The Woodsman

Trust me, this one is a disaster. The acting really sucks. You'd feel that you're watching a game-based movie. This movie is classified as a thriller. Guess what? There's nothing thrilling about this movie. It looks like a project for graduation from college, more or less. I could go on and on. I just don't wanna spoil it for those who might be interested.

It was just awful to watch. Don't say I didn't warn you.

This is the kind of thriller you see on tv during the afternoon: average acting, bland script, pretty boy main lead with a dark past.

I couldn't make it to the end.

A detective from the town of Nazareth (Christopher Wolfe) drowns out his tragic past with alcohol while investigating the peculiar murder of a woman tied to a tree, which smacks of an occultic ritual.

"The Woodsman" (2020) is a crime drama/thriller with some horror bits. It was helmed by writer/director Paul Leach and only cost $15,000. He also did the well-done score, which is sometimes too loud, but that's a minor criticism. The crew consisted of two people-the cameraman and one other person (I'm guessing the boom operator). With such a miniscule budget and crew, the movie's actually pretty impressive. Most of the non-budget was likely spent on the actors and their amenities. I say this because the actors do an effective job compared to the non-actors in other no-budget Indies.

Of course the average viewer doesn't care about a film's resources or behind-the-scenes details. All they want is a movie that captures their attention and entertains them one way or another for the runtime. This one does so fairly well, but the proceedings aren't very realistic and the cultists are more eye-rolling in a cartoonish way than threatening. Still, the key cast members are effective, I appreciated the spiritual elements and the film leaves you with a good feeling despite the horrific happenings.

The movie runs 1 hour, 30 minutes, and, from what I can gather, was shot in the Los Angeles area.

GRADE: C.

For a Christian themed horror movie, The Woodsman is not bad. It's more of a standard detective movie rather than horror. The acting is not Masterpiece Theater but most horror movies rarely are. The overall arc is about becoming something better so it's positive without being preachy. The sound is a bit off. I know people with a similar accent as the mom but it sounds as if they dubbed her in for some reason. I also took a star off because they went for a film noir effect but it ended up making the lead character seem creepy. It does stop after awhile but I almost turned the movie off in the first few minutes. I wouldn't watch it again but I don't think it was terrible.