Ogosmith
Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.
Bluebell Alcock
Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies
Stephanie
There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
a_baron
If you go down to the woods today you will find - an angry bear? a Sasquatch? something even worse? A night-time massacre to start with.This ultra-low budget slightly off-beat horror film lacks nothing in the originality department, but best give it a miss if you prefer happy endings. Mr and Mrs Not-So-Newly-Weds decide to go on a camping trip before he goes on the road for six months with his gee-tar. When they get there, strange things happen. That night a group of rednecks start making a big noise with their guns, then an even bigger noise with their screams. Something has attacked them, something that is incredibly strong and is as happy in the trees as on the ground.Our hero and his missus save one of the guys, who has a severely injured leg. This turns out to be a case of no good deed goes unpunished, but at least he tells them what is going on. Out there are creatures or at least entities from before the White Man came who are intent on doing something to pregnant women in connection with an ancient ritual. Guess who is pregnant and hasn't told her husband?You need know no more at this point, but expect the unexpected.
Michael Ledo
Charles (Kevin Ryan) is a former EMT and plays in a band. His wife Dana (Fiona Dourif) who he calls "Nails" because her father's name is Brad, is a photographer. They go camping in a remote location. She hasn't told him she is pregnant and a pregnant woman is missing. We get character build up for 30 minutes, then the title character appears as we spend 30 minutes in the tent doing the "what is it?" scene.The movie had a "made-for-TV" feel with the way it had breaks and the soundtrack. Jake Busey plays an injured hunter who is also an additional antagonist because a killing tree creature is not enough. The film is good enough for SyFy, but not much more.Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.
Kristi Petersen Schoonover
I'm on a horror podcast, so I've seen it all. I was so pleased that this wasn't the run-of-the-mill that I was expecting—it's a tension- filled, well-paced, scary little ride. Yes, it's a creature movie, but the characters are well-developed (and the acting, for a change, is really GOOD), so we care about them; there are also a few stories going on at the same time, and all of them work well together so that the film's final moments are tied up perfectly (but NOT predictably). What's really impressive is the film's ability to scare due to less is more: we don't see a whole lot until we need to at the end (fans who were terrified by the old stuff like LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK will definitely appreciate this approach). The set-up is tight so that we are plunged into the situation in short order—yet story and development do not get short shrift. If you love creature movies but you're looking for something a little bit different, definitely check this out.
putrescent_stench
Just saw this at the theater. Went in with pretty low expectations, as I hadn't heard any buzz about this film (so many other promising horror films coming soon - Get Out, A Cure for Wellness, The Belko Experiment, a remake (or re-adaptation) of It, etc. There were only two other (fairly negative) reviews on IMDb, and I read a couple of other reviews (Dread Central and Kim Newman) that were lukewarm about it. The poster art makes the movie look generic and cheap. The premise sounds pretty simple and unoriginal - a couple stranded in the woods, facing some unknown menace. But I'm glad I gave it a chance. I thoroughly enjoyed the film. It's not a "great" film, overly cerebral, emotional, gory, or overly anything. However, there were no moments that particularly bothered me, and all the elements - atmosphere, music, acting, tension - work pretty well together.Dana (Fiona Dourif) and Charles (Kevin Ryan) play a married couple who love each other but have some tensions, such as Charles about to embark on a three-month tour with his band. To celebrate their two-year anniversary and spend some time together before Charles hits the road, they decide to go camping. They soon find disagreements flaring - and to make matters worse, a group of drunk hunters parties and fires off guns at night nearby. But the hunters aren't their only worry, as a mysterious creature quickly dispatches with most of them, leaving only one, Sean (Jake Busey), alive. They rescue him, holing up together in their tent, only to find that Sean might be just as much, if not a greater, threat than the monster outside the tent.The addition of Sean is a brilliant move, as I'm not sure if this would have been as enjoyable without his character, or without Busey's effectively creepy performance. This has the internal-tension-while-under-siege-by-external-threat trope that is pretty common for horror movies (and is there a shorthand name for this? if not, there should be). Everything from Night of the Living Dead to last year's The Monster and Blair Witch relies on it, and I'm a sucker for it. There's not much of a unique take on it here, but it uses those conventions competently. Most good horror is pretty simple in premise; once you get too complicated, you run the risk of ruining the mood. This film knows what it is - a monster-romp-in-the-woods movie - and doesn't try to pretend to be anything more.I'm not sure what to think about the "monster" here, either in its nature or in its visual design. It is strange, not especially scary-looking, and it's hard not to say more without spoiling the film. There's not much explanation for it, although there is a supposed connection to a Native American story told by Sean's "crazy grandma Millie Ray," which sort of makes sense based on what happens, and sort of not.In short, this film is fun if you can just sit back and not think about it too much. It's also a plus if you like the woods as a setting and the above-mentioned siege-type narrative. 7/10 (maybe generous, but for what this film is trying to be, it deserves it).
