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This article is rated PG-13, meaning it contains content that may be inappropriate for readers under the age of 13. |
| This idea is a joke.
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| “ | There's an app for seances. | „ |
| ~ Tagline |
| HAUNTWARE | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Stiles White |
| Produced by | Doug Belgrad Gabe Frost Arry Frost Scott Glassgold |
| Written by | Alan R. Cohen Alan Freedland |
| Starring | Maya Hawke Austin Zajur Peyton List Amandla Stenberg Alex Wolff Ariel Winter Zachary Gordon |
| Music by | Matthew Margeson |
| Rating | PG-13 |
| Genre | Horror · Thriller · Mystery |
| Cinematography | Elie Smolkin |
| Edited by | Tommy Boulding |
| Production companies | Screen Gems Tencent Pictures New Eden Pictures 2.0 Entertainment Ground Control |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Releasing |
| Release dates | January 4, 2019 (Los Angeles) January 18, 2019 (United States) |
| Running time | 96 minutes (PG-13 rated theatrical version) 100 minutes (Unrated version) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $20 million |
| Box office | $48.3 million |
HAUNTWARE is a 2019 American supernatural techno horror film directed by Stiles White from a script by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland. The films stars Maya Hawke, Austin Zajur, Peyton List, Amandla Stenberg, Alex Wolff, Ariel Winter and Zachary Gordon. The film follows a group of college students who download the titular smartphone app that is designed to do seances, only to end up being haunted by malevolent spirits.
HAUNTWARE was theatrically released in the United States on January 18, 2019 by Sony Pictures Releasing under the Screen Gems banner. It received generally negative reviews from critics, who criticized it for not gaining full advantage with its premise, as well as its overreliance on cheap jumpscares, product placement, confusing plot, and for the overall writing. Nevertheless, it was a box-office success, grossing $48.3 million against a $20 million budget.
Plot[]
College student Mia Carlson hosts a party for her friends Shelly Martin, Jason Bennett, Courtney Robbins, Ethan Goldberg, Penny Hunter, and Jack Dalton at her house. During the party, Mia downloads an app on her phone called HAUNTWARE, which claims to be able to do seances. Shelly initially doesn't want to do it due to skepticism, but eventually decides to due to peer pressure. All of them download the app, which gives them a warning that the spirit will affect their phones and haunt them. They decide to talk to Ethan's mother who has died. When the ghost arrives, supernatural activity starts happening when Mia's phone moves by itself, opening up random apps and websites, various glitches happening, and various scary messages being typed.
The ghost turns out to be benevolent and reconciles with Ethan. When the ghost leaves them, Jason feeling brave decides to talk to a demon instead. Shelly warns him not to, as it may bring a curse on them. Jason ignores her warning and decides to type the demon's name on the app. Then, after waiting, the demon announces its presence by shutting off all the lights. Goldberg's phone starts moving on its own due to the paranormal events being caused by the demon. This time, instead of a ghost, the haunting is noticeably less friendly than the previous haunting. It also drains Mia's phone battery quickly so that a demon-like face appears on it before it dies. The demon (who appears in a demonic clown mask) physically appears and possesses Jason. The other teens manage to exorcise the demon out.
While trying to uninstall the app, Penny notices that the app won't leave the phone. She encourages Shelly to try and uninstall the app. The app won't uninstall on her phone either. Then, Goldberg notices a feature on the app called "Spectral Combo", which allows them to talk to multiple spirits at once. Shelly tries to leave, but her friends convince her to stay, hoping they won't encounter a malicious spirit. Soon enough, they end up talking to various ghosts and demons at the same time. The HAUNTWARE app sends them a notification where one of the spirits is in the house and watching them. The group decides to shut off their phones and try to sleep.
