Bosque de sombras

I'm seriously confused about how to properly write a critique on "The Backwoods" without being either overly negative or positive, but nevertheless express my respect to the cast and crew for the film they intended to make. This is a genuine throwback to the era of 70's exploitation film-making, with a truly grim atmosphere and uncompromising violence, but at the same time it's completely unoriginal and derivative. I've read an extended interview with writer/director Koldo Serra, in which he declares that he doesn't understand why so many horror movies are being remade nowadays even though the originals aren't open for any kind of improvement. That might very well be true, and Lord knows I wholeheartedly agree with such a statement, but Serra goes so far in 'bringing homage' to the original classics that he practically copies them as well. "The Backwoods" isn't a remake of any existing 70's flick, but it easily could have been, since it bluntly borrows elements from "Deliverance", "Straw Dogs" and "The Wild Bunch".

Cleverly set in the year 1978, so that the script at least didn't had to take into account malfunctioning mobile phones and navigation systems losing their signal, "The Backwoods" revolves on two couples spending a little vacation deep in nearly impenetrable woods of the Spanish Basque region. Paul, the oldest and wisest of the four, bought the old house of his grandmother there and wants to show the beautiful region to his wife and friends. After some very unfriendly welcoming vibes in the local bar already, the quartet faces the ultimate confrontation with the primitive backwoods community when Paul and Norman discover a neglected young girl chained up in a hidden cabin. The girl is the outgrowth of a humiliating family scandal, and the local patriarch Paco so desperately want to keep her existence secret that he mobilizes the rest of the locals for an old-fashioned manhunt. "The Backwoods" is an uneven mishmash of a film in which downright powerful sequences are altered with dreadful clichés and predictable plot twists. The gritty and relentless atmosphere of 70's survival flicks is marvelously re-created, but the script doesn't have the courage to genuinely shock the audience with twisted little details or perverted undertones like they did in the old days. The filming locations are stupendous and the producers managed to attract a fantastic cast (including the brilliant Gary Oldman and Virginie Ledoyen). It's really a shame this film doesn't feature anything truly unique, because I really wanted to like and recommend it.

Two couples—Paul and Isabel (Gary Oldman and Aitana Sánchez-Gijón) and Norman and Lucy (Paddy Considine and Virginie Ledoyen)—travel to a remote region of Northern Spain for a relaxing break and a spot of hunting (the guys having somehow brought a pair of shotguns with them through customs), but instead they incur the wrath of locals after freeing a young girl they find chained up in a run-down cabin.

The obvious inspirations for this rural survival thriller set in the late 70s are Deliverance and Straw Dogs (with Ledoyen in the Susan George role, teasing the drooling locals), although there are striking similarities to countless other examples of the backwoods genre, old and new. One might expect the presence of acting heavyweights Oldman and Considine to compensate somewhat for the derivative nature of the script, but even class performers such as they can do very little with what amounts to a collection of tired clichés presented with little flair or imagination.

The Backwoods also suffers from awkward performances from the leading ladies (this may be because neither actress speaks English as their first language), poor pacing, a lack of genuinely disturbing violence (surely a prerequisite of the genre), and a weak denouement that leaves the viewer feeling more than a little cheated.

Atmospheric non-thriller. It has a strong cast but the script seems uncertain of what it wants to be and it requires a strong suspension of disbelief.

One must believe that men will resort to rape and murder with little provocation and that women will cower and cringe in all situations. I won't even go into the litany of other trite stereotypes but will summarize by saying that there are no surprises in the movie.

It's sad to see such a waste of potential here as the film could have been so much better if it had been willing to go in a new direction at any point, instead of strictly rehashing the well-worn back roads in these backwoods.

Ah, well...

If you've ever been in the middle of taking an exam which requires you to write an essay of which you're fully prepared for but test time runs out before you can complete your thoughts and put them down on paper, that's how you'll feel when this movie ends. I just wanted that little extra something that was missing. It had tension that felt very real and fine acting, especially oldman, and had a constant upbeat pulse throughout the film that kept me interested. But it was a mad dash towards what I hoped would've been an incredible ending but leaves me "out in the rain". Definitely worth a look-see though. Not nearly as bad as what I've been reading.

Two Englishmen and their girlfriends go on holiday to a remote area of Spain, there one of them, Paul (Gary Oldman), has bought his Spanish grandmothers old house and hopes to settle down there permanently. His friend Norman (Paddy Considine) is having relationship problems with his French girlfriend after they lost a baby and they all hope this trip will settle some issues. While out hunting on their first morning in their house, Paul and Norman get lost in the forest and stumble across what seems to be an abandoned house, they enter and find a young girl that is being held there. They bring her back to their own house and clean her up, once there they become conflicted as to what they should do, this is where their problems begin.

The film is set in the 1970's and has obviously been influenced by films from that era like Deliverance or Straw Dogs combined perhaps with Calvaire, this all provides an immediate ambiance and sense of menace, one that I like and I knew early on I would enjoy it. Two giants of the British screen, Oldman and Considine add immensely to their characters, Paul is brash and confident, Norman is withdrawn and quiet. Their development when things go wrong is always interesting. If I have any criticisms its perhaps the ending can be seen coming, but its still fun getting there, Virginie Ledoyen is also a little wooden, though that may be down to speaking in English. The cast of Spanish locals is also excellent and well chosen, each one has that lived in face that suits that inbred feel. You'll have no problem believing these guys are capable of murder and rape. If there's one message to be gained from this film, its "Don't mess with the locals".