The Wishing Forest

I liked it, but then again I do have a soft spot for low budget fantasy flicks with terrible CGI.

This is as good as any, and better than some.

The cast do a reasonable job, the female lead is lovely to look at, the scenery and costumes are nice enough, and bonus points for the cannibals in the forest - they're a unique "villain" for this kind of film.

Just don't go into it expecting a LotR stye epic.

Some movies are stupid, some have a boring story, some too much CGI. This movie gets a pass from me because it doesn't have to be good if it is has something interesting to it. I'm thankful the people making it threw in a little nudity. I'm tired of moves being over the top in violence and language but skip showing us some t&a. Most movies today are sloppily put together or make little sense. The real problems with the Unicorn movie is boring dialogue and fight scenes. They should have put effort into making the characters interesting while still showing a little nipple here and there. I give it a D but only because of the nudity. Most movies that are R rated only throws us with 500 fwords and non stop over the top violence. It's far better than zombieland and the sequel.

I gave ten stars. It is not a traditional movie; which would follow a traditional plot. It earns ten stars; because in its oeuvre as an expository film, it's great! The women are breathtakingly magnificent; as is the scenery. The repartee between the heroine and the thief is disarmingly witty. Most comedies don't really make me laugh; but these two characters' exchange of barbs, made me laugh out loud. The action is surprisingly professional; and it looks like the cast did their own stunts. Our incredibly beautiful heroine, seems to have a background in athletics. And in addition to her beauty, this film is meant to showcase her athleticism. I'm guessing she did something like an event called Steeple-Chase; because she races through the forest, easily tackling obstacles. Also entering this parade of eye-popping visuals, is the beautiful Stormi Maya. She was in the hit film Hustlers (2019), and She's Gotta Have It, the TV series. I'm guessing this film was made to showcase the talents of all involved; rather than to make a traditional film, with a full storyline. To me, this movie was a rousing success. Only bad things: the makeup for the heroine's close-ups. It looked like they shined her face with Armor All. And the thief's face, which stays dirty too long. It looked gross; and in reality, he'd probably wipe it off. Still gets ten stars.

I'm giving this a middle of the road 5/10 cause this is a hard one to review. So lets break this down:

What's commendable?

The movie is different, that's for sure. Browsing Tubi for nonsense to watch usually ends up with a predictable low budging experience that has you yawning or chuckling. Bad effects, awful costumes, the loosest definition of acting, a distinct lack of trying. Well the first thing that is noticeable is that these people did try. There's effort here. It's a horror fantasy, with some nasty cannibals running around being cannibals. The characters interact in a strange way and their dialog is often a bit off, giving everything a real dreamlike feel even when the post processing doesn't kick in (but when it does hooooooooo boy). This does tie in with the themes of the movie, oddly enough.

So what doesn't work? Well, it's pretty boring, not much actually happens in the movie, and some of the scenes along with the costumes give this movie more of a fetish-film feel than anything else. Specifically when the antagonist is rubbing her tits with blood for a length of time that feels longer than it probably is. Don't watch this with people you don't know well or they are gonna think you're into some wild stuff. Maybe you are into wild stuff? I don't judge, but your friends might. In addition, the unicorn horn that appears to be some kind of plunger bounces hilariously when the horse it's attached to moves around. It's very funny.

All in all, a strange experience, but a welcome change of pace from the usual nonsense you find on free streaming services. So give it a whirl if you want something different especially if you like bloody half naked shamans.

Yes this looks like video and yes it could have used a bit (or two) of post production. The question is, would anyone receive or see more in this than there is if it had put on a mask, if it had tried to deceive with better color and lighting? Probably not, because the acting is still off and you can't help but wonder why or what they are trying to tell the viewer.

Especially the ending is I guess meant to be a message or some sort of statement. I have to admit at that moment and even though I did not expect it to end this way (even though it had all the indications), I did not bother to check or really think about it ... you shouldn't either. There is decent amount of gore/blood/effects and some minor nudity involved, if you care