In the middle of the night, Jack decides to go out to get a drink. While walking down the hallway, he sees a spirit following him. He tries to find a different path downstairs, but the spirit pushes him down the stairs, snapping his neck and killing him. The next day, Shelly, Jason, Mia, Courtney, Goldberg, and Penny are informed of Jack's death. They suspect his death to be caused by HauntWare. Since the app won't uninstall, they plan another way to get rid of it. They go to a phone store to purchase new phones. However, the app is also pre-installed on them. In their dorms, they notice a pattern. When it detects a ghost is nearby, the background color turns green. If it detects a demon, the background color is red. They use the background colors to indicate if a ghost or a demon is after them.
At night, Penny's HAUNTWARE app detects a ghost in her house. The ghost possesses Penny in her sleep and looks at Goldberg before the spirit hangs Penny with her own charger. Meanwhile, Shelly wakes up after having a nightmare about the app and is greeted with the presence of Penny's hanging corpse. She then ends up chased by the ghost that killed Penny. She ultimately makes it out.
The next morning, Shelly informs the group that a ghost killed Penny. With Penny and Jack dead, they meet with Mark, a computer programmer on campus to explain about the app. He reprograms it so that no actual ghosts and demons can come out of it. At first, it seems to initially work until it somehow reprograms itself to have supernatural powers again. Courtney's HAUNTWARE app detects that a demon is near her. She attempts to rebuke it, but the demon later slits her throat with a shard of glass, traumatizing everyone, including Mark.
With Courtney dead, the remaining friends contact Father Odeon, a priest on his social media accounts. The priest tells them to meet him at a church. But when they arrive, they find the church abandoned. However, they find Odeon still working there. They tell him about the titular app and how it haunted them and numerous demonic entities, as well as murdering three of their friends. Father Odeon attempts to exorcise the app, but a demon later comes out of it and psychically compels the priest to stab himself with a crucifix. The demon chases Shelly, Jason, Mia, and Goldberg out of the church.
In the car, the friends argue about whose fault it was for the events that happened. Shelly points to Mia for peer pressuring her into downloading the app, as well as being the first one to download it in the first place. While Goldberg points to Jason for eagerly wanting to talk to the demon. While arguing, Shelly's HAUNTWARE app turns on by itself and announces that a ghost is nearby. The ghost marks its presence by walking in front of them. They later drive all the way back home, where they attempt to break all of their phones. The phones, still intact, announces a demon. The demon later calls Goldberg and tells him that his death will happen soon. Goldberg attempts to lock himself in his own bedroom, but the spirit finds a way in and makes the flashlight app turn on and off repeatedly until it reveals the demon and attacks Goldberg offscreen.
Mia attempts to factory reset her phone, only for the demon to drag and lock her away in the basement. Shelly and Jason attempt to find Goldberg only to find him dead in his bedroom. Jason tries to subdue all the ghosts and demons. He goes to the basement and sees a now-possessed Mia begin to levitate directly to him. Jason closes the door onto her but not before the demon inside Mia makes her set herself on fire. Multiple ghosts and demons arrive and chase Shelly all around the house before they eventually catch up to her. Before they could kill her, Jason finds a way to successfully factory-reset all the phones in time. The spirits and demons disappear, and Shelly and Jason, being the only ones left, hug each other and reconcile. The next day, they go to a frat party, unaware that the HAUNTWARE app is on other people's phones.
Synopsis[]
"When seven college students download an app that can do seances, they find themselves in a fight for survival. As it releases multiple ghosts and demons after them, they must find a way to get rid of the app before it's too late."
-Sony Pictures
Cast[]
- Maya Hawke as Shelly Martin
- Austin Zajur as Jason Bennett
- Peyton List as Mia Carlson
- Amandla Stenberg as Courtney Robbins
- Alex Wolff as Ethan Goldberg
- Ariel Winter as Penny Hunter
- Zachary Gordon as Jack Dalton
- Cameron Boyce as Mark
- Denis Lawson as Father Odeon
- Arry Frost as voice on the app that announces if a ghost or demon is present (uncredited)
- Gabe Frost as voice of some of the ghosts and demons (uncredited)
Production[]
Deadline Hollywood reported the production of HAUNTWARE in April 2017, with Maya Hawke, Austin Zajur, Peyton List, Amandla Stenberg, Alex Wolff, Ariel Winter and Zachary Gordon set to star. The film was reportedly set to be directed by Stiles White, who worked on Ouija (2014) from a script by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland. Gabe and Arry Frost signed to produce the film under their New Eden Pictures banner, while in 2018, it was later revealed Sony Pictures acquired the distribution rights of the film releasing it under the Screen Gems banner. Filming took place in Los Angeles, California. The soundtrack for the film was composed by Matthew Margeson, which would later be released by Sony Classical Records.
