Nearly a decade after the original film first unleashed its torrent of Halloween demons, The Barn Part III arrives as a gloriously cheesy culmination of everything that came before it. Writer/director Justin M. Seaman truly puts everything into this go-for-broke installment. The result is an often messy, always entertaining genre delight that fully embraces its tonal absurdities. Like the best in the genre, the kills are the main star, and boy do they deliver! We get exploded heads, and all sorts of nasty carnage that adds a visceral brutality to the proceedings. The Barn Part III is ultimately a hyper gory love letter to an enduring indie slasher franchise that’s a must-see for longtime fans.
After a suspenseful and shocking opening sequence, The Barn Part III charges twenty-seven years later in a Stephen King’s It-style interlude. Two Helen’s Valley bullied teenagers (Amanda Byrne, Tristan Olsen) decide the best way to get back at their awful bullies is by summoning the sadistic monsters of The Barn. Kyle, the doofy nephew of Josh (now played by Courtney Gains), and his friend are the de facto leads. Surprisingly enough, the best acting performances do not come from the central teens. Instead, the adults effortlessly lock right into the larger Barn mythos. Uncle Josh has spent the last three decades hunting down evil barns and documenting the supernatural creatures connected to them. He even has an elaborate monster book that gives off serious Evil Dead energy. Could it lead to a way to reconnect with Sam? The cast was clearly not aiming for acting awards, nor does the script excel in the character development department, other than the central bond between Josh and Sam (Mitchell Musolino) that has existed since the very first installment.
Instead, The Barn focuses on relentless violence and outrageous practical effects. There is plenty of fun to be found, including chaos at a pumpkin carving and a whole festival of mayhem at their mercy. The 50th Annual Fall Festival provides the perfect playground for the carnage. Pumpkins demolish everyone in sight, acid melts faces, skin gets ripped apart, and heads go flying. Along the way, The Barn borrows inspiration from all kinds of different films, and in the final act ends up feeling a little Pan’s Labyrinth. If you had told me from the first movie that this was where we’d end up, I’m not sure I would have been behind the idea. However, the execution more than makes up for minor shortcomings.
Stylistically, Part III is a far cry from the general retro look and feel of the previous two. In leaping forward in time, it does admittedly lose some of that nostalgic tone. Still, it narratively makes more sense to adjust. This one channels that cavalcade of cheesy 90s and 2000s direct to video sequels—maybe incredibly niche, but then, it was a niche idea to begin with. The look of the monsters continues to impress. Three of them enter by morphing the bullies and nastily emerging from inside them. Series newcomer John Kassir (Tales from the Crypt) brings his evil cackle as the voice of the devil, and make no mistake: these characters actually travel to Hell. It’s a full circle, completely ridiculous finale for a series that constantly pushes the boundaries of grotesquerie.
Part III ties together threads that many viewers might not have thought about since the first movie. A reverence for what came before feels genuine. The heartfelt moments may come off rather cheesy, but then again, if cheesy gory ridiculousness isn’t what you came for, then you’re watching the wrong movie. Seaman can be proud of this horror trilogy, a rare indie triple feat that delivers on nasty effects and gnarly monsters in the highest regard. If the mid-credits sequel tease is any suggestion, we may not be closing the doors on The Barn for good just yet.
The Barn: Part III screened at 2026’s Tubi FrightFest.
