I’m in the mix with the other horror film critics who gave this film a wonderful review, however beyond just the horror critics this film got panned. I’ll even go as far as to say that this is one of the better films I’ve seen this year. The Woods is a different kind of film with some fresh faces and some genre vets involved. The idea is fresh and the film drives itself like a horror film from the 1960’s, with the suspense that would make Hitchcock proud.
The Woods is a about a teenage girl named Heather (Agnes Bruckner), who’s mother (Emma Campbell) seems to not know what to do with her. She is a trouble maker, and has since burned down her parents home. She get’s along with her father (Bruce Campbell) really well, but it’s known that mother is the one who wears the pants in this family. They drop Heather off a boarding school, where although her parents can’t afford to let her stay, she takes a test and gets in on a scholarship. The headmistress Ms. Traverse (Patricia Clarkson) seems to be pleased with her progress on the test, but is well aware of Heather’s past. heather is then thrust into the life of boarding school, where your basic high school roles come into play. Heather is obviously the bad ass, the new bad ass of the school, whom all the nerdy girls easily start to look up too when she tells the popular blood bomb shell of the school to go screw herself. However besides putting up with the basic high school bullshit, there is something else that’s haunting the school and the students within it. There is a legend that during the early days of the school, three mysterious women appeared from out of the woods at the door of the school. They were taken in and cared for by all the women who ran the place. However when a group of students caught them using magic, they deemed that as witches and forced the women back into the woods. But the truth is that these three women were witches and they made a deal with the woods, if the woods helped them take over the school, they can have all the souls of the girls whom live it. Thus we’re thusted into the year 1965 in which the film takes place, and Heather soon begins to discover that there is something not so right about the school and the teachers within it.
I may, be going out on a limb here, but I actually enjoyed this film just as much as Lucky McKee’s previous film May, both are different films, where May has more of an artistic and unsettling feel to it. The Woods is full with a lot more suspense. I found the script to be a bit like a puzzle and at times it can be very confusing. But the suspense that McKee build while filming this picture is what really won me over. Of course in the end the film all comes together. But all and all it’s the direction in which Mckee took this script that really makes the film a frightening picture.
In terms of acting, I have to give credit to McKee again. I think that there may have been some confusion on some of the actors parts as to what was really happening in the film, but I think MeKee put them back on track. His leads seem to get their parts right, but some of the supporting cast, seemed at times to be puzzled by where their roles were going. Agnes Bruckner really won me over as Heather, she was awesome in the part and if it were not for her I don’t think this film would of been so effective. Bruce Campbell did pretty good as well, and even had a scene in a tool shed that kind of made this horror fan feel a bid of Ash action getting ready to happen. Patricia Clarkson was very good in this picture as the Ms. Traverse, she id the one actress to watch in this pictures as I believe she has one of the most difficult roles. Marcia Bennett also had a tough role as a head twitching teacher that had it in for Heather throughout most of the movie.
As far as special effects go, I’m not really sure if they used stop animation or CGI, as it looked so good that it was hard to tell. There is some gore towards the end of this flick and very little in-between. But the effects involve the woods attacking look really good.
Overall, it’s a shame that The Woods never hit the big screen. I know that this film and The Village had a bit of a scuffle over the title, as The Village was originally titled The Woods, however McKee beat out Shyamalan because they were both at the time were going to be released by MGM. I’m not sure if this had anything to do with it’s untimely release, or if the powers that be did not think it would do well in theaters. However I really enjoyed this film, and I’m sure fans of suspense films, fans of Hitchcock will enjoy it. for the average horror fan, The Woods might not be a film for you. It’s a smart complexed horror film. One might be even able to compare it to The Craft, however The Woods is a smarter more intelligence film. One that was made with skill and great direction.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
