Dark Forest

DARK FOREST is a really fun and retro-stylish, 80's slasher, teen horror film that totally surprised me! It has good cinematography, tight editing and some really nice stylized performances in the vein of Friday the 13th and all the great 80's horror films I love. It also brings some pretty campy yet creepily effective gore which really balances everything out. Also, as another reviewer noted, WOMEN FIGHT BACK IN DARK FOREST which is a really cool twist and brings it right into contemporary times, giving it some social relevancy. All in all, it totally surprised me. It's a great watch and reminded me of all those summers watching 80's horror on VHS & BETA. Nice work!

This is one of those films that is so highly rated and reviewed, and sucks so bad, that there is no doubt that the strong ratings are from the filmmaker, his friends, the cast and crew, and probably even his mom and dad. Despite the reviews and multiple star ratings, the title was the first clue that this movie lacked imagination. And so it is. Lousy, uninteresting dialogue, undeveloped, obnoxious characters, clumsy acting, incompetent lighting, unimaginative cinematography, dreadful diy soundtrack, including several substandard pop songs, uninspired story, and no scares, mystery, or surprises and just plain dumb. Three or four of the girls are what guys might hope for in a movie like this, the rest are slightly above average. Nothing of interest happens for at least 30 minutes and then when it does, it's not worth the wait. The kills are poorly directed and another big disappointment. The best things about the whole 75 mins are that the Canadian forests are beautiful and the killer really looks creepy. Director, Roger Boyer, may be an aspiring filmmaker, but based on this example, his first full length film, he lacks the talent and artistic spark to ever create anything notable. I was tricked into giving this crap a look. You need not make the same mistake. If you value your time, avoid the Dark Forest at all costs. Run Forest, Run! You have been warned.

Most slasher aficionados should appreciate this retro-feeling low budget effort which contains all the tropes you'd expect from an 80's slice-and-dice film from hot chicks, deadly hammers, a cool car, teens in the woods, a wild-looking killer, the nerd, the a-hole, the neutral guy and a cool synth musical score. The actor who plays the killer plays it up well and seeps sinister ooze in every shot he's in. Looks the part perfectly. The cast is largely amateurs who do well with what they have to work with as does the crew. But what really grabs me is the music which conveys all the dreaminess necessary in the dreamy-like sequences and all the dread in the dreadful scenes and all the suspense in the suspenseful scenes. Go in expecting a low budget effort and it should meet expectations!

felt like i was watching a horror film from long ago - in a good way. parked at the drive-inn, giving away my age, or telling gruesome stories during an all girl sleepover. never liked these kinds of movies, but if you do, you won't be disappointed. I couldn't stop watching, scared witless. music helped and good sound f/x. fight scenes were well choreographed, again sound f/x helped heighten the realism. a little too much blood and gore for me, but it was done well,great make-up artist. not sure what his problem was, but I come from the south, and we had lots of guys who looked a lot like him hanging around the school yard. definitely slept with the lights on.

I learnt about this Manitoba movie by reading the newspaper, about how it was a movie made entirely in my home province (including the props) and that since it was playing at the cheap theatre downtown there would be no risk of spending $5 for a seat. I also thought it would be a nice change from those Hollywood movies. Now I'm not an expert on film making, but even I thought it could use some extra work. Several scenes went nowhere, the pacing was a bit off in the beginning and the movie needs to cut back on transitions. The biggest disappointment was that there were a lot of of missed opportunities: I would have edited the campfire horror story with the first murders in a similar style to a Watchmen chapter. Still, it was not a waste of time. The image quality and music made me feel like I travelled back in time to a 1980's theatre, the effects were decent and the other people in the theatre had a chuckle here and there. Also the bad guy was properly casted and really did look... coo coo! My advice, go in the theatre expecting to watch something on par with a high school movie project and you should be good. Not the best grade, but I wouldn't mind working with these people myself.