Director: Rene Perez
Year: 2020
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
Arriving in a small quiet town, a reporter is taken to a remote site deep in the woods for an interview with a wanted criminal where she’s then inducted into his games as a potential victim to a psychotic serial killer hunting down people in the woods and must team up with a policeman seeking his missing daughter to escape.
Review:
This one ended up being a great addition to the franchise. This one works best when kept to the basic format of having fun, brutal encounters with the deranged killer. The opening shots here featuring the one victim in the blazing woodland battleground chained to the killer who has to outwit him has a lot of fantastic stalking and impressive tactics to enjoy about it before featuring the incredible gore and general setup. That’s carried over nicely into the other stalking and victim-hunting, from a fantastic cat-and-mouse sequence inside a house filled with red-and-blue series of filters, an encounter with a tied-up victim in the woods that the reporter witnesses or the series of gunfights taking place between the officer and the henchmen in the woods.
As well, the film also has a lot to like involving the final half which is where this one has a lot to like. The girls’ escape and eventual run-in with the pursuing officer lead to several intense and enjoyable gun-battles between the policeman and the other henchmen which goes alongside the fun hunting and stalking scenes elsewhere in the woods. Chasing the escaped reporter through the woods from the rusted-out car remains and through the various embankments down to the lake, a battle to free a tied-up victim before the killer returns and a brutal bare-knuckle brawl that takes place with the killer providing some all-around enjoyment and variety with the type of action set-pieces present, this part of the film has quite a lot to like about it.
There’s also a lot to like here with the introduction of the real motivation behind the franchise. Tying together the one loose thread involving the unnamed voyeur who watches the events unfold from the video-cameras placed around the various compounds, that comes across rather well here. Giving everything not only a reason for happening but also managing to offer up a thrilling revelation sequence where it gets spelled out in detail how the situation is set up, what the goal of his project is all about and where it comes from is quite an impressive feat since that’s been one of the biggest issues involving the series up till now. Combined with the still terrifying appearance of the killer and some vicious, creative kills, there’s so much to like about the film.
The film does have a few minor flaws involved here. One of the biggest issues is the weird disappearing act created by the killer in the second act where it’s noticeable he completely disappears from the film for long stretches of time. The entire interview segment and resulting setup to put her into the game keeps him off-screen save for the flashback scenes which don’t count as new footage, much like the lack of attention paid to him during the multitude of gunfights with the henchmen which takes plenty of time away from the hunting and stalking taking place in the forest with them. As well, there’s also the constant notices that what’s going on here is still quite low-budget and is obvious about it, which isn’t detrimental but could be an issue for some.
Overview: ****/5
A fun and enjoyable entry in the franchise which was already getting better as it went along, there’s quite a lot to like here which manages to hold itself up so much over it’s few minor flaws that they’re barely detrimental in the slightest. Give this a watch if you’re into the indie slasher genre or a fan of the previous films in the franchise while those who aren’t into that style here should heed caution.
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