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Dark Woods (2006) is a low budget, independent movie filmed and released back in 2006. The movie was directed by Jake Daniels and is one of only two credits attributed to his name. The general quality of low budget filmmaking does not get much lower than that on display in this film during its relatively short 75 minute runtime. I can't say with any certainty how much money was spent on the production of this film but I would hazard a guess that the number does not exceed $10,000 and is likely much, much less.

I know that a leading paragraph like that doesn't do much to paint Dark Woods in a positive light, but let me confess that I don't mean for it to sound negative. I just want to be upfront about the kind of movie we're talking about. This is not a Hollywood picture by any definition of the phrase and your expectations should be adjusted accordingly. As easy as it might be to trash the technical components of this movie and call it a day, I must confess that I still enjoyed watching Dark Woods. The film ignited a strong feelings of nostalgia within me, particularly reminding me of low budget 80's slashers from my childhood.

This brings us to the movie's strongest point; the people in charge of making this film were clearly very passionate about the genre. There are so many tips of the hat towards a variety of popular 1980's horror franchises that the nods almost cease to be subtle. The cook, for instance, is an older blonde woman by the name of Pamela, which I took to be a reference to Friday the 13th's Mrs. Voorhees. Even the physical similarity between the actress and Betsy Palmer is rather striking. Along the same lines, the last girl is a young, fresh-faced brunette by the name of Heather, referring to Heather Lagenkamp, the actress that played Nancy in A Nightmare on Elm Street.

The homages present in Dark Woods does not end with the names of its characters. The plot of the film revolves around a group of teenage camp counselors whom have come together to finish preparing Camp Vernon for the upcoming season. The teens succumb to the usual stock of horror-cliche, young people vices and are picked off one by one by a machete-wielding, hockey mask-wearing backwoods maniac named Victor. It would be easy to interpret the plot of the film as entering into Friday the 13th rip-off territory; the filmmakers even include a soothsayer character along the lines of Crazy Ralph, here creatively dubbedMad Max, to inform the kids of their impending doom. So there I was, about twenty minutes into the film, just about ready to write the film off entirely when the filmmakers did something that surprised me. Instead of merely copying Friday the 13th, but the filmmakers began to take some of those basic elements and expanded on them in new and interesting ways.

It should come as no surprise given her name and physical similarities that Pamela actually has ties with the masked murderer, Victor. There is a bit of a shift in the relationship however, as Pamela was once Victor's lover and, thankfully, not his mother. Although it never become perfectly clear, it seems that Victor's murderous rampage is somehow motivated by his desire to win back Pamela's good graces. This relationship represents a deviation from the formula, certainly, but in the end is really rather uninspired.

The interesting expansion of ideas that I had previously mentioned can largely be embodied in the soothsayer character, Mad Max. Much like Crazy Ralph, Max  turns up early in the movie and warns the teenagers of their impending doom and serves the function of a red herring. Unlike Crazy Ralph whom promptly disappears from the rest of the proceedings, Max becomes a recurring character. As the movie unfolds it becomes increasingly obvious that Mad Max is not only eccentric, he's actually quite twisted. Before long it is revealed that Mad Max is actually helping Victor by spying on the counselors and reporting back to him on their whereabouts and activities. Turns out, Mad Max is an old Vietnam War buddy of Victor's and goes so far as to carry out some killings himself. Admittedly there's nothing earth-shattering about this scripting but the fact remains that this is not a character relationship that I've seen in a movie of this genre before. The filmmakers deserve credit for creativity.

Based on the picture and sound quality, I'm guessing that Dark Woods was filmed on a VHS camcorder with only a single microphone. I'm not sure that there was any real lighting to speak of on the set. Almost all of the kills happen off-screen with only a quick cut back to the dead body showing the actors sporting what is clearly a cheap make-up shop latex appliance. Tom Savini this is not. On the other side of the quality spectrum, all of the actors performed quite admirably for a group of complete amateurs. With the only exceptions being limited to single scenes, they all manage to avoid fulfilling the overacting, annoying stereotype that commonly graces such low budget fare. Kudos to you all.

