The Cycle

Started quite well, continued well. We've seen plenty of these but still kept the viewer interested to a good extent. Come the end, the first twist at the gas station, nothing new but still kinda fitted. But after (whatever they were trying) it just ddnt work, not for me. Left a lot of holes and a lot of questions.

A woman from California traveling through the back roads of Pennsylvania (Daryl Hannah) picks up a traumatized female, who was part of a student archeological team from Boston. The youths were interested in the local Indian burial grounds whereupon they discover some of the remains are quite recent. What's going on?

Released in 2009, "The Devil's Ground", aka "The Cycle," is a backwoods slasher in the "Wrong Turn" mold with some nods to the "Friday the 13th" flicks, i.e. A hulking masked assailant in the woods with a machete.

Without giving away vital revelations in the last act, the story comes down to a toxic waste, bitter yokels and some mysterious crows. The Indian burial ground functions simply to attract the out-of-state college students and isn't related to the other stuff, unless you view the grounds as sacred land that curses anyone who desecrates it. Let's be generous to writer/director Micheal Bafaro and go with that.

The striking Lee Tomaschefski stands out on the female front as Lisa, although she doesn't do much for me personally. Meanwhile Maria Gruending is worth a mention as Tammy and I like protagonist Leah Gibson's doe-eyed look.

The filmmaking is professional so this is worth checking out for those who appreciate backwaters horror, particularly of the slasher variety. Despite some eye-rolling script flaws, like the map contrivance and the youths constantly referring to the killer as "the monster," I'd watch this over "Wrong Turn." But it's not as entertaining as any of the "Friday the 13th" movies. For a similar Canadian flick that's more effective, see "Butchers" (2020).

The flick runs 1 hour, 28 minutes. It's a Canadian/Czech production, but I can't find specific info on filming locations; the credits list the British Columbia Film Commission, so I'm assuming that's where it was shot (thankfully they don't show the Cascades or Rockies in the background since the story is set in northwestern Pennsylvania).

GRADE: C+

While traveling from California to Bangor through a lonely road, Carrie Mitchel (Daryl Hannah) is advised by the gas station attendant Jimmy (Twan Holliday) to rest in a hotel; however, she decides to continue driving through the night. Later she almost hits the teenager Amy Singer (Leah Gibson) that is wandering on the road wounded with blood on her face. She gives a lift to Amy that tells that her friends from the Boston University Mike (Luke Camilleri), Greg (Jeb Beach), Tammy (Maria Gruending) and Lisa (Lee Tomaschefski) and she had traveled in a RV to Arrowhead to research the area as part of a discipline in their course. When they stopped in a gas station, the attendant Billy (Daniel Probert) advised them to avoid the place in Bradford City called "Devil's Playground" by the locals. While digging in an area where a mine collapsed on 19 December 1967 killing 239 coal miners, they find preserved bones that they believe belonged to the Indians. However, when they find teeth with golf fillings and a watch on the wrist of an arm, they realize that the deaths have recently occurred and they are in a dangerous location.

"The Cycle" is another forgettable rip-off of an overworked genre that was successfully explored in "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre", "The Hills Have Eyes", "Wrong Turn" and other sub-products of the slash. The plot point is silly and flawed, and abuses of the clichés. Daryl Hannah's character has minor participation along the story and surprisingly there are viewers that wrote good reviews of this flick. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Terra Maldita" ("Damned Land")

I really did like this movie for several reasons and why it has received negative reviews is still a mystery. But the movie was good and I'm going to give it a 7 because it did have a good storyline and good acting as well. To be short, it was a story inside a separate story that led it to a twist ending that was not expected and will leave you thinking and there may even possibly be a part 2. You will need to judge this movie for yourself and ignore these people who say they never post and gave it a 1 of 10. I did find it leaning more toward horror then thriller but either way a good movie is a good movie.

What a waste of time, cant believe i didn't turn it off sooner.. boring plot bad pacing. the actress playing amy singer was the only good actress. she was acting her heart out. the only good thing about this was the 911 call towards the end and a twist i didn't see coming. it was good then got stupid again.