The Village in the Woods

As of this writing, this waste of time flick was rated 6.6 on IMdb. Based on that relatively high rating alone I sought out this film. I should have known just 1/4 of the way into it that it was going to be a non-violent, sloooooooow, atmospheric film full of cliches and amateur acting. And I was right. There was nothing original in this movie and the ending made no sense. None. Zero. Zip. Total waste of 90 minutes. Skip it.

I've always liked the hammer horror of days gone. This movie comes in with some classic pointers with a newness. Kim Newman at Empire magazine said Therese Bradley is outstanding... He's not wrong, from her wanting to devour the lead to smiling oddly. Fun little indie movie which is well produced.

A couple shows up at a quant inn in the middle of a forest under the pretense that she has inherited it. There's a bunch of overly friendly (and creepy) neighbors who are just as deceitful as the couple, intent on performing an ancient rite with the couple's assistance, whether they agree to or not.

Good stuff: The script was pretty good (although the neighbors sometimes come off too campy), the acting was good, and the set and scenery was lovely, very atmospheric.

Bad stuff: The ending feels very anticlimactic, with little explained. I mean, you get the idea, but it's like they were over on time and had to skim it down to a cliff-notes version of the film.

Rating: 4/10. I don't recommend it unless you're really bored and have nothing going on,

I would have given it a lower rating, but I felt that Theresa Bradley and Richard Hope's talented skills really added to the film. Theresa Bradley's character Maddy was excellent, suspicious, creepy, perfectly unsettling and uncomfortable in a good way.

I felt like I was significantly missing information or that important details were left out.

Continuity was also an issue, wine in glasses, hair and the fog scene, to the horrible beast horns CGI moment. Not sure what was going on with hair and make-up for Maddy's hair though, although, it did improve throughout - and maybe that was intentional?

That being said, there was definite potential and a strong opportunity to add a bit more umpf to the rings power. Without being a spoiler review, there was also a major plot line error, 300 years, but then referred to 100 years holding power - so what happens within the 200 years to follow? That did not make any sense, further dismantling the film into a bit of a wee mess.

There is definite room to re-write the screenplay and do a marginal improvement.

The movie is better then the actual trailer. I didn't know what to expect but we found ourselves on the edge of our seats. It was suspsenseful, creepy and the production was top notch. I'm giving it a 7!