Timber Falls

Timber Falls, despite being similar to many horror movies taking place in a lonely wooded area, still manages to stand its ground within the genre. The opening 20 minutes starts out with everything horror fans have seen before; but when the villain's motive is finally revealed, the film will be sure to catch you off guard. For a movie with such a generic plot, no one will see this coming. The villain's intentions are brutal, twisted, and frighteningly believable! Performances are fine, the violence is intense and the pace is never too slow. The ending is clearly a throw-back to various 1980's style horror sequels which will either cause you to sigh or laugh, but overall you'll still be entertained.

In short, despite its title, Timber Falls will eventually "fall" into the cracks of obscurity, but will not fall short. Give this one a shot. Enjoy.

Mike (Josh Randall) and his girlfriend Sheryl (Brianna Brown) travel from Virginia to Lake Kimbrabow State Park in West Virginia to spend the weekend hiking and camping in the woods. They ask for directions to the local guard that advises them to follow the Donner Trail or the Willow Creek Bridge; however, Mike meets the local Ida Forester (Beth Broderick) in the crossroad that tells them that Timber Falls has magnificent landscapes and a wonderful waterfall and the couple decide to go to the place. They stumble with the troublemakers Brody (Branden R. Morgan), Darryl (T.W. Leshner) and Lonnie (Ryan McGee) and Sheryl convinces Mike to get rid off the bullets of his revolver. They camp and in the morning Sheryl is abducted while bathing in a nearby lake. The desperate Mike seeks her, and finds a deranged fanatic religious family that needs them to procreate an offspring.

"Timber Falls" has an unoriginal story that I have seen many times: "The Hills Have Eyes", "Wrong Turn", I can count many movies with stories similar to the original "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and also "Deliverance", "Misery" plus a collection of clichés of the genre. However, the blending is surprisingly good and works, hooking the attention of the viewer until the very last scene. When I see this type of movie, I try to guess what will happen to the prisoners. Will they survive or die? The gore resolution of "Timber Falls" is also great, but the last scene is absolutely unnecessary. I liked very much the performance of Beth Broderick in a contradictory character. The make-up of Deacon is impressive and the locations are stunning. In my opinion, fans of the genre will not be disappointed with this film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Pânico na Floresta 2" ("Panic in the Forest 2")

Timber Falls is the typical horror movie about teens having big troubles in the woods. Without introducing something we've never seen before, Timber Falls manages to be entertaining for the most part.

Mike and Sheryl are young, traveling couple whose destination is a lake in the woods. While enjoying the beauty of nature, the two meet inhospitable hunters who act weird only to steal $50 from the couple. After this bizarre event is forgotten, Mike and Sheryl spend the night in a tent. The problem is that they are not alone. Somebody spies on them. When Mike wakes up at the next morning, there is no Sheryl. Having realized something is terribly wrong, Mike goes after the hunters, blaming them for his girlfriend's disappearance. They are not the kidnappers though.

Timber Falls is not a waste of time although this storyline is really one of the biggest clichés around. Location - woods, characters - dumb, killers - disfigured or sheriffs. However, the movies has its moments for sure. The first 20 minutes are an almost perfect build-up for any kind of story. There is this beautiful location which helps for the increasing tension although I didn't feel tense. But it's there and it's obvious what purposes it serves. The second part is completely different with the characters being tortured underground. Maybe I didn't fall for that, but still, the first act is quite impressive for something that has been made for over three decades. Director Tony Giglio, although not experienced enough, has shot some good material. The opening sequence for example. We are shown a scared, tortured girl whose friends are supposedly killed, but we never get to see what happens to her. The scene's fast pace leaves the grotesque for the imagination. A very smart move by the creators although it does resemble Wrong Turn a bit.

Now, I do have some remarks concerning the acting. OK, I can live with Josh Randall's weird, never ending screams. I can even bare Brianna Brown's horrible performance in the second act, but I simply hated the villains. From what I understand, Beth Broderick, as the crazy old lady, is considered the highlight of the film. However, I have a completely different opinion about her heroine - Ida. I mean, this woman wasn't believable at all. She is one of the first supporting characters introduced and you could clearly tell she's not what it seems. Maybe, just maybe, that was intentional, but still, it's a terrible moment for the plot development, because you know the main characters will have an unpleasant, second encounter with that lady. As for Nick Searcy, who plays Ida's husband - well, I didn't care about him. He was impersonal and tedious. Besides, his overacting was irritating. Good that there is this German guy who plays a disfigured retard who does the dirty work for the old couple. He's a nice addition to the otherwise boring villains.

Overally, Timber Falls is worth a look. It's flawed, but the final result is rather satisfying. Check it out.

When a young couple (Josh Randall and Brianna Brown) go hiking in West Virginia, they meet with a local woman named Ida (Beth Broderick) who recommends that they head along the trail to Timber Falls due to the beautiful waterfalls and gorgeous Appalachian views. Despite prior knowledge that the trail is the least frequently patrolled, Mike and Sheryl decide to follow Ida's advice and end up abducted, tortured and fighting for their lives against... oh, that would spoil the fun wouldn't it?

"Timber Falls" borrows a little bit from "Wrong Turn" (in fact, it was mistakenly marketed as "Wrong Turn 2" in Brazil), a little bit from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and a little bit from "Hostel". Unfortunately, it ends up less than the sum of its parts. The best scene in the entire movie comes in the opening segment which features a lot of blood and the rather gruesome way in which a young woman frees herself from imprisonment. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie is nowhere near as bloody or horrific. With only one exception that I can think of, the camera subsequently shies away from showing most of what is happening.

The fact that it borrows from other movies isn't what causes "Timber Falls" to fail. The movie fails because the main characters aren't actually that interesting. They spend the first half of the movie making small talk or simply making out with one another, and the second half crying or shouting. You don't get much back-story either, other than some dialogue explaining that one of them is a nurse. Because of this, you can't really connect to either of them and ultimately don't care all that much about their fate.

It's a shame really because you get the feeling that director Tony Giglio has quite a lot of talent. The Romanian landscape (where the movie was actually filmed) is captured beautifully and he fully conveys the gloom of the location in which the two main characters are imprisoned.

As it is, "Timber Falls" isn't a bad movie. It just isn't a particularly great one either. The torture scenes aren't particularly interesting and there's absolutely nothing here that you haven't seen before in other horror movies of this ilk. If you've already watched "The Hills Have Eyes", "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "Wrong Turn" and all the other scary wilderness/torture-porn movies then this will be an okay rental until something better arrives. If not then try one of the aforementioned movies instead

OK, this story is not so original. You've seen this too many times. I can name Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, Wrong Turn, Misery and… too many to name. The good thing about this movie is that I actually care about the lead characters. It's not like those movies when you say "Kill them all". The violence is well-done and yes, this is not Torture Porn like The Saw and Hostel sequels. The make-up is fantastic and this movie doesn't have those dumb CGI. Great performances by the lead characters and by the killers too. If you want an enjoyable movie with a lot of tension and violence, you should check this out. You won't repent.