Release[]
Theatrical[]
HAUNTWARE was theatrically released in the United States on January 18, 2019. The film's trailer premiered on September 27, 2018. Sony Pictures Releasing reportedly spent under $15 million in order to promote the film. The film premiered in Los Angeles on January 4, 2019 before being released worldwide on January 18.
Marketing[]
In order to promote the film, app developer Ryan Boyling made an official HAUNTWARE app based off the movie. While Sony wasn't initially involved with the app, they later collaborated with him in order to market the film further.
Home media[]
HAUNTWARE was released on DVD, Blu-Ray, and 4K Ultra HD by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on April 14, 2019. The release came with both the PG-13 version shown in theaters and an unrated edition, with most of the extra scenes are deleted scenes restored and only a few extra shots of gore and isn't all that different from the theatrical version.
Reception[]
Box office[]
In the United States and Canada HAUNTWARE was released alongside Glass and was projected to gross around $6 million from 2,675 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $2.5 million on its first day, including $715,000 from preview screenings. It went on to debut at $5.3 million, finishing in fourth. The film made $2.4 million in its second weekend (a drop of 47.7%) and $1 million in its third, finishing in fourth and seventh place, respectively.
Critical reception[]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 17% of 92 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.20/10. The critical consensus states: "What's truly haunting about HAUNTWARE is the rather tepid execution of the otherwise unique premise, instead settling for the usual jump scares and cliches." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 34 out of 100 based on 25 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it a 59% overall positive score.
Benjamin Lee of The Guardian gave the film 1 out of 5 stars saying "there is a reason why a horror movie should never be released on January, with it being devoid of scares and the stupidity of the character's decisions, making the film frustrating to enjoy. Even when it's not being filled with aggravating jump scares, it contains more plot holes than Swiss cheese." The Roger Ebert website gave it a "thumbs down", stating: "The film has a interesting premise of an app that functions as a modern Ouija board. Unfortunately, it reduces this unique concept to a generic PG-13 jump scare fair for teens." Dennis Harvey of Variety called it a "stale new chiller that probably would have been called Seance App if the creators hadn't came up with a better title." Glenn Kenny of The New York Times panned it, stating "At least the title got one thing right: the film will haunt you with how terribly atrocious it is." The Verge's Charles Bramesco wrote: "If you were satisfied by the deaths and execution of Final Destination, you will have fun with this one. But if you're looking for something more than a generic teen slasher, you're in the wrong movie."
Kimber Myers of the Los Angeles Times gave it a positive review, stating that "this isn't a subtle moody atmospheric horror. Instead, jump scares fill up the movie every five minutes. So if you're looking for good scares that push the PG-13 rating to the max, this is the movie for you."
List of deaths[]
- Jack: Pushed down the stairs by a demon ends up snapping his neck against the ground
- Penny: Possessed by a ghost forced to hang herself with a charger under the influence of the spirit
- Courtney: Her throat is slit with shard of glass by a demon
- Father Odeon: Possessed by a demon and forced to stab himself with a crucifix
- Goldberg: Attacked by a spirit
- Mia: Possessed by a demon forced to set herself on fire
List of jumpscares[]
(Note: This is inspired by the website Where's The Jump. Pretend there's screenshots of the movie)
See below for the exact times and descriptions of the nineteen jump scares in HAUNTWARE, which has a jump scare rating of 4.0.
Jump Scare Rating: While often cheap and generic, HAUNTWARE is loaded with lots of jumpscares, with the majority of these coinciding with the various ghosts and demons shown throughout the film, whil also being accompanied by loud sound effects.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Synopsis: A group of college kids are haunted after downloading an app that does seances.