The Bottomline: Dark Woods is the definition of low budget filmmaking. Due to the technical limitations, I cannot recommend this film to people who only casually dip into the direct-to-video movie market scene. That does not mean that there isn't anything here to like. If you are a devoted fan of Grade-Z cinema, then this one is definitely worth a look. It is currently available to rent on Netflix.

Two stars.

For too long the Hollywood machine has churned out crappy horror movie after crappy horror movie, with sequels and remakes being the theme of the day. The last few years have seen more PG-13, pointless, blood and nudity-free, soft horror films than ever before. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake and subsequent sequel were terrible. The remake of The Fog was a bore. Hostel and Hostel 2, while R-rated, were plot-less, derivative drivel lacking any remotely likable characters. The Eye, The Grudge, The Ring: all Americanized, spiritless, lesser versions of the original imports.

We need Old-School American Horror.

Enter Hatchet.

In my previous preview leading up the release of Hatchet, I wrongfully assumed that this movie was going to amount to a quick and dirty ripoff of Friday the 13th.  A good deal of the buzz surrounding this film has revolved around the fact that the titular weapon-wielding maniac would be played by longtime fan-favorite Kane Hodder. For those not in the know, Kane played Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th VII and onwards and is considered by many to be the ultimate incarnation of that character. While the lead up to Hatchet played upon this connection and did its best to make its villain look and sound like Jason, Victor Crowley is an entirely different blood-crazed freak.

The plot of Hatchet see a group of three male, college friends seeking to take a temporary break from the constant barrage of booze and boobs of Mardi Gras to take a haunted swamp tour. Additional members of the tour group include the Asian American tour guide, an older husband and wife tourist couple, a seedy softcore porn director and his two "actresses," and finally the girl with a mysterious past. The tour takes a turn for the worse when the boat runs aground and they get stranded out in the middle of the bayou. Things go from bad to even worse when the groups happens upon the ghostly yet physical manifestation of Victor Crowley's childhood home.

The biggest complaint I have with the film is that the real star, Victor Crowley, is essentially a complete non-entity until the final thirty minutes. It's "The Jaws Effect" where the director tries to build suspense with the audience by keeping the monster off screen until the big, dramatic reveal. Unfortunately, I don't feel that this approach works for Hatchet. As the movie progresses through its first two acts the audience receives only a small handful of half glimpses of Victor but fails to build suspense leading up to the reveal. I acknowledge what the director, Adam Green, was trying to do but when the moment of revelation does finally come, it feels like too little too late.

Luckily for the film, from the moment of Victor's arrival to the rolling of the end credits, Hatchet becomes a horror-themed roller coaster ride of epic proportions. Victor Crowley is simply the coolest slasher personification to emerge in the last decade of genre films. The makeup effects that transform Kane Hodder into Victor Crowley are top-notch work that even Tom Savini would be proud of. Hodder does a fantastic job in his portrayal of the monster, producing a horror icon that behaves like none that have come before. Where Jason was slow and deliberate, Victor is quick and spontaneous. He's constantly moving and thrashing his arms, resembling a rapid animal more than a man. The Crowley character is Kane Hodder's raged-out Jason, taken to the next level. Really, it's quite glorious.

Hatchet is one hell of a violent movie. The blood runs free and there's plenty of mean-spirited, nasty deaths. The nice thing about the film is that the violence knows it's over the top. While there's no overtly deliberate audience winking, the movie knows it's supposed to be delivering a good time and never takes itself too seriously. In addition, I challenge anyone to find a kill in any of the Friday movies that can hold a candle to the death of Mrs. Permatteo. The creativity on display from the filmmakers is nothing short of remarkable. Adam Green's finger is directly over the pulse of what old school horror hounds crave.

