Director: Miles Doleac
Year: 2021
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: USA
Genre: Creature Feature
Plot:
Upon the death of her grandfather, a woman and her husband return to her birthplace in Germany’s Black Forest to sort out the final details of the situation, but when they discover something sinister is lurking in the woods must sort out the truth about what’s going on and try to get out alive.
Review:
There’s a lot to like with this one. One of the better features here is the great setup here involving the interlocking stories which bring the story together. The arrival of the two at the sacred spot in the forest while attempting to investigate the strange death of her relative and clean out his house offers a fine starting point, which is then enhanced nicely with the stories about the dangerous beings in the area and how the woods hold something quite sinister lurking nearby. That carries on with the unknown opening with the cult performing their sacrificial ritual on the first victim as well as her recollections of the strange events that plagued her growing up to set up an intriguing storyline throughout here.
With that fine starting point in place, the series of supernatural action on display is rather enjoyable. The aforementioned opening involving the cult stalking and taunting their victim in the forest before performing a gruesome ceremonial ritual is a fine start to this one, while the encounter with the cult in their house is especially dark and chilling with the methodical manner they overwhelm and kidnap them before taking them and several others into the sacrificial spot in the woods to prepare for the game to follow. The setup involving the creature hunting them down through the woods is fun and offers some decent chasing and action for the most part, offering enough gore and effects-work for the creature to give this some enjoyable features.
There are a few problems to be had with this one. The biggest problem is the series of confusing and unnecessary alliance switches that are placed throughout the second half in the middle of the game. So much of the films’ second half is based on trying to keep themselves alive in the middle of the forest from the strange creature which is already a problem but to do so while in the middle of a bizarre series of confrontations aimed at making the characters’ allegiances seem to switch around for no reason. It just simply endangers people for no reason other than to include these aspects into the story and offers nothing of value to these sequences.
That ties into the other big issue on display with the appearance of the game to begin with and the purpose it has within the film. While the simple setup seems chilling involving the creature chasing victims through the woods, the concept of the hunt here makes no sense that the random people gathered here, including those who we’ve never met that are simply there for cannon-fodder making us completely uninterested in their survival anyway but there’s no purpose to gathering them only to then set them loose in the forest to be hunted by a creature that would be better served just by slaughtering them rather than go through the motions here. Overall, these factors are the main drawbacks of this one.
Overview: ***.5/5
With a lot to like in most regards and a few minor flaws that do end up being somewhat detrimental, this one is really enjoyable for what it is despite those drawbacks here. It’s worth a look for those who are curious about the style or approach featured here as well as those intrigued by its positives, while most others that don’t look for those aspects should heed caution.
Comments
Post a Comment