The Forest

I first saw this in the late 80s on a vhs.

Revisited it recently on a ff mode.

The director tried his level best to make a genre mash up but failed miserably maybe due to the budget.

The movie also failed to cash in on the atmospheric feel of that a forest set up.

They even failed to make it a poignant story regarding the two kids' harassment by the mother n their death due to starvation n illness.

The wife's lover is attacked n chased by the husband but to my surprise the lover keeps throwing different objects n the husband keeps getting different weapons.

Later the lover dies on a circular saw which ain't even switched on.

A grown up woman while being chased by a killer meets two small kids n she tells them "pls dont kill me, pls dont hurt me". Whoa man!

Shudnt she be worried about the killer n not the helpless kids.

The title of this obscure and (almost righteously) forgotten 80's slasher inevitably reminds me of The Cure's mega-smash-monster hit song with the same title, hence a piece of the lyrics in the title-section of this user comment. Also, I didn't have anything else to say that was useful, anyway. But hey, "The Forest" isn't totally hopeless and not even *that* bad, actually. If nothing else, at least it obeys the, admittedly unwritten, first rule of 80's slasher: kill someone within the first 10 minutes of playtime. Sure you've heard about the basic premise of this film a dozen times before, but don't let that discourage you from watching it, as "The Forest" has a couple of things more to offer than just an appealingly sinister cover image. It's actually a bit of an atypical 80's slasher! The main characters aren't ordinary brainless teenagers and the script has solid ambitions towards supernaturalism. The concept isn't always successful, let alone plausible, but it's more than interesting enough to hold your attention and there are even are a couple of surprisingly strong moments of tension and plot twists to enjoy. Two married couples decide to go camping in the most isolated woods of California, but due to a stupid bet the wives travel separately from their husbands. Barely set up for the night, they receive uncanny visits from a mother looking for her two children, the children themselves and finally the father who's out hunting for human flesh. The demented family may be real or imaginary, but the women are definitely in danger and by the time their husbands arrive, they have already vanished. The men too encounter the family, and they find out more about the slightly dysfunction background. "The Forest" is a weird and unusual film, to say the least. It's not exactly a masterpiece of plotting, but the thoroughly strange atmosphere will certainly appeal to open-minded fans of 80's horror. The murders are fairly gruesome and will-filmed, including a slit throat and a painful saw-massacre, and the filming locations are stunningly beautiful. The more you contemplate about the story and its abrupt twists, the less it makes any sense, so my advice would just be to enjoy this odd viewing experience for as long as it lasts and not a minute longer. The acting performances are just above average, the music is okay and at least director Donald Jones (also responsible for the 70's exploitation-sickie "Schoolgirls in Chains") tried to be a little more creative that the majority of 80's horror films. Too bad it ultimately fails.

Some happy campers are stalked and viciously butchered by a demented cannibalistic killer called Daddy."The Forest" is one of the strangest slasher flicks I have ever seen.It starts fairly competently,but quickly becomes boring and tedious.The opening murder scene of two backpackers in the California wilderness is quite suspenseful and gory.The acting is really bad and the script is not better.Still there is a lot of cheese for fans of slasher movies.Unfortunately the gore is kept to minimum,so gorehounds may be disappointed.The film features also the ghosts of two kids and their mother and I can safely say that this supernatural element adds some touches of originality to the plot.So if you are a fan of slasher films you can check this one out.However I prefer Donald M.Jones earlier horror film "Schoolgirls in Chains"(1973),which is way more demented than "The Forest".

Forest, The (1982)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Yet another rip off of Friday the 13th, although this one here tries to be somewhat different by adding a ghost aspect. Two couples plan on going camping but the wives go one way while the husbands go the other way. Soon a hermit is stalking them because he needs something to eat. This film was shot for under $40,000 and it's easy to see on the screen. The acting is fair to say the least and the special effects are really poor but the direction isn't too bad. There are a couple good chase scenes but this hardly make the film worth watching. The subplot with the hermits ghost children is interesting but it really doesn't add too much. The film has a couple good moments but even at 85-minutes it's hard to sit through.

A friend and I went through a phase some (alot of) years ago of selecting the crappest horror films in the video shop for an evening's entertainment. For some reason, I ended up buying this one (probably v. v. cheap).

The cheap synth soundtrack is a classic of its time and genre. There's also a few very amusing scenes. Among them is a scene where a man's being attacked and defends himself with a number of unlikely objects, it made me laugh at the time (doesn't seem quite so funny in retrospect but there you go).

Apart from that it's total crap, mind you. But probably worth a watch if you like films like "Chopping Mall". Yes, I've seen that too.