A Bruxa do Bosque

Having grown up on 80s horror, I was excited to see what I thought would be a throwback to summer camp slasher movies. The fact that it was released in a local multiplex rather than direct to on demand upped my curiosity.

Unfortunately, the film is so tonally challenged that I couldn't enjoy it on any level. It's poorly written and not particularly scary or funny. On top of that, there are too many characters which make it impossible to care about any of them. Acting ranges from decent to awful. The villain is ill conceived and the supernatural element is uninteresting. Gore was ok at times, weak at others. As the movie progresses you just start caring less and less and wanting it all to end.

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.

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.

"Another 80s throwback slasher?!?", I understandably hear you think. Well, ...yes! But hey, I usually give these the benefit of the doubt, simply a) because the atmosphere of horror movies set in the eighties is so irresistible, b) because they normally feature a good portion of gore and bloodshed, c) because I can't wait to discover what delightful 80s pop-song classic the makers have recycled this time!

The song is Kim Wilde's phenomenal "Kids in America" and it's integrally playing during the opening credits taking place during the last day of Camp Briarbrook in Maine, at the end of the sunny summer of 1987! Correct me if I'm wrong, but there are far worse ways to kickstart a piece of nostalgia-horror. And we joyously continue with more summer camp horror clichés, like hormones-driven camp counselors celebrating their last day around the fire, and playfully performing a ritual that supposedly summons an evil witch who got buried here the woods 40 years ago after she possessed one of the kids at camp. Guess what, the campfire fright-tale is real! An evil spirit named Agatha is unleashed upon the campers and counsellors, and her presence brings a couple of dark secrets to the surface about the camp's founding family.

"She Came from the Woods" is the long-feature version of a successful short film that won several prizes at festivals in 2017. Haven't seen the short, but the least I can write about this full-length update is that it is made by a spirited and extremely enthusiast cast & crew team! There's a remarkably splendid balance between mandatory 80s horror clichés versus fresh and inventive elements. The setting and characters catapult you 35 years back into time, but it's not as if they are getting killed in the order you expect them to. Personally, I found it quite (and effectively) shocking how the most sympathetic and innocent characters are killed off so fast, whereas most of the irritating ones remain around. The possessed campers are a nice twist in the script, although I must say the background story given to the evil Agatha is rather weak and implausible. Overall, it's a pleasing horror film, and even one of the better ones I have seen this year.

6/10. Not a classic, but enjoyable and worth your time.

This showed up on Tubi as a "Tubi Original," so I wasn't expecting much. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this flick. It's certainly not a classic, but it is competent, suspenseful, and engaging, and I found myself glued to it in spite of myself. The special effects are well done, and with one exception, the acting is on point. This is supposedly a horror comedy, but thankfully it's mostly horror with some jokes here and there. Unlike others, I didn't find the tone uneven.

Soundtrack was also great.

In short, you could do worse--A LOT worse--thank SHE CAME FROM THE WOODS. I recommend it to fans of the genre.

1-3 Don't waste your time 4-6 Good 7-9 Great 10 Outstanding, must see.