The Forest (1982)

Two couples plan a trip into the forest to escape the hustle-n-bustle of everyday city life. But there's a crazed killer on the loose with a taste for human flesh! When the men get separated from the women, it's every man and woman for themselves. Haunted by the ghosts of his victims, the killer is eventually double-crossed by them as they ghosts come to the aid of the campers. Featuring Gary Kent (BODY FEVER, HELL'S BLOODY DEVILS).

A slasher in the woods harum-scarum

I'll keep it brief. 4 stars for slasher fans (like me), 1 or 2 for regular, normal people.

The grungy-looking slasher guy here lives in a cave, waiting for some "doe meat", (young busty girl is his favorite flavor). He preys on backpackers and that's who he gets in this one.

I liked the locations a lot and the cinematography, which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of three. It's not the most imaginitive plot I've ever come across. I liked "Sleepaway Camp" much better.

It's no "Friday the 13th" either, but for slasher fans, it's sure worth watching. I've watched it several times myself. December 17, 2007

0.5 STARS: "Well, I don't want to hurt you, but I'm starving...I haven't had anything to eat for days!"-The Killer

"The Forest" comes off as a typical slasher flick that takes place in the woods, but looks can be deceiving. Unfortunately, "The Forest" fancies itself as something more, something clever, but it ultimately falls flat on its face. The "slasher in the woods" or campfire slasher as I commonly refer to them is actually a subgenre of the slasher subgenre of the horror genre. Indeed, I was hoping for a standard slasher flick in the woods but, instead, I got a very weird low-budget (that was expected) slasher/ghost story, which was very poorly executed in almost every conceivable way.

Basically, "The Forest" is about a man who let's just say mysteriously lost his family. He has resorted to living in the woods and has become a cannibal. Sound good? Well, it's not. While the mother's initial entrance into the movie is a little surprising and perhaps eerie, the ghost scenes, for the most part, were done so pitifully (especially with the children) that the movie comes off as a complete joke. In fact, the ghost scenes involving the children become increasingly annoying and lame as they repeatedly make their generic appearance throughout the movie.

The kills, for the most part, are not that bad at all though, especially for a low-budget film. In fact, the kills and the forest setting in general are what keep this movie from getting a ZERO STAR rating. Perhaps the most glaring problem in this movie is with the acting, which is absolutely AWFUL, especially the actor who plays the villain or the killer. Consequently, much of the action in this film comes off as absolutely ridiculous. In particular, this so-called killer looks like the loud-mouth beer-guzzling redneck you would find at your local bowling alley late on a Friday night. He wears a baseball cap and a torn white t-shirt. He acts like any typical redneck would act, except that he speaks a lot better. Oh, I almost forgot that he kills people and eats them too, although there are some rednecks that apparently do that too. Alas, I digress. To be perfectly frank, I have met many more menacing rednecks in person, unfortunately. The rednecks in "Deliverance" are a lot more realistic and fearsome than this pansy.

The fact that the lackluster killer in this movie is not convincing or menacing in any way takes a lot away from the movie's effectiveness as a horror film. For the most part, a horror movie killer, especially a slasher villain, should have prowess or at least some mysterious or particularly sinister quality, and this killer is completely lacking in this respect. It is not that you have to be so strong or unstoppable like Jason or Michael Myers (although that helps and certainly has its place in horror), but just take a look at a not so physically gifted Norman Bates who makes up for his lack of stature in his psychosis, and the effect is that Norman is scary. However, this guy in "The Forest" is nothing of the kind. Simply put, he is a very undynamic and generic killer who fails to instill any horror in a sophisticated horror movie audience. Also, it really takes away from any horror that the movie tries to instill in the audience when the killer almost seems to be apologetic to his victims as he kills them. I mean, who the hell wrote this lousy script, Mr. Rogers???

In "The Forest", the killings take place almost like with the same amount of emotion as a minor car accident (this goes back to the horrible acting) as that is the mentality of the killer and victim alike, especially in one scene in particular where my title line comes in. It is like the villain is a man who rear ends you and there is a tiny dent in your bumper, and that is about the sense of urgency you get with these killings. Very strange dialogue and uneven scenes indicative of shoddy execustion cause lackluster action in this film, and the desired effect in the audience in completely unachievable. Therefore, the ultimate effect is that of a movie that is unintentionally comical in a bad sort of way. There is very little credible emotion from the characters, and because the acting is so bad, it is very difficult to take this movie seriously at all.

In short, "The Forest" is totally devoid of the ability to produce any scares, but in all honesty, it could be perceived as unintentionally funny because it is so horrible. Some people like those kinds of movies, but the problem for me is that I rarely find these types of movies to be funny, but rather stupid and annoying. Regardless of whether one might find it unintentionally funny or not, "The Forest" is still not worth buying or even renting in my opinion. I would stay away from this movie as it is a total disappointment to the "slasher in the woods" or campfire slasher subgenre of slasher flicks.

If you like campfire slashers or "slasher in the woods" (whatever you want to call 'em) like I do, I would recommend "The Burning", "Friday the 13th parts I-III", "Just Before Dawn" and "Madman" as great examples of great slasher flicks taking place in the woods or near a campsite. If I was limited to one word to describe "The Forest", it would simply be "lame". Make that one-half of a STAR rating for "The Forest".
November 29, 2007

Good, for a low-budget horror

For an extremely low-budget film, I kind of liked this one. I heard the guy who made the film lost his house because of it, which tells me this film was a labour of love. I also love the creepy cover art! November 19, 2007

Classic GrindHouse Flm

The Forest is a classic Grid House from the 80's. Don Jones captures the atmosphere of the true independent film. Don't expect true horror as this screenplay is less than well written, but Jones delivers with beautiful shots and we get to see a very young Corky Pigeon (for those Silver Spoons fans) being introduced.

The story is true magic. Just go with it and see the reward of a grindhouse.

I thought it was fun and I'm glad it's a part of my DVD collection.
July 16, 2007

Brave this oddity...if you dare

Though it's clear that the film has the very best of intentions, "The Forest" is truly bottom of the barrel schlock. Made in the early 80's and one of the first straight-to-video terror films that I can recall, the simple premise recalls many other "crazed killer in the woods" films that were reigning the box-office at this time. "Forest" makes many mistakes along the dreadful journey including the attempt to incorporate back-stories and some supernatural elements that the director clearly doesn't have the budget, actors, script, or flare to pull off. That isn't to say that "Forest" is unwatchable, but this is really for those compelled to see every 80's horror movie ever made...like me. I must tip my hat to the musicians involved, the tinny electronic music is quite amusing as is the pop-hit-that-never-was "The Forest" which is quite hilarious and truly must be heard to be believed. Try the similar but much better "Just Before Dawn Dawn" or "The Final Terror". June 17, 2007

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