Horror Movie Review: Terror Trips (2021)

From writer and director Jeff Seemann comes Terror Trips, a horror movie that promises so much and fails to deliver on pretty much anything. An engaging story, good characters, scares, or a satisfying ending. Putting it simply, Terror Trips is not a good movie.

A group of friends have started a business that they hope will be lucrative and satisfy their own interest in horror fiction (which the film makes sure you know they love). The business is called ‘Terror Trips’ and will be made up of them providing guided tours to the shooting locations of the world’s most famous horror films.

One, an indie flick that has a strong air of realism about it, really grabs their attention so they head off to its supposed shooting location, a small village in Europe. There, they struggle to find information as the townspeople seem to not want to talk about the movie. Which turns out to be because it’s more real than the Terror Trips team realise.

It’s a solid concept that promises a blending of fantasy and realism, but Terror Trips faceplants hard by being incredibly dull. A real shame as there is no doubt that a love of horror in general drives the movie. The early portion, the conversations between the characters about horror and so on, is natural.

Yet, it all unravels when they arrive in Europe, start to look around, and ask questions. This part of the movie goes on for ages, a huge portion of the movie taken up by nothing really happening. It doesn’t just drag, it grinds to a halt, and makes for a difficult watch.

Then, when the ‘horror’ does start to pick up, it doesn’t lead to anything exciting, interesting, or frightening. Not only is it to little, to late, it’s just not enjoyable.

None of this is helped by a cast of characters that have nothing about them beyond liking horror and a group of actors that turn in middling performances. Or that its low budget doesn’t allow anything exciting to be seen. Every death is off camera, an effective tool when used occasionally, but not the entire film.

By time Terror Trips wraps up, all anyone will feel is that the entire film is one big, missed opportunity. The potential was there but the poor script ruins that. A tepid, uneventful, and forgettable horror movie with barely any horror.