Director: Gav Chuckie Steel
Year: 2012
Country: United Kingdom
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
Looking to score a new weed supply, a group of friends unwillingly get together to visit the supplier stashing his supply in the woods, but when they find the area patrolled by a psychotic killer targeting anyone that enters the woods must find a way to stop his rampage and get out alive.
Review:
This was a solid low-budget slasher effort. Among the brightest aspects of this one is the solid build-up that provides all the requirements necessary to get this one going well enough. The need for the group of friends to head out into the wilderness to find their supplier who has a new stash to give them and their need to go get it personally provides well enough reasoning to get them out into the countryside where they encounter the killer running rampant in the area while also getting a reason for the killer to strike them. The other sidestories that go on here with the secondary characters, including the police officer patrolling the area or the other random strangers that appear, provide the kind of fine setup this kind of film requires.
As well, the series of indie-style action scenes involving the killers’ antics interrupting the trip comes off as quite fun. Relying on that style of shock ambush sequence coming across random, nameless figures in the woods merely there to enhance the body count, there are some decent aspects to be had here with the scenes offering up some fine kills. Taking out the stoner, the hiker, and the bicyclist among others before turning his attention to the main group, there are some generally fun times to be had with these encounters that turn into slightly more involved stalking scenes once the group is aware of the killer’s presence and their race to get out of the area alive. Getting some frantic chasing into the woods alongside some decent gore and some funny one-liners, these all allow for some fun with this one.
There isn’t much holding it back, but some slight factors are here. The main drawback is the obvious and overwhelming low-budget sense overriding this one, which can be a personal preference feature for some. The guerilla production, lack of elaborate special effects, and a weekend-warrior production style about a random group of friends wandering the woods yelling insults at each other provide enough sense that its origins are omnipresent here even if that isn’t an issue. That does carry over into the films’ bits that are used to beef up the running time when they aren’t necessary, with the series of callbacks to the police station or the stay at the cabin telling stories clearly there to eat up the time. Thankfully, they’re not overly damaging and do only manage to hold this one back slightly.
Overview: ***.5/5
An immensely enjoyable indie slasher effort, there’s a rather fun energy to this one that manages to make for a rather likable time here with just a few minor drawbacks to keep it down. Those who enjoy or appreciate this kind of fare will have the most to like here while only those who are turned off by these factors should heed caution.
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