(Pretend there's a video of the trailer on it)
Contributor: Uphill and The_Ind1e_Us3r contributed to all the information on this page.
Jump Scares: 19 (4 major, 15 minor)
Reviews: IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes
Rating: PG-13
Director: Stiles White
Runtime: 96 Minutes
Netflix (US): Yes
Tags: Supernatural, Mystery, Paranormal, High Jump Scare
Jump Scare Times
00:01:36 - Mia's phone notification startles her.
00:22:25 - During the seance, Mia's phone moves by itself.
00:22:56 - The lights in the house go out
00:23:15 - Goldberg's phone moves by itself
00:23:27 - A demon in a demonic clown mask appears in front of Jason
00:24:20 - A ghost can be seen walking in the foreground accompanied by a sound effect
00:25:09 - Mia's phone battery runs out and a demonic face appears on it
00:27:59 - A demon is seen walking across the hallway
00:28:24 - The same demon is now in front of Jason's face
00:30:05 - The app's voice announcing a ghost is present during a tense scene might startle some viewers
00:30:15 - While Goldberg is asleep the scene cuts to a possessed Penny looking at him
00:30:59 - Penny's hanging corpse drops down behind Shelly
00:31:25 - Jason appears at the car window
00:35:56 - Goldberg knocks at the door really loudly
00:36:17 - Jason puts his hand on Shelly's shoulder
00:38:49 - A demon appears and slits Courtney's throat with a shard of glass
00:40:25 - Goldberg's flashlight button repeatedly turns off and on again caused by the demon the jump scare occurs when it turns off and a demon in a demonic clown mask lunges and attacks Goldberg
01:11:18: A possessed Mia flies directly at Jason
01:24:25 - More ghosts and demons appear in front of Shelly
(Major Jump Scares in bold)
Logo variations[]
- Screen Gems: Glitches out to reflect the app being capable of doing this
- Tencent Pictures: Distorts and glitches
- New Eden Pictures: Warps and glitches like the previous logos
Trivia[]
- It has since became New Eden Pictures' lowest rated film, scoring a 17% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 34 on Metacritic, a C+ on CinemaScore, and a 5.1 on IMDB, with many reviews criticizing its reliance on cheap jumpscares, product placement (most of the phones shown in the movie are Sony Xperias due to the movie's distributor Screen Gems being owned by Sony), confusing plot, and for its wasted potential.
- Gabe and Arry Frost has chosen to distance themselves from the project as they confirm most of the problems of the movie is due to executive meddling, such as jump scares being used little in the original script as opposed to being overloaded with them like in the final cut.
- The unrated edition isn't that much different from the PG-13 rated theatrical edition, aside from minor extra shots of gore and some deleted scenes restored back.
- Unlike New Eden's previous horror films such as Dark Days and Silence, HAUNTWARE relies very heavily on jumpscares, which is one of the movie's major criticisms.
- Although the film was negatively panned, the character designs for the various ghosts and demons encountered throughout the film is one thing that was praised about it.
- In order to promote the film, an official HAUNTWARE app was made by Ryan Boyling. While Sony wasn't initially involved with it, they later worked with Boyling to promote it. As of February 2025, the app is still available for download.
- It is also New Eden Pictures' third horror movie after the aforementioned Dark Days (2013) and Silence (2015). They would later follow it up with Furby (2024), Daybreak and Doors (both 2025). The movie funnily enough markets itself as being from the producers of Dark Days and Silence.
- It is also their second collaboration with Sony Pictures after the psychological drama Darcy & Clyde (2014). However, that movie was released under the Sony Pictures Classics label instead of Screen Gems, unlike this movie.
- It has been compared to fellow horror films Bedeviled (2016) and Countdown (2019) due to all three having a similar premise of haunted/cursed smartphone apps. Additionally, it was compared to Final Destination (2000), Ouija (2014), Wish Upon (2017), The Bye Bye Man (2017), Truth Or Dare (2018), and Slender Man (2018) thanks to all of them having a similar premise and structure of "teens encounter something supernatural".