vilafire

I read a lot of horror stories or dark fiction or weird tales or whatever you want to call them about the woods. When I see a movie about horrorful stuff happening in the woods, I watch it. To me it's worth watching the clunkers to find the gems. This one isn't a clunker but it's not really a gem either. It is worth a watch, though.

I don't usually bother writing reviews but since it's mostly a chorus of negativity around here I thought I'd chime in, mostly on behalf of two groups of people: fans of horror in the woods and fans of handsome men.

The woods, the forest, the jungle, all are one of those primal fears. People are killed in the woods all the time. Sometimes by the elements. Sometimes unnervingly close to civilization and in a shocking short span of time. It's gotta be one of the best settings for horror stories. Since I consider the setting so important I'm glad to say the filmmakers nailed this part of it. The sights and sounds, the cinematography, the props, everything you see and hear about the woods is great. It's unsettling and creepy and slightly otherworldly.

There are a few weak characters and weak performances but both of those can be forgiven. The main problem is the story. The writers have a good premise and a good ending, but they lost sight of the second act. You can't just run through Act I twice. You need to add a new wrinkle to the story. Something that heightens the tension. You need to let the characters learn new information that complicates the plot. Otherwise you have repetition, you have characters making stupid decisions, you have boredom. There were other writing problems but they pale in comparison to this (mostly the heavyhandedness of the message and the character dynamics.)

Honestly, it's a shame. This could be a stronger 60 minute movie with a few cuts. As is, it's missing some meat. Other smaller problems: 1) villains of this ilk always seem kind of silly when they're on camera for too long. Especially if they're speechifying. The trail cam photos were eerie, less is more. And at the end I felt like I was listening to an annoying parent at the PTA. 2) The villain was too powerful. The viewer or reader needs to think the protagonist has some chance of surviving. If his doom is too inevitable, it'll inevitably be boring.

If you like campy horror, you might want to give this a shot. It's certainly better than a lot of independent horror films and its current rating is too low. Not technically perfect but proficient.

There's also some eye candy if you need that. The younger brother is a smoke show. And his girlfriend is cute in the same way Fairuza Balk is, charismatic but manic. I could watch the younger brother just play Nintendo all day long.