Popcorn Frights Film Festival Coverage
Chateau review
Influencer horror meets found footage meets haunted house in Chateau.
Festival reviews will not contain spoilers.
Chateau
Directed by Luke Genton
Written by Luke Genton
Starring Cathy Marks and Colton Tran
Chateau Review
Another day, another influencer horror movie. If it feels like you read those words a lot…you do. Influencer horror has become an unstoppable phenomenon in recent years. On some level…it makes sense. Social media influencers are easy targets. They also provide a loophole for a story that wants to put someone in a situation most people would avoid. Chateau puts its fan starved wannabe influencer into a similar spot as the excellent 2022 film Deadstream and the decent 2023 film #chadgetstheaxe. If you’ve seen either of those movies you know what that means. Chateau is a haunted house movie.
James (Cathy Marks) is having a tough time garnering followers for her social media account. Her boyfriend Dash (Colton Tran) says she needs to define what her channel is about…and he’s got a terrible idea. A place known as “The Murder Castle” is looking for a maid. James gets the job, stashes her camera, and sets out to bring a real ghost story to life.
There’s a lot of “background horror” happening in Chateau. That is…creepy things happening behind our main character that they remain oblivious to. It’s an effective way of creating atmosphere. The movie also utilizes some strong audio horror. Strange noises are plentiful. James even picks up an odd voice speaking directly to her on some of her makeshift ghost hunting equipment. A phone rings with a familiar but impossible voice on the other end. Textbook horror stuff that are classics for a reason.
What makes Chateau work is the charisma of its actors. It is revealed early on that James is faking the supposed paranormal events in her videos. Dash has been operating just out of frame to make spooky things come to life. This gives Cathy Marks a break from having to carry scenes alone…something that she does very well. The chemistry between James and Dash is fun. It makes the exposition scenes pop. It’s also fun to see the other side of the story. James wrestles with whether/when to reveal their deception. Not doing so will make it feel authentic. Doing so will show off her acting skills. Such are the struggles of a social media influencer.
It also helps that the house is really haunted. Dash’s games are a fun reveal and momentary offramp from the slowly building horror. Chateau has its cake and eats it too by offering up a slew of unexplainable phenomena. James believes that Dash must still be out there doing his thing…even though he was supposed to leave hours ago. We know that her haunted house ruse has landed her in the genuine article. The house is hungry…and it knows just how to get to James. Her personal life has a skeleton in its closet…and that skeleton is on the other end of a ringing telephone.
Chateau utilizes a classic found footage concept to set the stage for what’s to come. Before heading to the Murder Castle, James interviews an eager former gardener at the chateau about her experiences. Fleur (Rachel Alig) lays out some of the lore that will come into play as James’ bad weekend plays out. We learn about a woman who walks the grounds looking for a lost dog. A woman, James is told, is definitely a ghost. We also hear the story of Reginald Poirot…a hunter who haunts the land. Needless to say, they’ll be popping up to say hello before the end of Chateau.
Chateau doesn’t unleash the elaborate tricks that Deadstream or #chadgetstheaxe did to accompany their found footage. Those movies gave us a look at what viewers were reacting to as it happened. Both were presented as livestreams. Chateau is being filmed for a later upload. It has to find different ways to liven up its footage. Early on, James hides her camera so that the owner of the property won’t see what she’s up to. That leads to some interesting camera shots and the opportunity for the movie’s first good scare. Unfortunately, most of Chateau reverts to a standard camera pointed at subject POV. It’s effective for background scares…but eventually everything begins to feel the same.
Chateau explains exactly what is happening by the time the credits roll. The lore pays off and the ending is quite satisfying. James has chased fame into a real nightmare. Hopefully she, and Chateau, find the viewership they’re after.
Scare Value
Chateau contains a decent ghost story that mostly utilizes the found footage aesthetic to its advantage. Giving James a personal connection to some of the happenings helps ground the story. Marks gives a strong lead performance that takes James from happy to frightened in a believable manner. The episode she’s filming may be called The No-Go Chateau…but you can feel comfortable checking it out.
