DVD Review: Hayride

By Brad Henderson

There are a good number of horror icons so it’s extremely difficult to start a new one. Freddy, Jason, Chucky, Michael, Pinhead, Leatherface, Ghostface, The Tall Man, and a few others are some of the most popular. Aside from Scream and Hatchet we don’t have many newcomers to the horror icon family.

Hayride is a slasher that has erupted from the mind of Terron Parsons who is hoping his new horror icon will catch on. Pitchfork is his name and killing is his . . . I’m not going there and I don’t even know why I attempted that. Sorry. Anyway, Hayride takes us on a journey and gives us an explanation of Pitchfork.

This film is your basic throwback film but never considers itself one. Hat tip to the filmmakers for that. When you first look at the cover you might sigh because we see this type of thing every week. Even though Hayride has a generic setup it actually works, but once the movie gets going, it fails to deliver. It’s not dreadful or anything, but the story setup is way more fun than the actual killings and the horror aspect of the movie. I know that sounds a little odd but that’s exactly what happens. It’s a little upsetting.

The campfire scene is the best part of the film. It explains the history of the haunted hayride and who participates in the festivities as well as the event itself. Once we are introduced to the killer and his motives the film takes a turn that is just “meh.”

I’m interested to see what these guys do next. I hope that they do make the planned sequel in order to get this horror icon off the ground so he can become one of the boys. As of right now? No, Pitchfork is not on his way to becoming an icon, but Hayride is still fun.

Hayride was released on DVD on May 7, 2013 from Midnight Releasing.