Devil's Trail

The entire time I was watching this found footage-style film I was struck by it being pretty much like The Blair Witch Project, but better in many respects. For example, you shouldn't get motion sickness from watching this. There are some big differences, though. At one point the two hikers (played by the director and a regular in some of his films), making a documentary about wilderness survival for a TV series, stumble upon three witches (or modern practitioners of a Wicca-like religion) performing a ceremony in the woods. These woman are all regulars in the other films by this production company. And they are all skyclad. Some have said this is gratuitous, but with the premise of real life witches as a religious belief, it's actually pretty authentic. They all have different personalities and take a little time to develop them. Then, later, we see that this was not just a random encounter. With symbols found in the woods and mysterious unseen visitors, this is all tied in to what's going on. Whereas the ending of The Blair Witch project is its only slightly redeeming value, the ending of this movie unfortunately doesn't meet that standard, in my opinion. I can't really get more into it than that without giving spoilers, but let's just say that it was a missed opportunity. Still, I appreciate what they were trying to do with this film, and they didn't scam a bunch of impressionable kids into thinking it was real and screw the actors over, like those other guys did.

Ok, so i the acting was decent--two bickering friends bickering rather well. But the PLOT?!?! Random naked witch chicks for no reason (i was not so lucky as to have seen the pixelated version--i got the uncensored, full frontal nudity version.) Survivalists with ZERO survival instinct. No gloves,no water, no alternate fire starting, no food. Even a day hiker will bring three energy bars and a bottle of water. NO ONE starts a hike with NOTHING! ( oh wait,one guy brought his SUNGLASSES). They find things---do they KEEP THEM for their own use?!?!? Nope! Use it and abandon it as if it won't come in handy later. Because leaving equipment and wandering off unprepared AGAIN is good survival advice. And that "monster"?!?!? Glowing LED eyes and mechanical shrieking made it seem like home depot outdoor halloween animatronics. Nothing scary about it at all. Oh,and they didn't FORAGE, or even follow any of their own "survival" advice and mark anything. Way too much energy for freezing,starving,thirsty lost hikers. End kind of explained why, but by then it was too late, i already wishing for their demise.

A couple of buddies go out to the woods in search of the Jersey Devil. Dallas (John Hambrick) and Hank (Henrique Couto), try pronouncing his name. I'd fail miserably. Anyway, they go out into the woods to shoot a reality show of their search for the Jersey Devil.

Early in their journey, the encounter three witches, one of which tells them to get out of the woods. They do not heed her warning they choose to continue with their journey.

We get the back-and-forth banter and teasing that guys do with their buddies. Insulting each other and jokes at one another's expense. Bets on who can find found first, etc. The film gives off that survival show type vibe. We have the guys talking to the cameras and showing us how to catch fish.

The guys do, unfortunately, find what they are looking for. They've got motion cameras set up at their camp that show us the viewer what is going on.

Not bad for what it is. A little slow moving.

No spoilers

Compared to other recent found footages which as horror fans we know they've been shit, this started off somewhat interesting and had some jokes in it but the ending sucks. Better than most low budget horrors these days but certainly won't be missing much by not watching this also. At least the director can gain experience from this film and make better ones in the future, already seems to be better than most small time horror directors.

Bad, bad, BAD! Look, I don't need blood, and gore, I also don't mind slow horror. However, this film is beyond bad. I'll tell you now, absolutely NOTHING happens. Two guys get semi lost in the woods, the acting is pretty low quality. Oh, and the monster(s)? Yeah, ALL you see is red eyes. That's it. Yep, red eyes once or twice...and two guys lost in the woods. The acting gets noticbly bad once they start to argue and fight.

I'm the type that sees a 4/10 on IMDb it it's horror and think typically isn't bad at all...I think maybe of the 4-5 star films on IMDb should be like 6/7+! This however?? 4.1!? I would give it a -1 if I could. So why did I give it a 2? Well, the camera/film/budget look was DECENT quality...better than some low budget. That is the ONLY positive thing about this film. Please don't waste your time!