Mass Hysteria (2019)

Having grown up a resident of Massachusetts for so long, we sometimes take for granted all the rich history that we have in this area from Plymouth Rock, the Revolutionary War, and the Salem Witch Trials that took place in Salem, MA. I started going to Salem every year for the last five years and it's my home away from home so when I saw that Salem Horror Fest was premiering the film Mass Hysteria on Facebook Live, I had to jump on it. The film stars Geena Santiago (YouthMin) as Paige, a Salem Witch Trials reenactor who is about to take a job in New York City to finally live her dream out as an actress. All she has to do is perform one final show of Mass Hysteria on Halloween night in Salem which sounds easy enough until someone dies at the show and she is accused of being a witch. Now, Paige and the rest of the crew are on the run in this modern day witch hunt. The film also stars Jeff Ryan (The Way Way Back) as Turner, Scott Swayze (Headgum East) as Devin, Alexandra Dietrich (A Very Wompkee Christmas) as Margie, Luke Deardorff (YouthMin) as Charlie, Destry Allyn Spielberg (Rosie) as Triss, Robert D. Murphy (Brotherhood) as Officer Tom, Louis Cancelmi (21 Bridges) as Giles, Charlie Pollock (Elementary) as Chadwick, and the film was directed by Jeff Ryan and Arielle Cimino (YouthMin).

The first thing I want to do is thank the Salem Horror Fest and all of the presenters of the film for giving us the opportunity to view the film on Facebook Live. The film right from the very start was a ton of fun to watch and I had a great time laughing along with everyone else that was watching the film as well. When one is trying to develop a horror comedy, they need to look no further than this film because it embodied what a horror comedy is from providing the suspense when needed and also providing the laughs when appropriate. I feel as though we are living in a time when horror comedies are becoming more prevalent than ever before like last years Satanic Panic or the film Slice before that and you can also add Tragedy Girls to the list as well and what do they all have in common? They are all excellent films that did exactly what they set out to do and that was to  entertain so you can check that one off the checklist. One of my favorite things about the film was all the nods to various other films like the Mad Max: Fury Road scene or even the nod to The Toxic Avenger with the head crushing scene. There were so many amazing moments packed into this bite size film that I just want to watch it again and again. The acting was done very well especially from Chadwick who you should stick around to the closing credits for something special. The other selling point of the film is the amazing cinematography and the amazing shots of the City of Salem that are provided that you know exactly where they are in any given scene. If you've never been there and you are a horror fan then you need to go asap, but before you do that check out this film. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.