Horror Movie Review: The Taunting (2021)

A silly but wholly amusing movie, The Taunting is not quite a short but not quite a feature film seeing as it’s 44 minutes long. Which is more than long enough as anymore and the concept would have become tired.

Written by Tyson Kadwell and directed by Stephen Kadwell, The Taunting sees four self-absorbed friends stay in a haunted bed and breakfast for the weekend. So self-absorbed are they, they fail to notice any of the spooky shenanigans going on. Much to the frustration of host Vincent (Tyler Anthony Davis) and his wife, Wilhelmina (Stevie Shale).

Filmed in black and white, it’s clear that the classic horror The House on Haunted Hill played some part in inspiring this movie. However, with next to no budget, The Taunting goes for laughs and nails it most of the time.

More of a parody of horror rather than an actual horror, you won’t be frightened by The Taunting but you will be laughing. It’s a very funny movie held together by a cast totally in sync.

The four friends; Tomás (Tony Recktenwald), Melvin (Zach Roberson), Shaina (Mariam Sobh) and Eddie (Matthew Tucker) are so oblivious and so unlikable but the actors do such a great job. As does the fifth and dead friend, Dan (Ross Magyar). Their reactions, or lack of reactions, to the horror they experience is funny stuff. Constantly seeing it as poor service rather than acknowledging what is going on around them.

However, the star of the film is Tyler Anthony Davis who comes across charming and unnerving at the same time. His finale monologue, having failed to scare his guests to death, is brilliant and he says exactly what most will have been thinking throughout.

It’s an incredibly watchable film provided you can accept it’s got next to no actual horror in it. That the credits play over a gag-reel should tell you exactly what you’re in for here. Check it out, you’re going to have a lot of fun with this one.