Customer Reviews

Dead Wood

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This low-budget British indie surprised me by turning out to be a decent little horror film. Some will beg to differ (the film has been savaged in some amateur reviewing circles), but what I see in Dead Wood is a truly independent film that tries to avoid the most pervasive of genre clichés even as it pays its own sort of homage to the likes of The Blair Witch Project and Evil Dead. It leaves too many questions unanswered, but by gum it does manage to distinguish itself from most of the other unoriginal, done to death "camping trip from hell" films. If you want to watch a by-the-numbers slasher film, this isn't it.

I personally don't see the appeal of traveling deep into a forest way out in the middle of nowhere and spending a few days away from the modern conveniences of life. The four characters in this film, however, look upon this camping trip as a good thing. It's sort of an odd pairing, as one of the two "couples" seemingly don't know each other very well. Larri (Emily Juniper) and Webb (Fergus March) are together, but I'm hard pressed to figure out how Larri's cousin Milk (John Samuel Worsey) convinced Jess (Rebecca Craven) to come along - although it's obvious from the start that Milk has the hots for the girl. In any event, they all go camping together. One ominous tragedy later, they head off to find a campsite, discovering a mysteriously abandoned tent along the way. The next morning, a strange Asian young lady (Nina Kwok) shows up at camp with a story about her boyfriend having disappeared. The gang promises to help find the missing camper, but a couple of their own number mysteriously disappear over the course of the weekend. The ones who remain desperately try to find their way out of the woods before they also fall prey to the escalating horror taking place all around them.

I'm not going to attempt to explain the circumstances of the danger set amidst these particular woods, but I will say that it is not your typical form of existential threat. In other words, this is not a slasher film. The victims simply disappear, leaving the viewer wondering what actually happened to them as the story unfolds. In all honesty, it isn't explained very well and wouldn't be that effective even if it were, but the filmmakers do have the good sense not to show their hand too early. This does nothing to make the film scary or intense, but it does make the film a little more interesting than it would have been otherwise. Unfortunately, the filmmakers do give in at the very end and throw a badly clichéd final shot at us.

There's nothing great about this film, but the acting is OK, the special effects are surprisingly good in places, and the story does maintain a degree of uncertainty up until the very end. On the down side, however, there are just too many plot holes, the first half of the movie drags in places, and it doesn't deliver any real scares. That being said, I am definitely on the side of those urging horror fans to give Dead Wood a chance. While the film definitely has a number of faults and weaknesses, filmmakers David Bryant, Sebastian Smith and Richard Stiles deserve some credit for thinking outside the slasher film box and producing a film that defies conventions, especially given such a low budget to work with.

Dead Wood wasn't a bad little horror film. It was worth watching. I was hoping for more of a plot, more character development but it was what it was. It had elements of Blair Witch Project and elements of The Evil Wood, woven into a story that was a bit of the Twilight Zone and Night Gallery. There were some very interesting special effects in the movie. Maybe I'll watch it again and come to like it better. It just didn't grab me like Insidious and Altered and some recent inde horror flicks.

Well It was ok, Just ok.... I wouldn't spend more that 1.99 for it ... I love movies period especially scary, horror, slasher films ...& this movie went into my giveaway pile... But everyones taste is differnt ..so You Be the judge..came in great condition , no problems with seller, arrived on time.

I was prepared to be a hard nosed, bored horror buff, ready to pounce on a weak, color by numbers silly mess. But DEAD WOOD is a really good British horror film. Although it's obvious from the getgo this is a low budget production, low budget doesn't always make it a bad thing. The premise is a horror staple--two couples decide to go camping in the woods, but then there is a twist. A lone girl stumbles into camp and asks for help finding her boyfriend who has disappeared in the woods. Then everything quickly falls apart.

DEAD WOOD doesn't have lots of gore or lots of fancy CGI effects, but what it does have is a good story, a consistent plotline and a great deal of tension, fright and suspense. If you want a horror video with some meat to it, something that will make you think, check out DEAD WOOD.

The forest is dark. Very dark.

Strange but entertaining. A few open spots but good story!

Two couples take a trip to the woods. They come across a strange woman claiming her boyfriend disappeared (and I guess she was just gonna stay in the woods with no food or attempt to get back to civilization until he showed back up??). Later that day, she goes swimming with the one couple, the girlfriend gets out of the water but her boyfriend and the strange woman continue to swim. They dunk a few times, but the third time, she comes back up, but he doesn't. The girlfriend jumps in the water and he's disappeared.

While this is happening, the second couple go off into the woods to make out and the girl sees a man, but when her boyfriend looks, he's gone. The guy she sees is in actuality the strange woman's boyfriend who disappeared (the start of the movie shows his fate). They go back to the swimming site to learn their friend disappeared while swimming. The girlfriend is in shock while the strange woman makes some reference to the similarity of this disappearance with her boyfriend's. They figure no foul play and at some point, he'll show up.

They start walking back to camp when the girlfriend thinks she sees him and runs after him. The other guy (her cousin) runs after her to find no one. The cousins are headed back when they hear a scream and now his girlfriend is gone. The strange woman goes hysterical while offering no indication what happened and has to be "knocked out".

It's now dark and the three are walking through the woods "until they find the road". They hear and see strange things as the woods seem to come to life. They run and come across a structure. The strange woman gets tied up and they go to sleep. When they wake up, the strange woman is gone. The cousins continue walking thru the woods until the guy claims he smells bacon. The girl says it's in his head, but he runs off to find the source. She runs after him, but somehow looses him even though she is right behind him.

He ends up back at their campsite and his girlfriend suddenly appears saying she got lost and acting very very strange. She kisses him, but then it's not her anymore but the strange woman kissing him. She pushes him into the tree behind him and he becomes parts of it. Now the girl is calling for him and comes across her boyfriend that disappeared in the water. He's is acting very very strange and says he got lost when she asks him where he's been all this time. He says he loves her, but she knows somehow it's not him and starts to leave. He then becomes the strange woman and tells her to run. I'm unclear at what point the strange woman became the "woods" woman. Anyway, the girl runs and finally comes across their vehicle on the road. She comes across the camera and sees the pictures she took on their way to the woods (her boyfried, friend and and cousin who are now dead) and decides they won't die in vain I guess. She straps up like Rambo and goes back into the woods, encounter the strange woman and threatens to burn down her woods, hesitates, gets strangled then drops the torch setting some trees ablaze. The next morning a work crew is cutting down the burnt trees and the girl appears and attacks a lone worker.

I guess the woods are hers now.

Very good Indie. The actors all did their British accents well. This is not like other British horrors which can also pass for dark comedies. They truly try to scare the viewer. Great picture to show while camping in the backyard and you really want to sleep inside. I seemed to have missed the major plot point as to why this was happening. In "Evil Dead" they unleashed an evil spirit with the book. Was nature rebelling against man? Why now? What prompted it? The dead deer? The beer drinking and smoking? Was this sacred Druid burial ground?

This one goes for the juggler...and you'll need a loved one beside you as the frightmare unfolds. Great film. It is actually what "Blair Witch" would have been with a larger budget...but this one is not a BIG budget film...Kudos to David Bryant, Sebastian Smith and Richard Stiles. It's not easy to break new ground in the flooded horror-film market. You have! I'm looking forward to the next one.!

Didn't really know what to expect with this movie, but it is a good watch. People lost in the woods are being absorbed by the tree's around them - one by one.