Hayride to Hell(2022)(Review)

With Halloween being just a day away, it’s the perfect time to cover this strange little film that was released in 2022, but never hit streaming/digital until just a month ago. ‘Hayride to Hell’ is a low budget indie feature that stars Bill Moseley and Kane Hodder having some zany fun, set around a haunted attraction.

Farmer Sam (Bill Moseley) runs a yearly haunted hayride at his family’s farm, which has been a community tradition for decades. His family owns 200+ acres, is the town’ main farming source, and Halloween season is when he gets the most income due to the festivities and committed family fun. He has several loyal workers & family members, and he is truly beloved by most, but in a small town there is always a power struggle. Many shitty citizens in the community however are really opposed to this attraction for many selfish reasons. Kids desecrate his family’s private cemetery almost nightly, the town’s superintendents want to shut him down to expand their building plans, and the town’s sheriff (Kane Hodder) has had a personal grudge with Farmer Sam since high school. Things culminate one night on the week of Halloween when Sam is attacked and sent to the hospital. When he returns the next day, all the people mentioned previously team up to shut him down due to the event being a “public nuisance and danger”. Wittingly, Farmer Sam has an idea to save his farm once and for all.

He invites all the people opposed to his event to a special, upgraded version of the hayride, with the caveat that if he cannot successfully scare them, he will sell the entire farm and shut down the festivities. But if he succeeds, they must admit defeat and back off. They all agree to show up, but what they don’t know is that Sam and his team have a very special idea in mind besides upgrading the scares. One of revenge, justice, and sweet murder.

This movie is a great time all in all. It’s definitely low budget, campy, and playfully over-the-top at points with some big (but ultimately inconsequential) plot holes, but the good things definitely overweigh the bad. It has a ‘Motel Hell’ sort of feel with some fun violence, and you can tell that Moseley and Hodder are having a blast in this role. The atmosphere is perfect for the Halloween ambience you want this time of year, and the fact that we actually get to enjoy the duration of the hayride itself is such a fun treat. It is low budget, but not in a shot-on-home-video sort of way. The cinematography is rather impressive, the setting is authentic and fleshed out, and it’s a potential addition to a yearly viewing for spooky season. It’s confident with what it’s doing, and it’s unabashed with the fun to be had.

Don’t come to this one looking to find the smartest story or the next slasher hit, but do come to this for a fun, silly ride. The movie is emotionally heavy at the start to force your empathy onto Farmer Sam and the adversity he faces for practically no reason – and there is a dog death (I’ll always give a heads up for animal violence, even though it’s not particularly graphic or anything like that), but you do feel cathartic by the end of the picture.

3.5/5
“Hayride to Hell” is currently available to stream/purchase on VOD outlets such as Vudu & Amazon Prime.

‘Til Next Time,
Mike Cleopatra