She Came from the Woods

The acting was good, practical effects were solid, there were some jokes, and watching it in the theater was genuinely creepy, especially with the children's laughter in surround sound. I would say I watch most horror movies that come out and this is better than 80% of what's out there.

This paragraph is just to make my review long enough for the new six hundred character requirement instituted because Amazon's $1Billion snow ranked and got bombed on this site. Hopefully they change it back because this is a waste of my and everyone else's time for quite literally seemingly absolutely no reason. Boom six hundred characters there you go.

Plot

In 1987, a group of counselors accidentally unleash a decades-old evil on the last night of summer camp.

Cast

One of my top 5 actors, William Sadler stars beside the consistently terrible Erik Bloomquist and a bunch of interchangeable 20 somethings who you'll recognize from something but they were so forgettable you won't remember what. Sadly Bloomquist not only stars but also writes and directs.

Verdict

When I read the premise I expected something comparable with Knights of Badassdom (2013) which though didn't meet my expectations was a perfectly watchable comedy horror. This isn't a comedy despite being advertised as such, there is no attempt at humour here it's a horror simple as and a very mediocre one at that.

Bloomquist who is more known for the more recent effort Founders Day (2023) presents this and hits us with every tired trope and cliche imaginable. It's uninspired, it's a tad boring, it's full of obnoxious characters, the antagonist is really shockingly poorly handled and even Sadler can't turn it around.

It's not that She Came from the Woods is bad, it's just lazy. Copy and paste from half a dozen other films and call it something original!

Rants

Did anyone actually see Knights of Badassdom? It's one of those films that though not great was still a memorable watch with a solid cast and yet nobody I talk to has ever heard of it! Ryan "True Blood" Kwanten, Peter "Game of Thrones" Dinklage, Summer "Firefly" Glau and the always excellent Steve Zahn! Seriously, it won't change your world but it's worth your time!

The Good

William Sadler 80's theme Always time for a camp theme!

The Bad

Forgettable cast Erik Bloomquist Shamelessly generic.

A nice homage to the 80's Friday the 13th type of films. Unfortunately, if there are too many holes in your boat it will sink, as this film did.

I never heard of it until it played 1x only last night so I figured I'd give it a look. It started out fine with the stereotypical horny camp counselors, children (dorks, geeks, etc.) and 'adults in charge'. Then, of course, something awakens the evil spirit and folks get to dying. There is a twist in the beginning in how people start dying so I won't ruin it for you.

In act 2 there are no surprises but this is when you start noticing the holes. 'How did this person get over there?' or 'Why didn't you tell your fellow survivors what you just witnessed?'

In the final act it was almost like the scriptwriters just didn't care. They skipped over all logic, failed to explain how the rules/laws governed this spirit worked and just gave the audience an unsatisfactory ending.

After the boredom of 'Evil Dead Rise' I was won over by this 80s inspired slasher mainly because the characters had depth, believability and sympathy when they meet their end!

Ok, so it isn't exactly original and all the cliches are present ( the whole premise is about conjuring the dead , demonic possession that the Evil Dead was based on) but with a witty script and well drawn characters I really enjoyed this.

The gore and practical effects are old school and well done, it's good to see (producer) William Sadler as the summer camp elder with a secret and has some pithy one lines , inc " why don't you use your tears as lube"!

She Came from the Woods is trite and vapid, seemingly unaware of what makes the movies it purports to pay tribute to work. It doesn't provide any of the thrills, surprises, or guilty pleasures that make slashers tick. It feels like a sterilized notion of the sub genre as opposed to something that finds a path of its own or carries any real weight or knowledge about the half-century of films it lazily emulates.

The production is competent but entirely uninspired, with everything from the sets to the costumes to the cinematography being perfectly plain. The revelations and escalations hit hollow and most of the would-be horrific moments are marred by the inherent lameness of kids in camp clothes. It sometimes seems like She Came from the Woods could have been a home movie shot in someone's back yard.