Shudder’s latest scary offering, “825 Forest Road,” feels like a hangover from a heavy cocktail of every haunted house horror movie. Starting from the classics like “The Woman in Black” to modern horror sensibilities involving manifestations of past trauma, director Stephen Cognetti (Hell House LLC franchise) dips into almost every horror trope. The result is a mish-mash of a few genuinely frightening jump-scares (especially the ones involving a creepy mannequin) and a story going nowhere, where repetition of the same event becomes necessary as a stalling technique.

825 Forest Road (2024) Movie Synopsis and Plot Summary: Chuck’s Discovery – The Haunting Begins

The film starts as most horror movies do. An unsuspecting family relocates to a suburban house after a traumatic event. Married couple Chuck (Joe Falcone) and Maria (Elizabeth Vermilyea) are convinced by their clueless realtor into buying the suspiciously cheap house. Chuck and Maria are accompanied by Chuck’s younger sister,...