Director: Elizabeth Banks
Year: 2023
Country: USA/Netherlands/New Zealand/Ireland/United Kingdom
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Creature Feature; Horror/Comedy
Plot:
After a series of bizarre confrontations, a disparate group of people stranded in the middle of the woods looking for a lost shipment of cocaine supposedly left in the local woods, but when they find that the shipment has been ingested by a bear and is on the loose killing people must try to stop it.
Review:
This was an immensely fun genre effort. One of the finest features here is the rather entertaining and enjoyable setup that provides everything with an appropriately goofy and silly atmosphere. The main selling point of the bear conducting its rampage while under the influence of the drug is handled quite well with the opening setup providing the kind of silly starting point with this occurring at the very start. Offering up the accident that starts everything which gets the bear high on the drug, the authorities looking for the missing stash, the drug dealers trying to recover their property, and the mother looking for her missing kid in the middle of the forest. This setup for the multiple storylines at play manages to generate a kind of fast-paced storyline where they can propel this along through the varying setpieces present throughout here in a highly-involving storyline.
These storylines provide the key to rather impressive and overall likable interactions with the bear. As the creation has a lovable sense of humor even though it’s ripping people to pieces, it adds a lot to like with the idea of it rampaging through the woods tearing apart the various characters in their insular storylines as this manages to be the unifying factor with everything. The outrageous stunts it performs, from chasing down a high-speed ambulance, wrestling with characters on its hind legs, diving across the trees, or numerous other bits of bizarre behavior that come about by the bear wandering through the woods causing all kinds of mayhem. The ridiculous nature of everything manages to come about nicely due to the generally likable manner of the effects work to provide some goofy ideas and concepts while still allowing for a serious tone with how the creature is treated, all of which give this one quite a lot to like.
There isn’t a lot to hold it back but it does have a few minor issues. The main drawback present with this one is the somewhat bizarre state that erupts over the inability to determine what’s going on with the missing drugs. As it’s known early on that the incident has left a large amount of substance lost in the woods on the ill-fated flight, which is then completely ignored throughout the film with nothing else really coming of it and is quite oddly left behind over time. As well, there’s also the rather unlikely finale where the unrealistic behavior exhibited by everyone brings about a generally unlikely series of interactions that go on way too long since so much of what transpires here happens because of these interactions. Coupled with some potential issues involving the campy attitude present conflicting with the viewer as a personal preference choice, these are what hold the film back overall.
Overview: ****/5
An overall fun cheesy nature-run-amok effort, this one manages to be quite fun and generally enjoyable with only just a few minor drawbacks to keep this down from the very top of the genre. Fans of mainstream horror in this style, who appreciate the cheesy genre, or are curious about it will have a lot to like here while only those who aren’t into these kinds of features should heed caution.
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