I mentioned earlier that the movie takes too long setting itself up. While this is true, there is good news to be had. While those early 45 minutes spend too much time focusing on character development, these scenes still manage to be righteously entertaining. The movie has a defined sense of humor and the actors perfectly suited to making sure that the jokes are legitimately funny. The frequent bursts of humor help the action stay lively despite the lack of bloodshed. It also bears to be mentioned that genre veterans Tony Todd and Robert Englund also make cameo appearances. Englund in particular is a geek's dream. This may be the closest that we ever get to seeing the real Freddy and the real Jason duke it out, even if Englund's death does occur off-screen.

Now for my biggest complaint, which isn't about the movie itself: This movie is a blood-soaked, over-the-top thrill ride that DEMANDS to be viewed in a sold out movie theater. The fact that this film did not receive a wide-theatrical release is a downright travesty. Hatchet needs to be seen with a rowdy crowd, one where everyone knows the right time to scream, to yell, and to throw popcorn at the screen. Shame on you for denying me that experience, Hollywood

The Bottomline: If you're a horror fan, check this movie out. preferably with a large group of friends. Pop corn is a must. Writer/Director Adam Green will go places in this genre if he wants to, and I hope he will. I'd love to see a Hatchet 2, especially in the theaters.

Four stars.

I've been looking forward to this film for sometime now. I live in an area where its hard to catch films that only play at festivals and/or have limited theatrical runs, so I almost always have to wait for DVD before checking out the newest indie-darlings. I spend a lot of time getting built up on these films although I do my best to avoid any hype or reviews. About the only exposure I give myself to these types of films are the IMDB plot synopsis, a quick glance at the poster, and watching any sort of trailer made officially available.

With that said, from the moment I saw the Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer trailer (long before I actually posted it on this blog), I've been looking forward to seeing it. The makeup and practical effects previewed in the trailer harken back to an earlier time in horror cinema history. And the fact that the story and the lead character reminds me of Evil Dead 2 and Ash doesn't hurt its first impressions either.

So, was 'Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer' any good?

The film has some faults, so I'll address them right away. Some of the special effects, being practical, look like puppets. This didn't bother me but I can see how other might find fault in it. I like old '50s style monster mashes and these effects feed into that nostalgic side of me. The movie also suffers from questionable pacing in the first two acts. The movie starts with a fun but short monster sequence, then goes into some rather lengthy exposition. To the movie's credit, these scenes are punctuated with some short monster sequences which definitely served to whet my appetite for the mayhem to come.

Although the first 45 minutes are slow, they are not without merit. Trevor Matthews stars in his first feature film as the protagonist, Jack Brooks. His performance is nuanced and fun to watch. He does not fall into any of the traps first time actors always seem to in low budget debuts. He is not overacting and he's definitley doing more than just reading words off the page. He loves the material and is having fun with the character. The audience cannot help but like the flawed Jack and root for him despite the many number of poor choices he seems to continually make.

Speaking of having fun with a role, Robert Englund (of Nightmare on Elm Street fame) co-stars as a night class science professor with an unfortunate case of demonic possession. The professor character is slowly losing control of his mental and physical capacities and Englund gives a thoroughly frenetic performance. This is not the ridiculous, melodramatic, almost unwatchable Englund we've seen in other recent low budget fare. Here, the madness is focused and Englund delivers one of his better performance in years.

The movie quickly ramps up in the third act, providing a most satisfactory climax. The monster mayhem consists of equal parts special effects, cheese and slapstick; just how I like it. Some of the scripting is especially inspired; I was especially fond of how the filmmakers creatively explained Jack's ability to transform into a monster slaying ass-kicker by the channeling of his anger management issues in new found physical prowess. This provides depth to Jack's character that would not be present otherwise.

The Bottomline: Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer is some of the most fun I've had with a monster movie in recent years. Despite a slow build, the action and cheese are available with abundance. The practical-style special effects make for a refreshing experience that too often seems to get lost in the modern day push for cheaper CGI effects.

Four stars.

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