The Devil's Woods

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.

THE DEVIL'S WOODS is a zero budget Irish horror film that might as well have been shot on home video because that's how cheap it looks. This certainly isn't a professional production as the standard of the script, acting, and camera-work are all below par. This is one of those films that you end up sitting through in the hope of something good happening, only to be frustrated by the time you get to the climax and realise it won't.

Things begin on a gory note with a murder in the woods before the film moves on to your typical group of drug-taking youths who decide to holiday in the countryside. I still don't understand they they constantly make these modern-day horror film characters so unlikeable; at least some of the characters in those 1980s slashers were fun, goofy, or friendly.

What transpires is plenty of shaky camera-work as characters run around and are menaced, along with endless padding such as scenes of the characters driving around in their car and the like. It's all rather pointless, and the dragged-out ending doesn't help. It's amazing that a film like THE DEVIL'S WOODS can play out without summoning up a single second of suspense. Perhaps they should have gone down the found footage route as that might have made it a bit more realistic.

This fits somewhere between a tantalising taster to raise funds and a finished project. There is too much padding for a full-length feature, but it is too good to be consigned to the graveyard of shorts.

Many of the actors have significant production roles; the two male leads act their socks off in a naturalistic way and also contribute songs to the score. A trivia item says it was filmed in 18 days due to actors' commitments, but they seem pretty busy doing script, stunts, soundtrack etc.

The cast were involved in developing the dialogue and it shows, for better and worse: very natural and realistic conversation is sometimes shattered by over-literal lines, clearly from the scripted element.

Camerawork is the weak spot. Washed-out colours, shaky motion in the action scenes, and unnecessary attempts to build tension by changing the palette to a red rinse. Some editing is suspect too - clips of car exhausts rattling to life only seem to be there to fill time. Short bookending scenes add little to the overall product, particularly the opener, but help stretch the runtime to over an hour.

I saw a film once in which a female actor's bottom got a credit. I wondered a few times if this camera operator was campaigning for a pair of white jeans to be similarly honoured.

No spoiler to say some of our hero's cop it, but the baddies show no consistency. If they have a common purpose it is not clear. It is more interesting when victims die in different ways, but not if we are to believe they die for a reason.

That said, there are very occasional flashes of something better: figures appearing in the background add suspense; there is a scene in a pub that evokes Straw Dogs or American Werewolf; other references include Duelling Banjos and a figure of Captain Spaulding.

This is a film that deserves a remake with some money behind it, but not in the US (please!).

Anthony White's "The Devil's Woods" is evidence of a filmmaker who really loves the horror genre and is not just making a horror film as a cash grab. This is an Irish film which is refreshing to see as there's a lack of films of this nature made in this country.

It's a fun horror film that doesn't take it's itself too seriously and even though it does follow the cliche of young couples going on a road trip and camping in the woods the film really is inventive and creative in moments that really matter.

This film is not a typical slasher and is a slow burner but the main characters really make the run time enjoyable and you care for their characters as they all have strong personalities and make you care about their fate.

The film has obvious homages to Deliverance, Texas Chainsaw, Massacre, Wickerman, George Romero and Dario Argento films however it's done in a way that embraces Anthony White's love for the horror genre in crafting this film. It doesn't shy away from letting the audience see his influences as a filmmaker. However there's plenty of originality in there that separates it from the average slasher film.

The locations are great and refreshing for anyone international who's interested by the Irish landscape as there is a lot of folkloric buildings and distinct rural Ireland countryside. There is a lot of inventive camera movements and excellent cinematography here too.

The soundtrack and score for this film is excellent and really is a throwback to old school horror films of the 70's & 80's. There's always a constant sense of the supernatural present in this film even with the slasher body count the film does have some intriguing unanswered questions and really leaves you wondering what's all responsible and behind the evil that's lurking in the woods.

A lot of questions are answered by the films conclusion and it really pays off and gives the film justice for people who may not like slow burn horror films and are expecting a kill every 10 minutes. The ambiguity of the town and wooded area is more satisfying than having everything spelled out. The ending and final act really threw me off guard and explains the opening scene and events that took place. It was really clever and loved the whole secret society occult direction that the film shifted in.

There's really a hammer horror vibe to this with Texas chainsaw blended together. It goes to show with enough imagination even films with a lower budget can really have the same effect on the audience that a blockbuster horror can and this is evident on screen. When a filmmaker like Anthony White has a clear vision and creativity it shines through and avoids films that are completely cliche with nothing new to offer the genre. The Devil's Woods is definitely something more fresh and ambitious than countless other films you see on the Horror Channel etc from other independent filmmakers. One to watch for any horror fan looking for the classic old school approach that is fun viewing and also some intelligent ideas thrown in.

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.