Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
We are never going into the woods again! , September 8, 2006
This movie is similar in tone to the recent remake of The Hills Have Eyes and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Although not nearly as gory as "Hills", the theme of mutation runs through both. During the opening credits, we see images and newspaper clippings reporting the mutations. This time, however, the mutations are due to good ol' fashioned inbreeding in the mountains of West Virginia, rather than from nuclear fallout.
The movie starts out with a decent scene. After the initial havoc is wreaked, you hear the haunting, maniacal laughter that will follow through the rest of the ride. Our main character, Chris, is running late for an appointment. He takes a "shortcut" and "runs" into a car containing two clueless guys, a redhead and two pieces of fine, stranded @ss. They go looking for a phone and stumble upon a shack that is reminiscent of the house in Texas Chainsaw Massacre: creepy, filthy, full of trash and hidden stashes of gore.. nasty.
This is where we get our first look at the maniac who is responsible for what we have been seeing in the woods. He is deformed and seemingly handicapped, mentally. We soon see, though, that he has two siblings (or friends) that join in on the fun. These three hideous grotesqueries spot the four remaining characters and the hunt is on!
These mutants are twisted. Their actions are as repulsive as they are unexplained. Stan Winston does a wonderful job of creating mutants that are not so freakish as to be ridiculous, but that are unsettling enough to make you cringe. You will very quickly despise these mutant characters for their lack of reason and unquenchable thirst for innocent blood.
The movie achieves a good level of suspense, with some good scares and a few nasty scenes. I will say that it turned out to be better than I was expecting it to be and for anyone who enjoyed "The Hills Have Eyes" or "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (not that this movie actually compares to TCM), you should at least check this movie out. The ending was not as strong or freaky as it probably should have been, but the movie is worth seeing.
The DVD includes a few very short featurettes.
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36 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Inbreeding in West Virginia? Noooooo!, November 11, 2003
Chris Finn is late for an appointment and stops at a gas station to use the phone (doesn't work) and checks out a map that shows a dirt road that leads around the large traffic jam blocking the only highway to his destination. Taking this backwoods shortcut, a short way up the road he literally runs into another vehicle in the middle of the road. Two couples and the requisite single female are stranded there when their car ran over a strand of barbed wire seemingly placed in the road on purpose. Finn, the single woman, and one of the couples leave the scene of the accident to try and find assistance, leaving the other couple behind at their vehicle.Now we have the formula of city folks looking for excitement in the country both stranded and divided, in the backwoods of West Virginia. Why would anyone look for a phone where there are no power lines whatsoever? Simple, to create this kind of suspense in a slasher/thriller movie in which the blood will soon fly and the city folks soon die. Spectacular mutants, a squealing stupid girl, stupidly brave and clueless men, and some nice knife and axe work blend together to give us this bloodily entertaining movie with just the right allotments of gore, cheese, and stupidity. Definitely entertaining splatter for those who appreciate the genre. Mmmmmmm. Long Pork. Don't check the fridge for any snacks!
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14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE LITE..., December 7, 2003
I rented this film after viewing a trailer for it, because it had reminded me of two horror favorites: the film "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and an episode on the X Files about a backwoods inbred family. I was not disappointed, as it certainly seemed to be a cross between these two favorites.While there were no real surprises, other than a very effective opening scene, the production values were first rate. The inbred family was certainly creepy and their house certainly was appropriately macabre and revolting, as befits such a family that enjoys dismembering and eating their victims. It is these hospitable folks that Eliza Dushku and her friends meet up with in the backwoods of West Virginia with predictable results. The film simply offers a few thrills, some average acting, and, as I said, some first rate production values, thanks to film production veteran Stan Winston. It offers nothing more and nothing less, which is too bad, since it had those great production values going for it. The problem with the film is that it copied too much from other films without offering something of its own to give it that certain edge and make it memorable in its own right. Tobe Hooper did this better in "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", as did the X Files television show. Still, notwithstanding its predictability, fans of the horror film genre should find this film enjoyable. It is, at the very least, worth a rental.
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