Monster Inside: America's Most Extreme Haunted House(2023)(Review)

Every October, viral posts go around to remind us of the infamous US-based ‘Extreme Haunt’ with a $20,000 grand prize to anyone who completes it – a prize that has never been claimed. However, this specific haunt has been the center of multiple controversies for years. Loathed by the general public and severely ashamed by the entire Haunted House circuit, McKamey Manor has long developed a reputation that it constantly has to re-address.

McKamey Manor is an “extreme haunted house” where the host puts its victim through a strenuous series of torture and events that push them to their absolute limits. Everything from being waterboarded, to being buried alive in a coffin, is on the table. In Fact, Russell McKamey (the owner) not only sends potential clients through multiple series of interviews that advise people that they don’t want to do this, but he makes everyone sign an extensive waiver that excludes them from ramifications for anything from accidental death to serious permanent injuries, and also granting them permission to put the victim’s through things such as “MK Ultra, forced haircuts, and eating their own vomit” (Actual listed items from the waiver you can read online)

He films every single contestant and puts the footage on his YouTube channel for everyone to see. He does a sloppy edit job and says that the only reason he does the haunt is for the sake of the footage. You can literally go to his page right now and pick from almost a hundred entries to watch, if you really wanted.

The thing that separates the Manor from other extreme haunts is the fact that there is no safe word. Unlike every other extreme haunt in the country, you cannot stop the show at anytime. This translates into the reality that you are literally being tortured for anywhere from 6-12 hours – OR up until the victim is psychologically or physically destroyed. It is a series of FOMO and searching for spiritual experiences, mixed with charisma and internet clout that leads people to sign up for a tour of the Manor. And while their reasons are all different, every single person is battered and abused to the point that they are traumatized for life.

‘Monster Inside’ is a documentary film that goes into extensive depth of 4 separate victims who are still going through recovery from this experience. Their traumas vary from permanent disfigurement, to potential sexual abuse and being drugged. It is pitched as a way to expose Russell McKamey as the man he supposedly really is, rather than the persona that the internet believes him to be. We get interviews from everyone besides Russell himself.
While ultimately it is up to the viewer to determine what they think of the man behind the legend, this film aggressively paints him in a dark light that is sure to sway your opinion one way or another. This documentary is well made and speaks for a rather quiet voice in this community.

3/5
‘Monster Within: America’s Most Extreme Haunted House’ is currently streaming exclusively on Hulu.

‘Til Next Time,
Mike Cleopatra