Right from the jump Haunted Trail isn’t shy about the type of film it’s aiming to be. Whether that’s a good thing or not depends on what you’re looking for. The plot isn’t overly complex or hard to follow. While the friends are mostly believable in their interactions with each other. One of the challenges though is that it takes a while to actually get going, and when it does, it completely stops trying to make sense. You’ll either shrug and go along with it or you’ll keep rolling your eyes at the increasingly ridiculousness of it all.

A group of friends decided to visit a local “haunted trail,” which according to one of the friends is like a haunted house but on a trail. While some are less than ecstatic to be going, everyone meets up outside of the attraction. Once through the gate, they encounter standard scary stuff until the group starts getting picked off one by one. Then we’re treated to a race to the finish line all the while, a mysterious killer is hunting them down.

Speaking of ridiculousness, I would be remised if I didn’t mention Zay (Desi Banks) as the lead who leaves quite a bit to be desired. The main character’s traits and performance are so wildly mismatched to the rest of the film that it feels like he was plucked from an entirely different genre. His jokes are cringeworthy and don’t always land well with the audience, making it difficult to look past his shortcomings and appreciate what this film has to offer. On the flip side, we have Jackie (Marquise C. Brown), as the strong friend who seems to be taking the situation more naturally than some of the others. It’s a shame she wasn’t given more to do as she handled the role with ease.

Overall, there are points that the cinematography shines, it was easy to see even in the darkest of areas and some scenes worked really well. Unfortunately, despite the skillful vision of the cinematographer, the editing failed to keep up with the momentum, leaving some sections feeling rushed or unfinished. It is clear that if more attention had been devoted to this area, it could have resulted in an even more compelling story. The audio side of things fares better, there weren’t any signs of distortion or uneven sound. And that soundtrack was top notch.

Haunted Trail sets out to be a slasher and it does accomplish that. Though how well it does will depend on the viewer. With a strong soundtrack, some glimpses of a well-done script and solid cinematography are overshadowed by absurd plot points and a lead who feels like they were told that they were in a flat-out comedy instead of anything resembling horror. Does any of this make it a bad movie? Not at all, it just stops short of being a good one. As long as viewers can look past these issues, they will be treated to an enjoyable albeit slightly sub-par experience.