The Devil's Woods

Horror may be back with a bang at the box office but the true aficionado knows the real thrills come down the dark byroads of indie cinema. The Devil's Woods definitely fits in the latter category. Opening with a quote on witchcraft courtesy of Emily Dickinson, the setting isn't rural 19th century America but the 21st century Irish countryside. In the hands of directory Anthony White it's a place of equally brooding Gothic menace. This is no slow building drama - we're set us up quickly and shockingly for what lies ahead.

The drama revolves around two couples setting out from Dublin for a music festival deep in the country (which, let's face it, for most Dubliners means anywhere beyond Naas). With the impeccable logic of a horror, they ignore all the pretty Tourist Board scenery in favour of some dark and eerie backwoods. Of course, they can't hear the incidental music we hear, but surely even they can tell from the zoned out, unfriendly locals and desolate ruins that it might be worth checking out the Yelp reviews before setting up camp for the night.

A strong cast, led by Stephen Cromwell and the ever-reliable Eoin Quinn, complimented by White's fluid directing style, build the atmosphere nicely, slyly capturing the undercurrents and tensions among couples as they are drawn further and further out of their comfort zones. Some well-tuned comic banter provides light relief from the shocks and well- timed twists.

The Devils' Woods doesn't take itself too seriously, but maybe the critics should. White has achieved impressive results on what was apparently a minuscule budget. This is gutsy, gritty, gonzo filmmaking, driven by a genuine desire to entertain. A strong ending brings all the threads together nicely. Among all the scares of the Devil's Woods, perhaps the biggest is the realisation that there may be nowhere worse to be trapped than in the great wide open.

I normally love Irish horror films, because normally for what they lack in budget they often make up for with good story. But this film was so awful that I couldn't finish it.

There's a rape scene from the word go. Which honestly frustrates me unless it actually adds to the story, and isn't just there because. The music is annoying, and one of the bigger factors to why I couldn't finish it. As we as the characters being really unlikeable.

The overall quality is really low, I'm sure teenagers with phones could probably do better. I honestly hated it, and didn't think it had anything redeeming, which honestly is a shame because the synopsis sounded interesting.

I thought the film was gripping from the onset, with an intensely brutal opening scene that set the tone for the events to come.

After this initial shock, the film slows down to introduce the characters and the relationships between them. We get to meet and relate to this charismatic group of friends and become invested in their dynamics. A few unexpected events break the relatively lighthearted tone of these scenes as conflict begins to build up.

If there's one thing that "The Devil's Woods" must be commended for is its atmosphere. As the action progresses the films captures an air of ominous tension that progressively intensifies leading up to a series of unpredictably horrifying events.

I would thoroughly recommend "The Devil's Woods".

IMDB puts this as a horror and drama, but I would just go with horror. Anthony White directed and produced it, and Steven Cromwell who is one of the producers also acts in the film, so it's a low budget film. It was also filmed in Dublin and County Meath in Ireland, so the scenes outside are nice. The beginning bit, without giving anything away, was pretty gruesome for the two characters, and this is before the credits even kick in.

Love the fact when they walk into a local pub, as in very local, everything stops and it's silent. Been to a few myself like that, it can be a bit daunting.

Some special effects are lacking, at one point someone had died, we saw some blood, camera started moving to where it was coming from, then darted to the side of the body, without seeing the actual wound.

Music is good, but you can tell it is on the very low budget side, think it was 800 Euros. There is a scene at a house that before I knew how much it cost, you could just tell.

Ending was good, and they felt like real people, as in the actors. Anyone that has gone camping, or been to a festival or even just messed around with your friends, is that kind of feeling.

Devil's Woods is an Irish indie horror film and director Anthony Whites first feature length film

The film opens with an intense scene, a great jump scare and a brutality that sets the pace for the rest of the film.

Devils woods slows down in its pace and introduces the group of protagonists. The Second of the film is tad slowly paced and tiny bit jarring with the intense opening but it does provide insight to the characters and their relationships and helps the audience care what happens to them.

The end of the film however picks right back up with its intensity and its threatening feeling in the final act. It feels like there is something around every corner ready spring out. It creates an oppressive and truly fear inducing atmosphere.

Over all "Devil's Woods" is good indie horror flick with a lot of Interesting ideas and concepts and great practical effects.

Well done to White.