part of the experience.
Ultimately, I believe your enjoyment of The Book of Eli will largely depend on how willing you are to overlook some ham-fisted biblical references in order to enjoy some brutal post-apocalyptic shenanigans. And while I can’t really blame folks who’d rather not deal with that, I think it would be a shame to miss out on a genuinely engaging thrill-ride because of one minor detail.
With that in mind, I’m incredibly curious to see what Whitta and the Hughes Brothers have planned for the upcoming prequel series starring John Boyega…
There’s no understating the importance of a balanced media diet, and since bloody and disgusting entertainment isn’t exclusive to the horror genre, we’ve come up with Horror Adjacent – a recurring column where we recommend non-horror movies that horror fans might enjoy.
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